N. T. Nielsen Alonso
Whale Factory
Updated Apr. 7-2012

To N. T. Nielsen Alonso on the "Ships starting with N" page.

Crew List


This picture was received from Axel Kuehn, who says the photographer is Alex Duncan.
Here are some pre war pictures (external link).
See also this external page (click in the picture to enlarge).

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2

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

Voyage Record From May-1940 to Febr.-1943:

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
1940	May 4	Rio	Victoria, Bz	May 7	Independent	See also Page 1
	May 7	Victoria, Bz	Trinidad	May 21	Independent	–
	May 25	Trinidad	Curacao	May 27	Independent	–
	July 21	Curacao	Hampton Roads	July 29	Independent	–
	July 30	Hampton Roads	New York City	Aug. 1	Independent	–
1941	Jan. 14	Curacao	Trinidad	Jan. 17	Independent	A. Hague says: Passage NYC/Curacao unknown (but see Page 1)
	Jan. 17	Trinidad	Pernambuco	Jan. 26	Independent	–
	March 6	Pernambuco	Santos	March 12	Independent	–
	Apr. 5	Santos	Rio	Apr. 6	Independent	–
	Apr. 17	Rio	Curacao	May 3	Independent	–
	May 10	Curacao	New York City	May 19	Independent	–
	June 24	New York City	Sydney, C.B.	June 29	Independent	–
	July 1	Sydney, C.B.	Liverpool	July 19	SC 36	Convoy will be added. See ships in SC convoys
	July 26	Liverpool	–	–	ON 1	For Halifax. Dispersed 42 29N 45 45W, Aug. 9.
	Aug. 9	Dispersed from ON 1	Halifax	Aug. 12	Independent	–
	Aug. 13	Halifax	Baltimore	Aug. 17	Independent	–
	Sept. 12	Baltimore	Curacao	Sept. 19	Independent	–
	Sept. 23	Curacao	New York City	Oct. 1	Independent	–
	Oct. 4	New York City	Halifax	Oct. 7	Independent	–
	Oct. 10	Halifax	Liverpool	Oct. 23	HX 154	7 Passengers
	Nov. 1	Liverpool	–	–	ON 32	For NYC. Detached Nov. 16.
	Nov. 16	Detached from ON 32	New York City	Nov. 18	Independent	–
	Dec. 29	New York City	Halifax	Jan. 1-1942	Independent	–
1942	Jan. 2	Halifax	–	–	HX 168	Dispersed Jan. 13.
	Jan. 13	Dispersed from HX 168	Clyde	Jan. 15	Independent	–
	Febr. 2	Clyde	Clyde	Febr. 2	ON 63	Returned (not mentioned, Page 1). Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	Febr. 8	Clyde	–	–	ON 65	For NYC. Dispersed 43 50N 47 45W, Febr. 19. Convoy will be added. See link above
	Febr. 19	Dispersed from ON 65	New York City	Febr. 25	Independent	–
	Apr. 20	New York City	Halifax	Apr. 22	Independent	–
	Apr. 26	Halifax	Clyde	May 8	HX 187	(See aslo Page 1).
	May 15	Clyde	Cape Cod Canal	May 29	ON 95	For NYC. Convoy will be added. See link above
	May 29	Cape Cod Canal	New York City	May 30	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	Mobile	June 20	Independent	–
	July 9	Mobile	Port Arthur	July 11	Independent	See also Page 2
	July 12	Port Arthur	Texas City	July 13	Independent	–
	July 17	Texas City	New Orleans	July 19	Independent	–
	July 25	New Orleans	Key West	July 27	Independent	–
	July 31	Key West	New York City	Aug. 6	KN 125	Via Hampton Roads (Page 2). Convoy available at KN convoys (external link)
	Aug. 8	New York City	Cape Cod Bay	–	Independent	–
	Aug. 13	Cape Cod Bay	Halifax	Aug. 16	BX 33	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	Aug. 16	Halifax	Clyde	Aug. 28	HX 203	–
	Sept. 11	Clyde	New York City	Sept. 25	ON 129	Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	Nov. 3	New York City	Clyde	Nov. 17	HX 214	Missing movements, Page 2
	Nov. 27	Clyde	New York City	Dec. 12	ON 149	Convoy will be added. See link above
	Dec. 21	New York City	Clyde	Jan. 9-1943	HX 220	Missing movements, Page 2
1943	Febr. 11	Clyde	–	–	ON 166	Sunk - See "Final Fate" 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 and/or narrative are also available for some of them and several Norwegian ships took part.

Judging from the information found on Page 1 of the archive documents, it looks like N. T. Nielsen Alonso was in Rio de Janeiro when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940, having arrived there from the Antarctic on March 19. Departure is given as May 4.

According to the Memorial for Seamen in Stavern, Norway a man named Paul Olsen died in an accident on board this ship on May 6-1940 - ref. link at the end of this page. From the archive document, we learn that N. T. Nielsen Alonso was on her way from Rio de Janeiro to Victoria, Brazil on that date.

On the same document, it'll also be noticed that she appears to have spent almost 2 months in Curacao that year, and there's another long gap in her voyages later on - she had arrived New York on Aug. 1-1940; departure is given as Jan. 2-1941, when she proceeded to Curacao again.

Together with Berto, Bjerka, Bollsta, Chr. Knudsen, Don, Einvik, Loke, Rena and Rym, Arnold Hague has included her in Convoy SC 36*, departing Sydney, C.B. on July 1-1941, arriving Liverpool on the 19th. She subsequently headed back in the other direction in Convoy ON 1, leaving Liverpool on July 26. She arrived Halifax on Aug. 12, the convoy having been dispersed on the 9th. Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 1.

In Oct.-1941 she's listed in Convoy HX 154 from Halifax to the U.K., along with the Norwegian Hilda Knudsen, Kaia Knudsen, Ranja, Tai Shan, Samuel Bakke, Emma Bakke, Polarsol, Skiensfjord, Toronto, Noreg and Svenør. A. Hague says she had 7 passengers on board on this voyage. At the beginning of the following month she joined the westbound Convoy ON 32. She had station 32, and was bound for New York, where she arrived on Nov. 18, remaining there for several weeks.

Her next Trans-Atlantic voyage was made in Jan.-1942, when she returned to the U.K. in Convoy HX 168 from Halifax, together with the Norwegian Fernmoor, Tai Shan, Triton and G. C. Brøvig. Brimanger was also scheduled for this convoy, but did not sail. The following month we find N. T. Nielsen Alonso in the westbound Convoy ON 63*, originating in Liverpool on Febr. 2, but she returned to Clyde (not mentioned on Page 1), later joining Convoy ON 65*, which started out in Liverpool on Febr. 8 and dispersed on the 19th, N.T. Nielsen Alonso arriving New York on Febr. 25. Arthur W. Sewall, Bralanta, Cetus, Egda, G. C. Brøvig, Hardanger, Kaldfonn, Kollbjørg, Mirlo, Nueva Granada, Stiklestad, Tankexpress, Troubadour and Vav are also listed. According to the archive document, she remained in New York until Apr. 19 when she proceeded to Halifax in order to join Convoy HX 187 to the U.K. on Apr. 26. In May she's listed, with Abraham Lincoln, Daghild, Fernwood, Hardanger, Helgøy, Morgenen, Norbryn, Solstad, Stigstad and Trondheim, in the westbound Convoy ON 95*. She arrived New York on May 30, having started out from Clyde on the 15th.

As can be seen on Page 2, she now made voyages to Hampton Roads, Mobile, New Orleans, Port Arthur, Texas City and Key West, then back to New York and on to Halifax (convoy information for some of these voyages can be found in A. Hague's Voyage Record above), where she joined Convoy HX 203 for the U.K. on Aug. 16-1942. Along with Atlantic, Brant County, Kollbjørg, Meline, San Andres, Vardefjell, Vav and Velma (in collision, returned to port), she later went back in the other direction with Convoy ON 129*, originating in Liverpool Sept. 11, arriving New York on the 25th. She now had another long stay in New York, then on Nov. 3 she can be found among the ships in Convoy HX 214, bound for Clyde in station 33, arriving Nov. 17, subsequently joining the westbound Convoy ON 149* in order to go back to New York, where she arrived on Dec. 12. Evita, Høyanger, Morgenen, Vanja and Vinga, as well as the Panamanian Norlys (Norwegian managers and included under the N's of this website) are also named in this convoy which originated in Liverpool Nov. 26. She started on her return voyage to the U.K. in Convoy HX 220 from New York on Dec. 21, and arrived Clyde on Jan. 9-1943. N. T. Nielsen Alonso had teak on board in addition to her oil cargo, sailing in station 44.

Final Fate -1943:

N. T. Nielsen-Alonso had departed Clyde in ballast (4000 tons water) on Febr. 11-1943, and was on a voyage from Glasgow for New York, having joined Convoy ON 166, originally consisting of 48 (49?) ships, but in the stormy weather 9 ships had been unable to keep up. The convoy was spotted on Febr. 20 by U-604 and for the next 4 days, 18 U-boats were chasing it over a distance of 1100 n. miles. The Norwegian M/T Stigstad was torpedoed on the 21st, and at 02:15 the next morning, when 800 miles east of Cape Race, N. T. Nielsen-Alonso, in station 25 of the convoy, received a torpedo amidships in the engine/boiler room, port side, from U-92 (Oelrich). According to a memorandum, based on survivors' statements, dated March 31-1943 and signed U.S.N.R. Lt. Robert G. Fulton, she was sailing on course 231° true at a speed of 10 knots in clear weather with moonlight, northwest wind force 3 and a heavy sea. She was blacked out, radio silent and not zig-zagging. 11 trained lookouts had been on watch for 2 hours; 6 aft and 5 on the bridge equipped with 2 pairs of binoculars, but the U-boat was not seen. The boiler room flooded at once, and the engine room also filled with water, disabling the machinery immediately and killing 3 men there. An SOS was sent but no reply was known to have been received.

The ship was abandoned within 10 minutes and the 50 survivors distributed in 4 boats (starboard boats, and the aft port boat, the remaining port lifeboats having been destroyed), then rowed away from the factory. About 20 minutes later, she was struck by another torpedo, this time from U-753 (Mannstein), but she remained afloat until she was sunk about 8 hours later by the escorting Polish destroyer Burza (48 00N 34 00W).

The survivors were picked up at about 05:30 by the American coast guard cutter Campbell and later (time given as "11:00, next day" in a Norwegian report) transferred to Burza which landed them at St. John's, N. F. on Febr. 27. The maritime hearings were held there on March 2-1943, with the captain, the 3rd mate (officer on watch - had been on board for 3 months), the 1st engineer (on board for 7 1/2 years), and Able Seaman Sporsheim (helmsman) appearing.

The info given above is a summary of details from several different sources (some named at the bottom of this page). Burza's war diary gives a different time and sinking position - as is noted in this message on my Ship Forum. Jürgen Rowher's "Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two" says N. T. Nielsen-Alonso was hit during the first and third attacks on the convoy by U-92's FAT torpedoes at 04:36, Febr. 22 (German time) and finally by a T-3 torpedo from U-753 at 07:29. He adds she was sunk by Burza at 12:00 hrs GCT in position 48N 31 24W - this position is also given by Lloyd's War Losses, Vol I. The memorandum gives initial attack time as 04:15 GCT, approx. postion 48N 34W, sunk about 8 hrs later by a torpedo from Burza, as mentioned. Survivors picked up at approx. 07:30 GCT by Campbell. The memorandum adds that red lights were lit on the bridge before abandoning and that classified documents went down with the ship. Page 2 simply says she was lost at 10:00 on the 22nd. (J. Rohwer also claims the Norwegian M/T Thorsholm became a straggler of Convoy ON 166, and that she on Febr. 22 struck a mine laid by U-118 on Febr. 1, 15 n. miles 14° Cape Espartel, but this ship could not have been a straggler from Convoy ON 166, which was in a different area altogether. Follow the link for further info).

The external website about the coast guard cutter Campbell that I've linked to at the end of this page, states that when it was discovered that the whale factory's confidential documents had not been destroyed prior to abandoning ship, Campbell returned to the wreck of N. T. Nielsen Alonso and "opened up with her deck guns, igniting the tanker's bridge in the area where Alonso's commanding officer reported the documents to be" - the site has quite a bit of information on the events taking place in Convoy ON 166.

Here's what the above website says with regard to N. T. Nielsen Alonso:
"During the next day, 22 February 1943, the Norwegian tanker SS Nielsen Alonso was torpedoed and dead in the water astern of the convoy and the escort commander, as the convoy's rescue vessel, Stockport, was occupied, ordered Campbell to the tanker's assistance. Arriving in the vicinity of the tanker, Campbell found her still afloat and in no apparent danger of sinking. She rescued the 50 surviving crewmen who had taken to their lifeboats. One-half hour after setting course and steaming back towards the convoy, Hirschfield learned that the merchant sailors had not destroyed their confidential publications and these documents were still on board the abandoned wreck. The Campbell then obtained permission to return to the tanker and ensure the destruction of those documents. As they once again approached the still floating tanker, the men watched as a torpedo exploded against the Norwegian's hull. After dodging a torpedo believed to have been fired at Campbell, lookouts spotted a surfaced U-boat in the distance and the cutter got underway and prepared to attack. The U-boat crash dived after being illuminated by one of Campbell's searchlights but the cutter's sonar operator quickly picked up her echo. The cutter commenced a devastating depth charge attack, bringing some debris and oil to the surface but they were unable to regain contact.

The Campbell then returned to the wreck of the Nielsen Alonso and opened up with her deck guns, igniting the tanker's bridge in the area where Alonso's commanding officer reported the documents to be. Urgent requests for assistance from the convoy convinced Hirschfield that he needed to get back but by now the convoy was nearly 40 miles away and the cutter's 271 search radar was inoperative due to the vibrations caused by the many depth charge explosions. The radar technicians, led by CRM Benjamin Stelmasczyk, were able to get the radar operative again".

The factory is also mentioned further down in the report, as follows:
"The Burza was then ordered to take the Campbell in tow, but because of the risks involved of proceeding without screen it was decided to await further assistance. On the 23rd some 120 members of the Campbell's crew were transferred to Burza as well as 50 Nielsen Alonso survivors as the remaining crew attempted to patch the gash in the hull (of the cutter). The Burza remained to guard the Campbell until the arrival of the British tug Tenacity on the 26th. The Tenacity took her in tow and with two British escorts as screens, proceeded to St. John's where they arrived on the 3rd of March 1943. On the 15th, after the openings in her hull had been closed she was towed to Argentia where she underwent repairs until the 19th of May, 1943".

Other Norwegian ships sunk were M/S Ingria and M/T Glittre - follow the links for details. My page about Convoy ON 166, as well as the external websites that I've linked to at the end of this page have more information. Other Norwegian ships sailing in this convoy were Molda, Skandinavia, Tai Shan, Tropic Star and Brasil.

For info, U-753 had also been responsible for the attacks on Haakon Hauan and Hamlet the year before - follow the links for details.

Crew List:
Some of the survivors had been on board Lancing when that factory was sunk the year before. I've compared this crew list with Lancing's crew list and in addition to Captain Bjerkholt, I find that Boatswain Rasmus Eikeseth, Stoker Åge Johannessen, and a Swedish Gustav Olsson (listed as able seaman) were on that ship when sunk. There's also an Erling Johannessen - listed as electrician on Lancing; same man?
Emil Sørseth had previously served on Heimvard (escaped from internment), Velma and Katy. Following the loss of N.T. Nielsen Alonso, he joined Sandviken.

Survivors
Captain Johan Henry Bjerkholt	1st Mate Olav Mørch	2nd Mate Sverre Bjønnes	3rd Mate Jens Martin Andersen	Radio Operator Leif B. Amundsen	Carpenter Leif Kongstein
Boatswain Rasmus Eikesæth	Able Seaman Arne Jensen	Able Seaman Karl Hansen	Able Seaman Alfred Vold	Able Seaman Harald Mathisen	Able Seaman Erling Johannessen
Able Seaman Walter Eriksen	Able Seaman Thor Albert Stokstad	Able Seaman Ole Andreas Sporsheim	Able Seaman John Rollefsen	Able Seaman Einar O. H. Hardersen	Able Seaman Alf Paulsen
Able Seaman Jarl Dahl Jensen	Able Seaman Henry Thorsen	Able Seaman Trygve Kristiansen	Able Seaman/Gunner Svein Kristiansen	Able Seaman/Gunner Emil Sørseth	Able Seaman/Gunner Adolf Johansen
Able Seaman/Gunner Kristoffer Furevik	Able Seaman/Gunner Ragnar Hjørnevåg	Able Seaman/Gunner Vidar Johansen	1st Engineer Einar Hansen	2nd Engineer Olaf Johannessen	3rd? Engineer Hans Chr. Nystad
Donkeyman Martin Fløysland	Pump Man Arne Henry Eriksen	Stoker Karl Arthur Johansen	Stoker Knut Roberg	Stoker Thorvald Knudsen	Stoker Åge J. Johannessen
Stoker Ludvig Larsen	Stoker Ellef Halgrimsen	Stoker Hilbert Jensen	Stoker Ole Andersen Laupet	Stoker Guttorm Dyrø	Stoker Hartvig Martinsen
Steward Jens Ruberg	Cook Arne Sæves	Cook Karsten H. Pettersen	Mess Boy Rolf Hornemann	Mess Boy John L. Byrne (Canadian)	Mess Boy Josef S. H. Johansen
Mess Boy Gustav Olsson (Swedish)	Mess Boy Edward Hill (British)
Casualties:
† 3rd Engineer William Fjelberg	† Stoker Thorbjørn Larsen	† Stoker Erling Jensen	All died in the engine room

Related external links:
Stavern Memorial - The website has recently been updated and unfortunately, the casualties are no longer named. However, they can be found by going to "Søk 2. verdenskrig" and entering each name in the search field for "Personer". As mentioned, Paul Olsen is said to have died in an accident on board on May 6-1940. From Page 1, we learn that N. T. Nielsen Alonso was on her way from Rio de Janeiro to Victoria, Brazil on that date.

ON 166, 21 - 26 Feb 1943
U-92 | U-753

The history of USS Campbell - The rescue of N. T. Nielsen Alonso's survivors is described.

Hyperwar - Linked directly to Robert Cressman's book entries for 1943 - scroll down to Febr. 20, 21, 22 and 23 for details on the attack on ON 166.

Back to N. T. Nielsen Alonso on the "Ships starting with N" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume II (Norwegian Maritime Museum), summary of survivors' statements in a memorandum received from Tony Cooper, England, and misc. (ref. My sources).