M/T Ranja
Updated Febr. 7-2009

To Ranja on the "Ships starting with R" page.

Crew List


From Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.


This picture was received from Sverre Johansen, whose uncle, John Johansen lost his life when Ranja was sunk,
and whose father was killed when Harboe Jensen went down.

Breakout from Sweden - Jan.-1941:

Ranja was in Sweden when Norway was invaded by the Germans on Apr. 9-1940, but was 1 of the 5 ships that escaped on Jan. 23-1941. Captain of Ranja at the time of breakout was the *British J. Nicolson. Ranja (in ballast?) was attacked by aircraft on Jan. 24, position 58 45N 04 10E, and the Swedish 1st mate Nils Rydberg, who was in the process of seeking shelter behind the concrete protection on the bridge, was hit by 5 bullets before he reached cover. He had been hit in the stomach, and though he was admitted to Balfour Hospital upon arrival Kirkwall he died 4 days later. He was post humously awarded Order of the British Empire. The 2nd mate, Viktor Boström was also Swedish. All 5 ships reached Kirkwall on Jan. 25.

147 men and 1 woman (wife of Chief Enginner Hans G. Hansen of John Bakke) had taken part in the breakout, 58 were British, 57 Norwegian, 31 Swedish and 1 Latvian. Full details on this operation (codenamed Rubble) can be found under Elisabeth Bakke.

*After the 2nd battle of Narvik, the crews of the British D/S Blythmoor, sunk Narvik Apr. 10, D/S Mersington Court, sunk Narvik Apr. 15, D/S Romanby, sunk Narvik Apr. 22/23-1940, and D/S Riverton, sunk Narvik Apr. 24, as well as survivors from the destroyers Hunter and Hardy (sunk, 1st battle of Narvik) had been taken through deep snow across to Sweden, where they were subsequently placed at the camp Hälsingmo north of Stockholm. George Binney used several of these men for Operation Rubble, because a great deal of the Norwegians on board, especially officers, were reluctant to take the risks involved, feeling the attempt was bound to fail. Among Ranja's crew of 26, 15 of whom were British, were also 3 able seamen from HMS Hunter.

Misc. Convoy Voyages – 1941-1942:

Ranja was scheduled for Convoy OB 300, originating in Liverpool on March 20-1941, but she returned to port and later joined the next convoy, OB 301, which originated in Liverpool on March 23 and dispersed on the 27th; her destination is given as Curacao, where she arrived on Apr. 12, having started out from Clyde March 23. There's a note in connection with this convoy, saying that Ranja constantly left the convoy due to defective steering gear. She returned to the U.K. in May in Convoy HX 127, joining with the Bermuda portion. Ranja had a cargo of diesel oil and was bound for Manchester, arriving there on June 6. She subsequently joined Convoy OB 335, leaving Liverpool on June 16, arriving Halifax on July 2 - Ranja, however, was bound for New York, where she arrived July 4, according to Page 1. See the external link below for more info on the OB convoys mentioned here.

Arnold Hague has also included Ranja in Convoy HX 144, which left Halifax on Aug. 10-1941 and arrived Liverpool on the 30th. As will be seen, she's not mentioned on my own page for this convoy, but my information may be incomplete; I've linked directly to Hague's listing below. Ranja stopped by Belfast Lough on Aug. 29, joining Convoy BB 69 from there that same day, and arrived Swansea on Aug. 31. The following month we find her in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 15, along with 7 other Norwegian ships. She arrived New York on Sept. 25, the convoy having been dispersed on the 16th, later heading back to the U.K. on Oct. 10 with Convoy HX 154 from Halifax, together with the Norwegian Tai Shan, Hilda Knudsen, Kaia Knudsen, Samuel Bakke, Emma Bakke, Polarsol, Skiensfjord, N. T. Nielsen-Alonso, Toronto, Noreg and Svenør. Some of these ships, including Ranja, subsequently returned with the westbound Convoy ON 34, which left Liverpool on Nov. 7-1941. Her destination is given as Providence, where she arrived on Nov. 21. She now went back to the U.K. again in Convoy HX 163 (departed Halifax on Dec. 3-1941) together with the Norwegian Andrea Brøvig, Haakon Hauan, Ringstad, Harpefjell, Ørnefjell, Høegh Giant, Pan Aruba, and Thorshøvdi.

In Jan.-1942 she's listed as bound for Curacao in Convoy ON 57*, which departed Liverpool on Jan. 13 and dispersed on Febr. 7. See also Ingrid and Astrell, as well as Page 2 of the archive documents, where we learn that Ranja arrived Galveston on Febr. 12 (Curacao is not mentioned). This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section; in the meantime, the ships sailing in it (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys.

Related external links:
OB convoys - OB 300 and OB 301 are included. Another section of the same site, based on Arnold Hague's database, lists her in OB 335, HX 144, and BB 69, all mentioned in my text above.

Final Fate - 1942:

Ranja was torpedoed on March 17-1942 by U-71 (Flachsenberg) and sunk 38N 65 20W - all 34 on board died. According to a newspaper article I've received from T. Saksvik, author of the article, Ranja was en route from Galveston to Halifax alone (in order to join a convoy) with a cargo of oil for the U.K. - again, see also Page 2, which says she had left Galveston on March 7 and arrived Houston that same day, leaving again for Halifax on March 9.

She had 30 Norwegian crew, 1 Swedish and 1 Danish, as well as 2 British gunners. Captain at the time was Andreas Mossin. T. Saksvik has also added some details from U-71's KTB, describing some of the damages Ranja received. According to this, the U-boat spotted her at 17:40, then fired 2 torpedoes at 18:58 from 1400 meters, depth 2.5 meters. The torpedoes hit the bridge forward of the funnel, followed by an explosion, with an estimated 400 meters tall column of flames and a lot of smoke. At 19:07 the target was identified as an armed tanker carrying petroleum. She was on fire up to the foreship, with reduced speed, turning to port, with a port list and deeper in the water. A 2nd torpedo was fired at 19:54; a surface runner fired from a distance of 800 meters, level with the forward masts, resulting in another explosion. Entire ship on fire, no longer moving. Mast and bridge had collapsed, foredeck under water and appeared to have broken apart. She was not seen sinking but judged to have done so for sure. U-boat departed at 20:06 (towards Cape Hatteras).

(Charles Hocking gives the position as "about 450 miles east/southeast of Philadelphia" and states she was on a voyage from Houston to Halifax, loaded, agreeing with the number of casualties).

Crew List - No survivors:

Casualties
† Captain Andreas Mossin	† 1st Mate Johan Ravnås	† 2nd Mate John Johansen	† 3rd Mate Reidar Jacobsen	† Radio Operator Arve Rognerud	† Carpenter Evald Eriksen
† Boatswain Stefan Bekker	† Able Seaman Lars Johansen Løve	† Able Seaman Harald Andersen *	† Able Seaman Konrad Færø	† Able Seaman Hugo Øien	† Able Seaman Anders Skipnæs
† Able Seaman Ole Sandøy	† Able Seaman Jens Kristensen (Danish)	† Able Seaman Odd Lyngsnæs	† 1st Engineer Odd Barden	† 2nd Engineer Wilhelm Nilsen	† 3rd Engineer Olav Gamlen
† Assistant Edvard Grande	† Electrician Antonius Nordlie	† Mechanic Torger Farkvam	† Mechanic Leonard Hermansen	† Pumpman Henrik Hansen	† Oiler Endre Landro
† Oiler Ragnar Henriksen	† Oiler Johan Martinsen	† Steward Hjalmar Myklestad	† Cook Karl Erikson (Swedish)	† Galley Boy Kjell Mjøs	† Mess Boy Petter Pettersen
† Mess Boy William Flåten	† Mess Boy Rolf Viger	† Gunner George Craske * (British)	† Gunner Robert Cairns * (British)

Related external links:
Stavern Memorial commemorations - At first glance it looks like 31 Norwegians are commemorated here, but Boatswain Stefan Martin Bekker is mentioned twice. Otherwise the list agrees on the whole with the above, though some of the names are spelt a little differently. *Also, there seems to be a mix up with the name Harald Andersen - the one who is commemorated at this memorial for seamen (listed as boatswain) does not appear to be the same as the able seaman listed in the above table. The memorial's Harald Andersen can be found on my Merchant Marine Prisoners of War page (I've checked the birthdates, and they are the same). He died as a prisoner of the Japanese on Dec. 15-1944 - more info is available on my POW's page. This could mean that he had served on Ranja at some point, then paid off to join another ship, or it's just a simple mix-up(?)

Operations information for U-71 - Names all the ships sunk by this U-boat.

More on U-71

Back to Ranja on the "Ships starting with R" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Blokkadebryterne" Ralph Barker (1976), translated to Norwegian by Gunnar Thommessen from "The Blockade Busters", "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume II, Norwegian Maritime Museum. and misc., and misc. (ref. My sources).