M/T Nordanger
Updated March 9-2012

To Nordanger on the "Ships starting with N" page.
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Misc. Convoy Voyages:

For information on voyages made in between those mentioned here, please see the documents received from the National Archives of Norway and A. Hague's Voyage Record above. Follow the convoy links provided for further details; several Norwegian ships took part in them.

As can be seen when going to Page 1 of the archive documents, Nordanger left Table Bay (Cape Town) on Apr. 8-1940, the day before the German invasion of Norway, and arrived Durban Apr. 13, then made voyages to Abadan, Aden and Bombay, subsequently spending over a month at the latter port. It'll be noticed that she also spent quite a long time at Bombay later on. She had arrived there from Trincomalee on Aug. 30 and departure is given as Nov. 16, when she proceeded to Abadan.

There's also a long gap in her voyages at the beginning of 1941. She had arrived Alexandria on Febr. 2 and from the information found on the archive document it looks like she did not leave again until July 8; according to A. Hague, this was due to engine defects. But I'm wondering if some voyages might be missing from her record here(?). "Nortraships flåte" states that she was in service to Greece in this period. The retreat of the British from Greece was planned for Apr. 24-1941, but continuous German air attacks created havoc and made the evacuations difficult. The captain of Nordanger reports that they witnessed air attacks without stop for 93 days while in service to Greece, though without being hit themselves. (The evacuation of Crete was completed June 1). The Norwegian M/S Belray, M/S Brattdal, M/T Pericles, M/T Egerø were also in this service, among others.

Her 1942 voyages start on Page 2, where another long gap is shown. From Mombasa, she had arrived Table Bay on Jan. 17 and departure is given as Apr. 12, when she headed to Aden. A. Hague again gives engine defects as the cause. As can be seen, she also spent a long time at Table Bay that fall. Her 1943 voyages are also listed on this document; convoy information for some of these can be found in the table above.

Several months were spent repairing engine defects in Baltimore that year, before she proceeded to New York and Boston, then on to Halifax in order to join Convoy SC 148 to the U.K. on Dec. 2 (Vice Commodore in Norhauk, which was lost, Rear Commodore in Tropic Star - see also Eglantine, Potentilla and Rose). However, it looks like the repairs had not been successful because she had to return to Halifax with engine trouble. She was subsequently cancelled from the next 2 convoys, SC 149 and SC 150, but eventually got away in Convoy SC 151, which left Halifax on Jan. 14-1944 and arrived Liverpool on the 31st - Nordanger arrived Bowling that day (the Norwegian Para served as Commodore Ship for this convoy and Eglantine and Rose are again named among the escorts - See SC convoy escorts).

Together with Atlantic, Geisha (Commodore Vessel), Heimgar, Iron Baron, Norfalk, Ruth I, Suderøy, Tercero and Vav, she subsequently joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ONS 29*, departing Liverpool Febr. 12-1944, arriving Halifax on the 29th; Nordanger, however, was bound for New York, with arrival March 3 (Eglantine and Rose are again named among the escorts, as is Acanthus - see ONS convoy escorts). She headed back to the U.K. in Convoy SC 155 from Halifax on March 14, and arrived Milford Haven on the 29th, before proceeding to Plymouth and Devonport (Page 2). We now find her in the westbound Convoy ON 231*, along with Bernhard, Ferncourt, Haakon Hauan, Spinanger, Østhav, Solstad, Idefjord, President de Vogue, Heranger, Kong Haakon VII, Thorsholm, Skaraas, Høyanger and Vav. This convoy departed Liverpool on Apr. 7 and arrived New York on the 24th; Nordanger had joined from Belfast Lough and it looks like she remained in New York for a long time.

She was scheduled for the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 294 on June 2-1944, but did not sail (Commodore in Abraham Lincoln, Vice Commodore in Geisha). In fact, she instead made a voyage to Guantanamo in Convoy NG 439, which left New York on June 5 and arrived Guantanamo on the 11th. She had attempted to make this voyage in an earlier convoy, NG 433, departing on May 6, but had returned to port with defects on that occasion - again see Page 2 of the archive documents, as well as Page 3. From Guantanamo, she joined Convoy GAT 141 that same day (June 11) and arrived Puerto la Cruz on the 16th, then proceeded to Curacao, with arrival there June 18. These convoys are available via the external links provided within the Voyage Record, and as will be seen, they all had other Norwegian ships as well. For most of that year she was in service between Curacao and Puerto la Cruz.

Skipping now to Jan. 31-1945 when she shows up in the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 166, bound for Mersey and Stanlow. From Page 4, we learn that she arrived Stanlow, via Liverpool and Ellesmere Port, on Febr. 16. She now made a voyage to Curacao again, having joined Convoy ONS 43*, which departed Liverpool on Febr. 27 and arrived Halifax on March 16. Nordanger arrived her destination on March 20, having detached from the convoy on March 7, according to A. Hague's record (he has also included Ima and Tropic Star in this convoy, both bound for New York). Nordanger had started out from Belfast Lough on Febr. 28.

Page 5 shows her voyages to the end of Jan.-1946.

* These convoys will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, with more information on each; in the meantime, the ships sailing in them are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys, and on the page for ships in all ONS convoys.

More details on the other Norwegian ships mentioned on this page can be found via the alphabet index below, or go to the Master Ship Index.

POST WAR:

Sold in July-1951 to Compania Maritima Panmar SA of Panama, Panama, and renamed San Salvador. Sold in 1959 to Brodospas, and sailed from Spezia on June 12-1959 for Split to be broken up.

Back to Nordanger on the "Ships starting with N" page.

Other ships by this name: This company had previously had another Nordanger (steamship), built in Sunderland in 1896 as Norman Isles for A. N. Hansen, Copenhagen, 3456 gt. Later Wilh. Wilhelmsen Tønsberg 1896. Became Dutch Walcheren in 1909, then Nordanger in 1916. Disappeared on a voyage Newport News-Antwerp in Sept.-1919, having departed on Sept. 27 with a crew of 34. Another Nordanger was built for the company in Bergen in 1955. Sold in May-1968 to A/S Ivarans Rederi, Oslo, renamed Savannah. Sold in 1975 to Virnat Shipping Lines Pte., Singapore. Broken up in Spain in 1980. In July-1976 Westfal-Larsen received another Nordanger, 17 057 gt, built in Poland. This ship later sailed as Bow Selene for Skibs-A/S Storli, Bergen from 1990, renamed Ncc Madinah that same year. ("Damp - Dampskipets æra i Vestfold", Westfal-Larsen fleet list and misc.).

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, Westfal-Larsen fleet list and misc.