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M/S Rio Branco To Rio Branco on the "Ships starting with R" page. Owner: A/S Sobral Built by Fried Krupp Germaniawerft AG, Kiel, Germany in 1925. Previous names: Marie Horn until 1935, Boca Raton until 1936. In the Norwegian magazine "Krigsseileren", No. 1/1985 I found the names of 16 Norwegians who are buried at Pine Ridge Cemetery, Saranac Lake, NY. One of them was Otto Wilhelm Eriksen from Rio Branco, who died in Oct.-1942. Please go to Norwegian War Graves on my Memorials page for more information about this memorial in Saranac Lake and the names of Norwegians buried there. 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 (where the "Convoy" column is left blank, it means that convoy is not known). Errors may exist, and as can be seen, her 1940 voyages are not included in this record.
Rio Branco is listed among the ships in Convoy HX 14 from Halifax to the U.K. at the end of Dec.-1939. Her destination is given as Liverpool, cargo of wallboard, and she had station 42 of the convoy. A French visitor to my website has told me that Rio Branco was seized in Antigua Isl. after Apr. 9-1940 (Norway was invaded that day). Taken over by the French submarine Vénus and arrived Fort de France (French West Indies) on Apr. 21, released on Apr. 23, provided she complied with orders from London-based operating office. Note that according to Page 1 of the archive documents, she arrived Fort de France on Apr. 18, leaving again for Casablanca on the 20th, with arrival Casablanca May 7. She subsequently remained there for a long time (I find it strange that she was not interned when France capitulated, like so many other Norwegian ships); departure is given as July 13, when she proceeded to Madeira. As can be seen, she also spent several weeks in Rio de Janeiro that fall. Her 1941 voyages also start on this document and continue on Page 2, which shows that she had a long stay in New York towards the end of that year. With a general cargo for Liverpool, she was scheduled for the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 57 on Nov. 28-1941, but instead joined the next convoy on Dec. 4, SC 58, (Nidardal was lost). Montbretia is named among the escorts for this convoy. At the beginning of 1942 we find her, on a voyage from Liverpool to Lagos, in station 52 of Convoy OS 16, which departed Liverpool on Jan. 5 and arrived Freetown on the 23rd and also included Bernhard, Brønnøy, Kattegat, L. A. Christensen and Slemmestad, as well as the Panamanian Norvinn (Norwegian managers - Solstad and Vinga are said to have been scheduled, but did not sail). Rio Branco, however, became a straggler from this convoy on Jan. 16 and did not arrive Freetown until Jan. 25, proceeding to Lagos almost a month later, with arrival Febr. 25. With a cargo of lumber and palm kernels, she's later listed in station 72 of Convoy SL 106/SLF 106, which left Freetown on Apr. 9 and arrived Liverpool on May 2. She also had 2 passengers on board, and according to Page 2, she stopped at Belfast Lough on May 1. (The fast section, SLF 106, detached on Apr. 22 and arrived Liverpool Apr. 29, but Rio Branco sailed in the slow portion - the Norwegian Tijuca was in the fast portion). In June that same year, she joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 100*, which originated in Liverpool on June 2 (she had sailed from Milford Haven on June 1), but she returned to port, arriving Belfast Lough, later joining Convoy ON 102* from there. This convoy originated in Liverpool on June 9 and arrived Halifax on the 25th; Rio Branco, however, was bound for Hampton Roads, where she arrived, via New York, on July 1. Both these convoys also had other Norwegian ships, namely Borgfred, Kirsten B (joined from Halifax) and Tore Jarl in ON 100, while Ada, Bernhard, Boreas, Grey County, Inger Elisabeth, Ingerfire, Norse King, Para, Rena, Solitaire, Trolla and Vest took part in ON 102 (ON 100 lost several ships; see the external link at the end of this page for more info). With general cargo for Liverpool, Rio Branco headed back to the U.K. on July 24 in the slow Convoy SC 93 from Sydney, C.B., and the following month we find her in station 44 of the westbound Convoy ON 122 in which Trolla and others were sunk (follow the links for details), and for which Acanthus, Montbretia, Potentilla and Eglantine acted as escorts for a while. See also the Commodore's report. Rio Branco arrived Halifax on Sept. 1, continuing to Sydney, C.B. that same day, then on to Montreal - see Page 3. According to Arnold Hague, she returned to the U.K. with Convoy SC 103, which started out from New York on Sept. 26-1942 and arrived Liverpool Oct. 14 - Rio Branco joined from Sydney, C.B. and stopped at Belfast Lough on Oct. 13/14, before proceeding to Bristol, where she arrived on Oct. 16. This convoy is not yet available among the SC convoys included in my Convoys section, but will be added - see Ships in all SC convoys. Ada, Boreas, Carmelfjell, Ingerfire, Jan, Norfalk, Rolf Jarl, Pan Aruba, Solhavn, Solitaire, Solstad and Vinland are also listed. Rio Branco had a cargo of lumber and steel, sailing in station 13. She subsequently remained in Bristol for a month, and together with Bernhard, Carrier, Sirehei and Snar, she later joined the westbound Convoy ON 150*, originating in Liverpool on Dec. 1, arriving New York on the 25th. Rio Branco, however, was bound for St. John, N.B., where she arrived, via Halifax, on Dec. 27, having started out from Milford Haven on Nov. 30. She did not leave St. John again until Febr. 3, when she proceeded to New York, then started making voyages to Guantanamo, Trinidad and Pernambuco etc. Her 1943 voyages start on Page 3 and continue on Page 4, which also shows her 1944 and some 1945 voyages (it'll be noticed that she often had fairly long stays in port, with a particularly long stay in New York City from Febr.-1944). Convoy information for some of these can be found within the table above. See also Page 5, showing voyages to Apr.-1946.
Related external link: Back to Rio Branco on the "Ships starting with R" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Roger W. Jordan - and misc.
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