M/T Nortind
Updated Febr. 2-2009

To Nortind on the "Ships starting with N" page.

Crew List

Related items on this website:
Empire Ships on my page "Ship Statistics & Misc." gives the names of the other 18 transferred to the Norwegian flag in 1942.
A Guestbook message from Ernie Dibb who was on board when she was torpedoed in June-1942. Here's another posting from him (to my Ship Forum), where he says his brother Len joined Nortind at the same time. Ernie also served on Skiensfjord.

Her voyages are listed on this original document received from the Norwegian National Archives.

Some Convoy Voyages:

According to a personal story I've come across, Nortind was in a convoy (Key West, bound for West Indies) that lost 11 tankers out of 13 in March-1942. I'm not sure which convoy this could have been; she's included in several Key West convoys at the external website that I've linked to further down on this page, but that was much later in the year. Besides, she was still in the U.K. that month, so I believe the author of this story remembers the date wrong*. Nortind is listed in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 77**, which originated in Liverpool on March 17-1942 and dispersed on the 28th, Nortind arriving Galveston on Apr. 7. She headed back to the U.K. on Apr. 26 in Convoy HX 187 from Halifax, together with several other Norwegian ships.

* Ernie Dibb, who joined Nortind in March-1942, says in his Forum Posting:
"We had a quiet trip to Ny USA then a hair raising trip alone down to Beaumont Texas tankers burning around us". As will be seen when going to the archive document, Nortind arrived Beaumont from Galveston on Apr. 8 - perhaps this is the incident referred to in the story mentioned above? Note, however, that Ernie also mentions a convoy with heavy losses further down in his Forum posting. This appears to have taken place after she had been torpedoed and repaired, and after she had been to Port Arthur in Oct.-1942, when on her way back to the U.S. She's listed in Convoy HK 110 and KN 205 at this time (external links). I'm not sure if any ships from these convoys were sunk.

** All the ON convoys are available and will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, along with further details on each. In the meantime, the ships sailing in them (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys.

Torpedoed - June-1942:

Convoy HX 187, mentioned above, arrived Liverpool on May 8-1942. Nortind departed Birkenhead in ballast on May 22-1942 in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 97* (see link above), bound for New York/Norfolk/Texas City (this convoy arrived Halifax on June 5, Nortind arrived New York June 7). She subsequently appears in the Hampton Roads to Key West Convoy KS 510 (external link), which left Hampton Roads on June 13.

When about 15 n. miles south/southwest of South West Pass Light (position 28 41N 89 34W) on June 20-1942, she was damaged by a torpedo from U-67 (Müller-Stöckheim). At the time she was on course 262° true, sailing at a speed of 12 knots, in cloudy weather with a calm sea, no moonllight, light southerly breeze, good visibility, no other ships in sight. She was struck on the port side below the bridge, 8' below the water line, resulting in a 50' long x 40' wide hole in her hull, with plates projecting outward parallel to the water. No. 4 pump room was flooded, as were holds No. 4, 5 and 6 and the wing and center tanks. Nortind initially listed 15°-20° to starboard, but then came back on an even keel, later developing a slight list to port.

Shortly before the explosion occurred the lookout had seen the wake of a torpedo passing in front of the bow, missing her by about 100', and he was about to report this when the ship was struck (the torpedo that hit her was not seen). About 15 minutes later the captain spotted the spray from a periscope on the port beam, so ordered the 1st mate to instruct the gunners aft to keep a close lookout, and fire immediately if they saw anything. Course was immediately altered 90° to starboard in order to put the wake of the periscope dead astern, and she proceeded northerly for about an hour, before altering to N 22° E true. The U-boat abandoned the chase after 2-3 miles, and was last seen a little over an hour after the attack, on a course 350° true in a westerly direction, still with only the periscope visible.

Captain at that time was Paul Monsen who was in his cabin when the explosion occurred. On the bridge were 1st Mate Bakke, Able Seaman Andresen (lookout), and Deck Boy Dibb (at the helm). By the aft guns were Oscar Orud and Gunner Walter G. Woodland. 2nd Radio Operator Cornelius Blake was in the radio station, but 1st Radio Operator Einar Axelsen took over a few minutes later, Blake having been injured by items that had fallen down in the station. The receiver had been destroyed, but the transmitter was operable and Axelsen sent repeated SOS about their situation.

About 20 minutes after the explosion Ordinary Seaman Sulebakk came to the bridge to inform them that Stoker Arne Christensen was missing. Mechanic Erik Johansson had seen him get into a lifeboat, then jump overboard. A radio message requesting a search by sea planes was sent out and repeated several times, as Nortind could not stop to look for him due to the fact that the U-boat was in the vicinity. When the pilot arrived later that morning the incident was reported to the pilot boat, which in turn reported it to shore, and about 20 minutes later a patrol boat came to in order to obtain the position and time of the incident. I get the impression the stoker was never found.

Nortind managed to get into New Orleans for her own power that same evening (later repaired in Mobile, where she arrived July 9). An inquiry was held on board on July 2 while in New Orleans. The majority of the details above were taken from statements made by the captain, the 1st mate, Able Seaman Andresen, Deck Boy Dibb, Radio Operator Axelsen, Mechanic Johansson, 1st Engineer Julius Nilsen, and 2nd Engineer Ingebrigt Moe. It appears some of the men mentioned here and in the above paragraphs were no longer on board at the time of Nortind's loss the following year. Gunner Woodland paid off in New Orleans. There was also an Able Seaman Frithjof Johannessen on board at the time, not included in the crew list for 1943, however, he's commemorated at the memorial for seamen in Stavern, Norway.

Rohwer claims Nortind was sunk on this occasion, but that's incorrect, though it might be just a simple misprint, because he does list the incident below on another page, albeit with a different position, 59N 39W.

In Oct.-1942 Nortind is listed as sailing in Convoy HX 213, bound for Avonmouth with a cargo of aviation fuel in station 42 of the convoy, which departed New York on Oct. 26 - follow the link for more info. She arrived Avonmouth on Nov. 12, and a few days later she joined the westbound Convoy ON 147, which left Liverpool on Nov. 17 and arrived New York, Nortind's destination, on Dec. 4 (according to the archive document Nortind arrived New York on Dec. 6). The ships sailing in ON 147 are listed on this page.

She now made a voyage to Curacao; she's listed with that destination in Convoy NG 328, which departed New York on Dec. 10-1942 and arrived Guantanamo on the 18th. That same day she joined the Guantanamo-Trinidad Convoy GAT 30, which arrived Trinidad on Dec. 25-1942, but Nortind had arrived Curacao on the 22nd. She started on her return voyage on Jan. 3-1943, and is listed as bound from Curacao to Gitmo in Convoy TAG 33, continuing to New York on Jan. 5 with Convoy GN 33, which arrived there on Jan. 11-1943. All these are external links, found via the site that I've linked to below.

As will be seen, her next voyage proved to be her last.

Final Fate - 1943:

Captain Jakob O. Jensen.

Together with Kollbjørg (and other Norwegian ships), Nortind departed New York again on Jan. 14-1943 in Convoy HX 223, bound for Mersey with a cargo of 11 000 tons oil. Kollbjørg broke in two in the storm encountered by the convoy on Jan. 24, and Nortind (as well as the American Pan Maryland) stayed nearby in case they were needed to assist. In so doing Nortind was unable to catch up with the convoy later on.

On Jan. 26 she was torpedoed by U-358 (Manke), position 58 30N 34 00W. Among the casualties were 2 Dutch passengers. There's more information on this incident on my page about M/T Kollbjørg.

Position given by Mitchell & Sawyer is 58 40N 33 10W, east of Cape Farewell, Greenland (voyage Curaçao/New York/River Mersey).

Crew List - No survivors:

Casualties
† Captain Jakob O. Jensen	† 1st Mate Svein Bakke	† 2nd Mate Erling Moen	† 3rd Mate * Peder Jorang Aga	† Radio Operator Per Schaaning	† Carpenter Nils Nilsen Stavland
† Boatswain Arvid Aukan	† Able Seaman Alfred Bernhoft	† Able Seaman Arne Førland	† Able Seaman Hans Hvidsten	† Able Seaman Erling Andreassen	† Able Seaman/Gunner Mathias Midtbø
† Able Seaman/Gunner Åge Solli	† Able Seaman/Gunner Hilmar Johansen	† Ordinary Seaman Kaspar Sulebakk	† Jr. Ordinary Seaman Barnet Horne * (British - Age 19)	† Deck Boy Ronald Albert Ward * (Australian - Age 17)	† Deck Boy Fred Goven Ballantyne * (British - Age 18)
† Deck Boy Martin Lawrence Hallet * (British - Age 17)	† 1st Engineer Leif Oftedahl	† 2nd Engineer Harald Andreassen	† 3rd Engineer Gitle Haavik	† Assistant Bjarne Olsen	† Repairman Johan Svendsen
† Mechanic Ingvald Johannessen	† Mechanic Svenn Løve	† Mechanic Sigvald Sivertsen	† Mechanic Ole Wulfsberg	† Mechanic Thorleif Paulsen	† Pumpman Hans Bauge
† Stoker Kolbjørn Kolstad	† Stoker Erling Johansen	† Stoker Godtfred Seim	† Engine Boy Carlo Capaldi * (British - Age 18)	† Steward Sigurd Mathiesen	† Cook Kåre S. Nilsen
† Galley Boy Bjørn Skjold	† Mess Boy Edward Bryant * (British - Age 21)	† Mess Boy Douglas J. C. Philp * (British - Age 18)	† Mess Boy Alf T. Nilsen	† Passenger Dirk van der Wijk (Dutch)	† Passenger Charles Benjamin Feliksdal (Dutch)
As mentioned, Stoker Arne Christensen had died previously, when Nortind was torpedoed in June-1942.

Related external links:
The Empire Ships - On the "Mariners" website. Empire Onyx can be found on this page.

Operations information for U-67

Operations information for U-358

U-358

Stavern Memorial commemorations - 35 Norwegians are commemorated at this memorial for seamen in Stavern, Norway. Able Seaman Frithjof Johannessen is also included here. He was on board when Nortind was torpedoed the first time, bit is not included in the casualty list for 1943. Perhaps he had joined another ship and perished later. I believe the mechanic listed as Sigvald S. Brekke is identical to Sigvald Sivertsen in my table above.

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

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: E-mail from Barbara Mumford with info Mitchell & Sawyer's "Empire Ships", "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume II, Norwegian Maritime Museum, summary of survivors' statements, received from Tony Cooper, England (from British archives), and misc. (ref. My sources).