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M/T Pan Aruba To Pan Aruba on the "Ships starting with P" page. Manager: Leif Høegh & Co. A/S, Oslo Completed in Febr.-1931 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd., Newcastle. Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives: Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.
(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 are missing.
As will be seen when going to Page 1 of the archive documents, Pan Aruba was on her way from Aruba to Pernambuco when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940. She arrived Pernambuco on Apr. 15, continuing to Rio de Janeiro the next day. Her 1941 voyages also start on this document; it'll be noticed that she appears to have spent quite a long time in Rio that spring. She had arrived there from Aruba on March 10-1941 and departure is given as May 9. She was bound for Talara, but A. Hague says she returned to Rio with engine defects the next day, leaving again on May 21 for Curacao. According to the Memorial for Seamen in Stavern, Norway (ref. link at the end of this page), she lost a crew member later that year. Able Seaman Øivind Dahle Olsen is commemorated. The site says he died at sea on Aug. 24-1941 following an accident. From Page 1, we learn that Pan Aruba was on her way from Rio de Janeiro to Aruba on that date. From Aruba, where she had arrived Sept. 3, she proceeded to New York City on the 5th, remaining there for about 3 weeks, before continuing to Port Arthur, then on to Halifax in order to join Convoy HX 163, departing Halifax on Dec. 3. Pan Aruba arrived Swansea, via Belfast Lough, on Dec. 23 - see Page 2. A month later she joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 59*, which originated in Liverpool on Jan. 23-1942 and dispersed Febr. 6. Braganza, Hardanger (returned), Herbrand, Hilda Knudsen, Kongsgaard, Norsktank (returned), O. A. Knudsen, Salamis, Sommerstad (returned), Svenør, Sydhav and Thorshavet are also listed. Pan Aruba's destination is given as Aruba, which agrees with the archive document, but her arrival there is not mentioned on the document, which says she arrived Halifax on Febr. 6, having sailed from Belfast Lough on Jan. 24. From Halifax, she later proceeded to Boston, spending almost a month there (for rudder repairs, according to A. Hague) before making a voyage to Providence, R.I. then returned to Halifax, where she joined Convoy HX 182 back to the U.K. on March 27; she arrived Swansea Apr. 11. Acanthus, Eglantine, Kos XX, Potentilla and Rose are named among the escorts for this convoy. Together with Brønnøy, Cypria, Haakon Hauan, Hamlet, Nueva Granada, Samuel Bakke and Torvanger, she later joined the westbound Convoy ON 89*, originating in Liverpool on Apr. 23, arriving Halifax May 5, however, Pan Aruba's destination was New York, where she arrived May 7. She now made some voyages around the U.S. (Page 2) then on June 21 we find her in Convoy HX 195 from Halifax. She arrived Avonmouth on July 4, later joining the westbound Convoy ON 111* (originated in Liverpool July 10), but returned to port (Belfast Lough), subsequently joining Convoy ON 113*, which started out in Liverpool on July 17 and arrived Halifax on the 31st. Pan Aruba, however, was bound for New York again and arrived there on Aug. 3. Both these convoys had several Norwegian ships, namely Bralanta, Bronxville, Hjalmar Wessel (returned), Kosmos II, Lynghaug and Nueva Granada in ON 111 (Acanthus and Potentilla are again named among the escorts, as is Montbretia - see ON convoy escorts), while Abraham Lincoln, Evita, Harpefjell, Norsol, Salamis, Solsten, Thorhild and Vav are listed in ON 113. She now made some voyages around the U.S. again (see Page 2 and Voyage Record above), before returning to New York and according to Arnold Hague, she went back to the U.K. in Convoy SC 103*, departing New York on Sept. 26-1942, arriving Liverpool Oct. 14. Pan Aruba stopped at Belfast Lough on Oct. 13/14, proceeding from there to Avonmouth, with arrival Oct. 16 - her voyages in this period are shown on Page 3. Ada, Boreas, Ingerfire, Rio Branco, Rolf Jarl, Solitaire, Carmelfjell, Jan, Norfalk, Solhavn, Solstad and Vinland are also named in this convoy. A week later we find her in station 91 of Convoy ON 141*, which left Liverpool on Oct. 24 (Pan Aruba joined from Milford Haven) and arrived New York Nov. 10. She had again been in the company of several other Norwegian ships, namely Albert L. Ellsworth, Anna Odland, Aun, Fagerfjell, Fernmoor, Fernwood, Gallia, Herbrand, Jenny (returned), Reinholt, Salamis, Samuel Bakke (Commodore Vessel), Skiensfjord, Trondheim and Ørnefjell. Christmas of 1942 was celebrated while in Convoy HX 219, leaving New York on Dec. 13, arriving Liverpool on the 29th. Pan Aruba was bound for Avonmouth with gasoline, station 93, and arrived that destination, via Belfast Lough, on Dec. 30. She subsequently went back across the Atlantic with Convoy ON 162, which originated in Liverpool on Jan. 23-1943 and arrived New York Febr. 11. A. Hague now has her, along with Belinda, B. P. Newton, Ferncourt, Haakon Hauan, Kaldfonn, Mosli, Norholm, Polartank (returned following collision), Skaraas, Stiklestad, Strinda and Thorshov, in Convoy HX 227*, leaving New York on Febr. 18, arriving Liverpool March 6. Acanthus and Eglantine are again named among the escorts - see HX convoy escorts. A week later, Pan Aruba joined Convoy ON 173* (departure Liverpool March 13) in order to head back to New York, where she arrived on March 31. B. P. Newton, Emma Bakke, Dageid, Ferncourt, Frontenac, Haakon Hauan, Idefjord, Mosli, Skaraas, Stiklestad, Strinda and Thorshov also took part. From New York, Pan Aruba headed to Baltimore on Apr. 4 (Page 3), spending a month there before returning to New York, then made a voyage to Algiers and back (convoy details in Voyage Record above) and that summer she can be found in Convoy HX 249, which left New York for the U.K. on July 23. Her destinationn is again given as Avonmouth, and she arrived there on Aug. 7. She returned to New York again shortly thereafter, having joined Convoy ON 197*, which originated in Liverpool on Aug. 14 and arrived New York on the 28th. Brajara, Dageid, Orwell, Helgøy, Leiv Eiriksson and Slemmestad are also listed. Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 4; convoy information for some of these can be found in A. Hague's Voyage Record. As will be seen, she spent quite a long time in New York, then headed to North Africa again. She made a voyage from Augusta to Port Said in Jan.-1944, having joined Convoy KMS 36* (from Gibraltar Jan. 3, to Port Said Jan. 13 - Pan Aruba sailed from Augusta on Jan. 8). The following month, she was in the convoy in which the Norwegian Erling Brøvig was torpedoed (follow the link for details on this attack), namely Convoy PA 69, departing Bandar Abbas Febr. 16, arriving Aden Febr. 24. The Norwegian Athos, Egda, and Ima are also listed in this convoy, which is available via the external link provided in the table above. I've received an E-mail from Jan. E. Gabrielsen, Norway, whose father was on board at the time, saying that the explosion was so close to Pan Aruba that the propulsion machinery was partly damaged and consequently led to reduced speed for the rest of the convoy journey and also for the rest of the war. Jan enclosed a note about witness statements given during a hearing in Oslo after the war (May-1949) concerning the damage of the main engine in the above mentioned attack outside Gulf of Aden, and from that it looks like they believed the U-boat was sunk by escort vessels, but U 510, which was responsible for the attack, was in operation until May-1945. The crew's belief that the U-boat had been sunk stemmed from the fact that the ship was shaken so violently by an explosion underneath her that they assumed a U-boat had exploded. Pan Aruba's 1st mate at the time, and all through the war, was Eyolf Grenness. Jan adds: "My father who served as engineer on board Pan Aruba told me that they sailed the Pacific Ocean with gasoline to American forces after the liberation of Europe in May 1945. Pan Aruba was located near the Marshall Islands when the atomic bombs fell over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Agust 1945 and finally ended the WWII." A little over a week later, I have her in Convoy GUS 33. This convoy, which had a number of Norwegian ships, departed Port Said on March 5 and arrived Hampton Roads on Apr. 4, but many ships had other destinations and left the convoy along the way. In fact (though initially bound for Augusta), Pan Aruba left the convoy for Algiers on March 14, as did the Norwegian Hjalmar Wessel, which had joined GUS 33 from Augusta on March 11. From Algiers, Pan Aruba made a voyage to Corsica, then returned to Algiers, continuing to New York from there, with arrival Apr. 22 (Convoy GUS 35 - link in table above). Again, see Page 4. It'll be noticed that she subsequently spent a long time in New York. Departure is given as Oct. 11, when she proceeded to Curacao. Her 1945 voyages also start on Page 4 and continue on Page 5, which also has a few 1946 voyages.
Sold in May-1948 to Rederi-A/B Hans von Rettig (manager Wilh Bensow O/Y), Finland, placed in the ownership of Rederi-A/B Re-be (manager G. Damström), Finland, and renamed Aruba. Reverted to Rederi-A/B Hans von Rettig in 1956. Sold in 1959 to the Yugoslavian shipbreakers Brodospas, and during May that year she was delivered at Split, Yugoslavia for demolition. Related external links: Back to Pan Aruba on the "Ships starting with P" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Misc. sources, incl. Leif Høegh & Co. fleet list.
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