Owner: Skibs-A/S Birholdt
Manager: Birger Ekerholt, Oslo
Tonnage: 1128 gt, 1830 tdwt
Signal Letters: LCMW

Built at Akers mek. Verksted, Oslo, Norway in 1918. According to a message in this thread on my Ship Forum, she had the previous names Nord 1938, ex Beran 1937, ex Doravore 1932, ex Stemshest. (Source: Lloyds register 1943/44).
The external page that I've linked to above says she was delivered as Stemshest in Jan.-1918 to Kristiansunds D/S Rederi A/S (H. Schnitler), Kristiansund N. Owned from Aug.-1922 by Rederi A/S Tramp (L. Skougaard), Kristiania, no name change. From Apr.-1924, A/S Vore (Lundegaard & Stray), Farsund, same name. Renamed Doravore in Aug.-1925. Managed from Jan.-1929 by Gunstein Stray & Søn, Farsund, same owners. From Oct.-1932, Rederi A/S Beran (T. Jentoft Berge), Oslo, renamed Beran. Owned from Apr.-1937 by Rederi A/S Niord (Th. Ahrenberg), Gothenburg, renamed Niord. Renamed Reiås for Skibs A/S Birholt (Birger Ekerholt), Oslo in 1938.

Captain: Thomas Olsen

Related item on this website:
Forum message from a relative of Gunner Horace J. Walker, one of Reiaas' casualties (see crew list further down on this page).

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 | Page 8 | Page 9 | Page 10 | Page 11

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each (where the Convoy column is left blank, it means that convoy is not known). It'll be noticed that some of the external convoy listings are incomplete.

Errors may exist (this could also mean that she may not have sailed in all the convoys mentioned here), and some voyages are missing.

Reiaas is listed as sailing in Convoy HN 17 from Norway to the U.K. in March-1940, bound for Rouen with pulp. According to Page 1 of the archive documents, she left Rouen on March 22 with the intention of returning to Norway but was diverted to Chatham (Norway was invaded on Apr. 9), where she eventually arrived (via various other ports) on May 7. As can be seen, she made another voyage to France later that month (possibly also in June).

That summer, we find her in Convoy OB 188, which originated in Liverpool on July 23 and dispersed on the 27th, Reiaas arriving Sydney, C.B. on Aug. 7 (having started out from Milford Haven July 23). Borgholm, Gaston Micard, Glarona, Inger, Loke (returned) and Lotos are also named in this convoy, which is available via the external link provided in the table above. Having made voyages to Halifax and Pugwash, Reiaas returned to Sydney, C.B. in order to join the slow Convoy SC 3 back to the U.K. on Sept. 2, from which the Norwegian Lotos and others were sunk - follow the links for details. Reiaas had a cargo of lumber for Montrose. The following month she's listed, along with Arosa and Rym, in Convoy OA 229, departing Methil on Oct. 13, dispersed Oct. 18 - again, ref. external link within the Voyage Record. Her destination is not given, but going back to Page 1, we learn that she arrived Sydney, C.B. on Oct. 30. From there, she later made a voyage to Buctouche and back to Sydney, C.B. and on Nov. 13, she joined Convoy SC 12, cargo of pit props for Hull, where she arrived Dec. 9. She subsequently made voyages mostly around the U.K. - see Page 2; convoy information for some of these can be found within the Voyage Record.

Skipping now to Aug.-1941, when she according to A. Hague made a voyage from the U.K. to Iceland with the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 4. She arrived Reykjavik on Aug. 13, having sailed from Clyde on the 7th - her voyages in this period are shown on Page 3. Arnold Hague later has her in the eastbound Convoy SC 41, which had started out in Sydney, C.B. on Aug. 24 and arrived Liverpool Sept. 11. Reiaas, however, sailed from Reykjavik on Sept. 5 and arrived Clyde on the 12th. This convoy is not yet availbale among the SC convoys included in my Convoys section, but will be added - see Ships in all SC convoys. Akabahra, Astra, Audun, Balduin, Blink, Carrier (returned), Einvik (sunk - follow the link for more info), Evviva, Fagersten, Fanefjeld, Grado, Gudrun, Heien, Hestmanden, Hildur I, Ledaal, Leka, Lom, Marga, Nesttun, Orania (returned), Siak and Spes are also listed, several of which joined from Iceland.

On Febr. 8-1942, I have her in Convoy RU 11 from Reykjavik to the U.K., bound for Glasgow, where she arrived Febr. 14 - see Page 4.

According to the Stavern Memorial, Reiaas lost a crew member in May-1944. Donkeyman Berger Johansen is listed as having died on board on May 11 due to illness (ref. external link below) - her voyages at this time are shown on Page 11.

More info on all the other Norwegian ships mentioned here can be found via the alphabet index at the end of this page, or go to the Master Ship Index.

Related external link:
Stavern Memorial commemoration - Donkeyman Berger Johansen, mentioned above, is commemorated.

* H. Walker can be found on this page on the Commonwealth War Graves Comm. website. He's commemorated at the Chatham Naval Memorial. Here's a forum message from a relative. There's also a Norman Berry listed as having died on the day Reiaas was lost, commemorated at the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

This company had another Reiaas (or Reiås) before the war - sailed as Bjørnvik during the war.

Aa–Al	An–Ar	As–Av	Ba	Be	Bi–Bl	Bo	Br–Bu	C	D
E	F	G	Ha	He	Hi–Hy	Hø	I	J	K
L	M	N	O	PQ	R	Sa–Sc	Se–Sj	Sk–Sn	So
Sp–St	Su–Sø	Ta–Te	Th–Ti	To	Tr–Tø	U	V	W	Ø

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