D/T Norfjell - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Related item on this website:
Guestbook message from the son of one of Norfjell's gunners.

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
(Unfortunately, the arrival dates are missing from Page 4)
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4

Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.

Voyage Record
From March-1942 to Nov.-1945:

(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database).

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each.

Errors may exist, and some voyages may be missing.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1942	March 2	Tyne	Methil	March 3	FN 644	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	March 3	Methil	Loch Ewe	March 5	EN 54	Convoy available at EN convoys (external link)
	March 10	Loch Ewe	–	–	ON 75	For Aruba. Dispersed 42N 46W, March 19. Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	March 19	Dispersed from ON 75	Aruba	March 29	Independent	–
	March 31	Aruba	Bermuda	Apr. 10	Independent	–
	Apr. 18	Bermuda	St Michaels	Apr. 21*	Independent	*Page 1 gives arrival Apr. 26
	Apr. 27	St Michaels	–	–	SL 107	A. Hague says: From Azores, detached to SL 107F, May 4. Convoy available at SL 107 See also SL 107/SLF 107 (external links)
	May 4	Detached from SL 107	Liverpool	May 6	SL 107F	Convoy available at SL 107F (external link) On to Stanlow (Page 1)
	May 22	Liverpool	–	–	ON 97	For NYC. Detached June 5. Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	June 5	Detached from ON 97	New York City	June 7	Independent	–
	June 9	New York City	Hampton Roads	–	Independent	–
	June 13	Hampton Roads	–	–	KS 510	Detached June 18. Convoy available at KS convoys (external link)
	June 18	Detached from KS 510	Galveston	June 21	Independent	–
	July 1	Galveston	Texas City	–	Independent	–
	July 5	Texas City	New Orleans	July 7	Independent	–
	July 7	New Orleans	Key West	July 10	Independent	–
	July 12	Key West	Hampton Roads	July 17	KN 119	Convoy available at KN convoys (external link)
	July 18	Hampton Roads	New York City	July 19	Independent	–
	July 22	New York City	Cape Cod Bay	–	Independent	–
	July 25	Cape Cod Bay	Halifax	July 27	BX 30B	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	July 27	Halifax	Belfast	Aug. 7	HX 200	Again, see also Page 1
	Aug. 12	Belfast Lough	–	–	ON 121	For NYC. Dispersed Aug. 27. Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	Aug. 27	Convoy dispersed	New York City	Aug. 28	Independent	–
*	Aug. 31	Suez	Aden	Sept. 5	Independent	–
	*This voyage has ended up in the wrong place - It belongs among the 1943 entries below and has been inserted there.
	Sept. 4	New York City	Key West	Sept. 11	NK 501	Convoy available at NK convoys (external link)
	Sept. 15	Key West	Gitmo	Sept. 19	KG 602	Convoy available at KG convoys (external link)
	Sept. 20	Gitmo	Curacao	Sept. 24	GAT 7	Gitmo to Curacao. Convoy available at GAT convoys (external link)
	Sept. 26	Curacao	Cristobal	Sept. 30	CZ 1	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Oct. 1	Balboa	Capetown	Nov. 4	Independent	–
	Nov. 6	Capetown	East London	Nov. 8	Independent	–
	Nov. 19*	East London	Durban	Nov. 19	Independent	*Page 1 gives departure Nov. 17
	Nov. 25	Durban	–	–	DN 2	Dispersed Nov. 27. Convoy available via link above
	Nov. 27	Convoy dispersed	Bahrein	Dec. 13	Independent	–
	Dec. 16	Bahrein	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Dec. 22	Bandar Abbas	Aden	Dec. 29	PA 16	Convoy available via link above
	Dec. 29	Aden	Suez	Jan. 4-1943	Independent	–
1943	Jan. 9*	Suez	Jeddah	Jan. 10	Independent	*Page 1 gives departure Jan. 7
	Jan. 11*	Jeddah	Massawa	Jan. 16	Independent	*Page 2 gives departure Jan. 15
	Jan. 18	Massawa	Aden	Jan. 20	Independent	–
	Jan. 22	Aden	Bandar Abbas	Jan. 28	AP 14	Convoy available at AP convoys (external link)
	Jan. 28	Bandar Abbas	Abadan	Jan. 30	Independent	(Stop at Bandar Abbas not mentioned, Page 2)
	Febr. 1	Abadan	Bahrein	Febr. 2	Independent	–
	Febr. 9*	Bahrein	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	*Page 2 gives departure Febr. 7
	Febr. 11	Bandar Abbas	–	–	PA 24	For Capetown. Detached Febr. 16. Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Febr. 16	Detached from PA 24	Capetown	March 6	Independent	–
	March 16	Capetown	–	–	CD 10	Detached March 23. Convoy available via link above
	March 23	Detached from CD 10	Abadan	Apr. 10	Independent	–
	Apr. 12	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Apr. 16	Bandar Abbas	Bombay	Apr. 22	PB 36	Convoy available via link above
	Apr. 26	Bombay	Colombo	Apr. 30	BM 51	Convoy available at BM convoys (external link)
	May 19	Colombo	Bombay	May 23	MB 36	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	June 26	Bombay	Bahrein	July 1	BP 85	Convoy available via link above Left Bahrein July 4 (Page 2)
	July 6	Khasab Bay	–	–	PB 47	Detached July 7. Convoy available via link above
	July 7	Detached from PB 47	Aden	July 14	Independent	Missing movements, Page 2
	July 31	Aden	Bandar Abbas	Aug. 5	AP 38	Convoy available at AP convoys (external link)
	Aug. 5	Bandar Abbas	Bahrein	Aug. 7	Independent	(Stop at Bandar Abbas not mentioned, Page 2)
	Aug. 10	Bahrein	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Aug. 13	Bandar Abbas	Aden	Aug. 20	PA 49	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Aug. 20	Aden	Suez	Aug. 25	Independent	–
*	Aug. 31	Suez	Aden	Sept. 5	Independent	–
	The above voyage has been taken from the 1942 entries above - See also Page 2*.
	Sept. 8	Aden	Bandar Abbas	Sept. 14	AP 44	Convoy available at AP convoys (external link)
	Sept. 14	Bandar Abbas	Abadan	Sept. 16	Independent	(Stop at Bandar Abbas not mentioned, Page 2)
	Sept. 18	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Sept. 24	Bandar Abbas	Bombay	Sept. 30	PB 57	–
	Oct. 5	Bombay	Colombo	Oct. 10	BM 69	Convoy available at BM convoys (external link)
	Oct. 10	Colombo	Madras	–	Independent	–
	Oct. 14	Madras	Calcutta	Oct. 18	Independent	–
	Oct. 24	Calcutta	Colombo	Oct. 29	Independent	–
	Nov. 2	Colombo	Bombay	Nov. 7	MB 53	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Nov. 18	Bombay	Bandar Abbas	Nov. 24	BP 103	Convoy available via link above
	Nov. 24	Bandar Abbas	Abadan	–	Independent	(Stop at Bandar Abbas not mentioned, Page 2)
	Nov. 27	Abadan	Bandar Abbas	–	Independent	–
	Dec. 3	Bandar Abbas	Aden	Dec. 11	PA 63	Convoy available via link above
	Dec. 11	Aden	Suez	Dec. 17	Independent	Left Suez, Dec. 17 (Page 2 & Page 3)
	Dec. 18	Port Said	Alexandria	Dec. 19	Independent	–
	Dec. 22	Alexandria	Bizerta	Dec. 28	MKS 35	Alexandria to Bizerta
	Dec. 29	Bizerta	Augusta	–	–	–
1944	Jan. 3	Augusta	Naples	Jan. 4	VN 14A	Convoy available at VN convoys (external link)
	Jan. 14	Naples	Augusta	Jan. 15	NV 15A	Convoy available at NV convoys (external link)
	Jan. 15	Augusta	Oran	Jan. 20	MKS 37	Augusta to Oran (via Bizerta - Page 3)
	Jan. 25	Oran	New York City	Febr. 15	GUS 28	Oran to USA. Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	Febr. 17	New York City	Baltimore	Febr. 18	Independent	–
	March 9	Baltimore	Philadelphia	March 9	Independent	–
	March 12	Philadelphia	Hampton Roads	March 13	Independent	–
	March 14	Hampton Roads	Oran	Apr. 5	UGS 36	For Oran. Convoy available at UGS convoys (external link)
	Apr. 5	Oran	New York City	Apr. 22	GUS 35	Oran to USA. Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	Apr. 30	New York City	Hampton Roads	–	Independent	–
	May 3	Hampton Roads	Augusta	May 26	UGS 41	For Augusta. Convoy available at UGS convoys (external link)
	May 27	Augusta	Naples	May 28	VN 42	Convoy available at VN convoys (external link)
	June 1	Naples	Augusta	June 2	NV 42	Convoy available at NV convoys (external link)
	June 2	Augusta	Port Said	June 8	UGS 42	Augusta to Port Said, UGS 42/KMS 51 combined. Convoy available at UGS convoys Also, KMS 51 (external links) Again, see Page 3
	June 9	Suez	Aden	June 14	Independent	–
	June 16	Aden	Bandar Abbas	June 23	AP 72	Convoy available at AP convoys (external link)
	June 23	Bandar Abbas	Abadan	June 25	Independent	–
	June 27	Abadan	Bombay	July 3	Independent	–
	July 13	Bombay	Karachi	July 15	Independent	–
	July 16	Karachi	Abadan	July 20	Independent	–
	July 23	Abadan	Aden	Aug. 2	Independent	–
	Aug. 2	Aden	Suez	Aug. 7	Independent	On to Port Said, next day (Page 3)
	Aug. 9	Port Said	Alexandria	Aug. 9	Independent	–
	Aug. 14	Alexandria	Augusta	Aug. 19	GUS 49	Alexandria to Augusta. Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	Aug. 19	Augusta	Bari	Aug. 21	AH 62	Convoy available at AH convoys (external link)
	Aug. 22	Bari	Ancona	Aug. 23	Escorted	–
	Aug. 28	Ancona	Bari	–	Escorted	Arrived Brindisi, Aug. 29 (Page 3)
	Aug. 31	Brindisi	Augusta	Sept. 2	HA 64	Convoy available at HA convoys (external link)
	Sept. 7	Augusta	Hampton Roads*	Sept. 28	GUS 51	Augusta to USA. *New York City (Page 3). Convoy available at GUS convoys (external link)
	Sept. 30	New York City	Baltimore	Oct. 2	Independent	–
	Nov. 25	Baltimore	New York City	Nov. 27	Independent	–
	Dec. 9	New York City	Clyde	Dec. 23	HX 325	See also narrative below
	Dec. 27	Clyde	Loch Ewe	Dec. 28	Independent	–
	Dec. 30	Loch Ewe	Molotovsk	Jan. 9-1945	JW 63	–
1945	Febr. 9	Molotovsk	Archangel	Febr. 9	BK 3	Convoy not available
	Febr. 13	Archangel	Murmansk(?)	Febr. 15	BK 3S5	Torpedoed - see narrative below. Convoy available at BK 3S5 (external link)
	Febr. 18	Molotovsk	Murmansk	Febr. 19	In tow	–
	The above 3 voyages are not included on Page 4.
	Oct. 20	Murmansk	Tromsø	–	In tow	–
	Oct. 31	Tromsø	Bergen	Nov. 12	In tow	–
	Nov. 14	Bergen	Stavanger	Nov. 15	In tow	A. Hague says: To Rotterdam June 5-1946, repaired, Nordfonn (see Post War info below).

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; the Commodore's notes are also available for some of them and several Norwegian ships took part.

Shortly after having been taken over by Nortraship on Febr. 24-1942, Norfjell joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 75*, departing Liverpool on March 10, dispersed on the 19th. Her destination is given as Aruba, where she arrived on March 29, having sailed from Loch Ewe on the 10th. Brand, Brasil, Evita and Vanja are also listed in this convoy. The following month, she's included in Convoy SL 107/SLF 107. She was in the fast section (SLF), which arrived Liverpool May 6 (see links in Voyage Record). According to A. Hague she joined the convoy from the Azores. When going to Page 1, we see that she had sailed from Aruba to Bermuda, left Bermuda on Apr. 18, arrived St. Michaels on the 26th, leaving again the next day, arriving Liverpool May 6, continuing to Stanlow that same day.

Later that month we find her, together with B.P. Newton, Brant County, Brimanger, Cetus, Gallia and Nortind, as well as the Panamanian Norvik (Norwegian managers), in the westbound Convoy ON 97*, which departed Liverpool on May 22 and arrived Halifax June 5. Norfjell, however, was bound for New York, where she arrived June 7. After having made some voyages around the US, she headed back to the U.K. on July 27 with Convoy HX 200 from Halifax, for which Acanthus, Montbretia and Potentilla served as escorts for a while. S. Inselseth, who later went on to become the captain of one of my mother's ships (see M/S Mogen, post war), served on Norfjell as a gunner in this period. He paid off on Aug. 8, in other words, the day Norfjell arrived Belfast (Page 1). Just a few days later she joined the westbound Convoy ON 121* in order to return to New York, where she arrived on Aug. 28, the convoy having been dispersed the day before (originated in Liverpool Aug. 12). B. P. Newton, Carmelfjell, Gallia, Idefjord, Lista and Norfalk are also named in this convoy.

She now made voyages to Curacao, Cristobal, Table Bay, East London, Durban, Bahrein etc. Again, see Page 1 as well as Page 2. Convoy information for some of these voyages can be found in the Voyage Record above.

Skipping now to Sept.-1943, when I have her in Convoy PA 54 / PB 57, together with Torborg, Norfold, Havkong, Ima and Europe. Norfjell had left Bandar Abbas on Sept. 24 and arrived Bombay on the 30th. In Dec.-1943 she's listed in Convoy MKS 35, voyage from Alexandria to Bizerta. According to Page 3, she had departed Alexandria on Dec. 22 and arrived Bizerta on the 28th.

She's also listed in Convoy MKS 37 in Jan.-1944, voyage from Augusta to Oran (she had left Augusta Jan. 15, arrived Oran, via Bizerta, on Jan. 20). From Oran, she now headed to the U.S. on Jan. 25, arriving New York on Febr. 15 (Convoy GUS 28). Again, please see Page 3 and Hague's Voyage Record for further 1944 voyages.

She was scheduled for the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 317 at the end of Oct.-1944, but did not sail. From the archive document referred to above, we learn that she was in Baltimore when this convoy sailed, spending several weeks there before proceeding to New York. She was also scheduled for Convoy HX 324 on Dec. 4, but instead joined Convoy HX 325 a few days later.

* 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 (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys.

For more details on the other Norwegian ships mentioned here, please see the alphabet index at the end of this page, or go to the Master Ship Index.

Torpedoed - 1945:

Norfjell had arrived Clyde from New York (Convoy HX 325) on Dec. 24-1944. On Dec. 30 she joined Convoy JW 63 to Russia (see also Idefjord - the Norwegian destroyer Stord was among the escorts). On Febr. 14-1945 she was en route from Molotovsk for Murmansk in ballast in Convoy BK 3 in order to join Convoy RA 64 back to the U.K., but never made it that far. Off the Kola fjord BK 3 ran into a German U-boat line (69 22N 33 50E). Norfjell received a torpedo from U-968(?*) in the engine room, where 3rd Engineer Rolf Bakkehaug and Stoker Bernhard Nilsen were killed immediately. She had a gaping hole measuring about 14 x 5 meters in her side, but stayed afloat, was taken in tow by the escort and beached near Tree Roochia in the Kola inlet. The American Horace Gray was also torpedoed (later beached). It'll be noticed in the Voyage Record above that A. Hague gives the convoy designation as BK 3S5 at the time of attack (external link).

Norfjell's damages proved to be temporarily repairable so that she could eventually continue west for more permanent repairs, sailing from Murmansk in tow on Oct. 20, arriving Stavanger Nov.15-1945. According to Page 4, the tugs Puddefjord and Rossfjord had towed her to Tromsø first, left Tromsø in tow for Bergen on Oct. 31, left Bergen for Stavanger Nov. 14.