D/S Rolf Jarl
Updated May 20-2012

To Rolf Jarl on the "Ships starting with R" page.


Source: Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.

Some 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; several Norwegian ships took part.

A French visitor to my website has told me that Rol Jarl around March 10-1940 was stopped for examination off Algeria by French patrol boats. Ordered to Oran for visit. Released a few days later. According to Page 1 of the archive documents, she had sailed from Gibraltar on March 9, and was bound for Norway. It looks like she was still in Norway around the time of the German invasion (Apr. 9), but she was able to get out and went to France in May-1940, thereby ending up in allied service.

That summer, she's listed, together with the Norwegian Bruse, in Convoy OB 181, which originated in Liverpool on July 10 and formed the Gibraltar bound Convoy OG 37* on July 12, arriving Gibraltar July 17. However, Rolf Jarl, cargo of salt fish, was bound for Oporto, where she arrived July 15, having started out from Clyde on the 9th (A. Hague says she had been detached from the convoy on July 14). OB 181 is available via the link provided within the Voyage Record above (the listing appears to be incomplete). As will be seen when going back to the archive document, she later made a voyage to Sines and St. Michaels, and from there to Philadelphia in Aug.-1940, remaining in Phildadelphia for quite a long time; A. Hague indicates she was involved in a collision on Aug. 31 - no further details are available. She later proceeded to Rimouski, then on to Sydney, C.B.

She was scheduled for the Sydney, C.B. portion of the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 83 on Oct. 26-1940, but did not sail. Her destination at the time was Belfast for orders, cargo of lumber. She had instead joined the slow Convoy SC 9 from Sydney, C.B. on Oct. 24, and arrived Belfast Lough, via Clyde, on Nov. 9, later continuing to Queenstown and Cork (Page 1). Early the following month, she shows up in Convoy OB 256, originating in Liverpool on Dec. 8, dispersed on the 12th. Her destination is given as St. John, N.B., where she arrived Dec. 27, having sailed from Milford Haven on Dec. 7 - ref. external link in the table above for more on this convoy, in which Akabahra, Henrik Ibsen, Inger Elisabeth, Ledaal, Mathilda, Sandanger and Selbo are also named (another section of the same site has also included Bjørkhaug and Marga, and adds that Høyanger and Suderholm were scheduled, but did not sail - checking the Voyage Record for Bjørkhaug for this period, we find that she could not have been in this convoy; see also my page about this ship. As for Marga, she did not leave the U.K. until Dec. 25; here's her Voyage Record).

With timber for Belfast, Rolf Jarl was scheduled to return with Convoy SC 19 from Halifax on Jan. 12-1941 (see also Ruth I and analysis of attacks), but instead joined the next convoy on Jan. 22, SC 20 (it'll be noticed, when going back to Page 1, that Rolf Jarl was still at St. John, N.B. when Convoy SC 19 sailed). She arrived Belfast Lough on Febr. 6, continuing to Dublin that same day - both these convoys lost several ships; follow the links for more info. Later that month we find her, together with Bollsta, Polarsol and Spero, in Convoy OG 54*, originating in Liverpool on Febr. 25, arriving Gibraltar on March 14. Having made voyages to Cartagena and Valencia, she returned to Gibraltar, heading back to the U.K. again on Apr. 3 with Convoy HG 58 from there, Misc. reports are also available for this convoy. She had a cargo of sweet oranges for Bristol, where she arrived (via Belfast) on Apr. 22; see Page 2. (Rolf Jarl had initially been scheduled for the previous convoy, HG 57, but was still at Cartagena when this convoy left Gibraltar). In May that same year, she shows up in Convoy OG 62*, which originated in Liverpool on May 15. This was another Gibraltar bound convoy, which arrived there on May 29 but this time, Rolf Jarl was bound for Bathurst, where she arrived on May 31 (having started out from Milford Haven on May 14); according to A. Hague she had detached from the convoy on May 20 in order to proceed to that destination. He has also included Atle Jarl, Chr. Knudsen and Storanger in OG 62.

From Bathurst, she headed to Freetown on June 11, and can subsequently be found among the ships in Convoy SL 78, which departed Freetown on June 18 and arrived Liverpool on July 12; Rolf Jarl, cargo of groundnuts, stopped at Oban that day; Atle Jarl had again been in company - ref. link in the table above (this convoy lost several ships; see the external link at the end of this page). The following month, Rolf Jarl was one of several Norwegian ships in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 4. Her destination is given as Sydney, C.B. (Cape Breton), and she had station 92, joining from Loch Ewe. She arrived her destination on Aug. 23, the convoy having been dispersed on the 18th. Having made a voyage to Pictou, she returned to Sydney, C.B. (Page 2), and according to Arnold Hague, she now returned to the U.K. with a cargo of lumber in station 44 of Convoy SC 44*, departing Sydney, C.B. on Sept. 11, arriving Liverpool on the 30th; Rolf Jarl stopped at Loch Ewe on Sept. 27, before proceeding to Methil Roads and Hull. She had again been in the company of several other Norwegian ships, namely Ada, Barbro (sunk - follow the link for details), Bollsta, Borgfred, Carrier, Cetus, Gudvin, Hjalmar Wessel, Iron Baron, Lago, Marita, Sirehei, Sneland I, South Africa and Spero.

With Askeladden, Fanefjeld (to Iceland), Harpefjell, Heina, Inger Elisabeth and Torfinn Jarl, she later went back across the Atlantic with Convoy ON 27*, which originated in Liverpool on Oct. 16-1941 and dispersed Nov. 2, Rolf Jarl arriving Chandler on Nov. 4 (she had sailed from Loch Ewe Oct. 18). With a cargo of sulphate, she was scheduled for the slow Convoy SC 54 from Sydney, C.B. on Nov. 10, for which Eglantine and Montbretia served as escorts for a while (Rolf Jarl was still at Chandler at that time - see Page 2), but instead joined the next convoy on Nov. 16, SC 55. Her cargo is now given as lumber and pulp, destination London. This was her last Trans-Atlantic voyage for quite some time; she was subsequently mostly in service around the U.K. Convoy information for this period can be found in the Voyage Record.

It'll be noticed, when going to Page 3, that she spent quite a long time at North Shields (Tyne) in the spring of 1942. She had arrived there on Apr. 13 and departure is given as May 15, when she proceeded to Methil Roads, then on to Loch Ewe. From there, she now made a voyage to Parrsboro, where she arrived on June 9. This voyage had been made in Convoy ON 96*, which originated in Liverpool on May 19 and had Halifax as its final destination, with arrival there on June 7, but according to A. Hague, Rolf Jarl had been detached on June 4 in order to proceed to her destination. Berto, Bollsta, Carmelfjell, Fagersten, Granfoss, Ingerfem, Norelg and Norfalk are also listed. With a cargo of lumber, she headed back to the U.K. on July 10 in the slow Convoy SC 91 from Sydney, C.B., and the following month we find her in station 62 of the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 122, in which Trolla and others were sunk - follow the links for details, see also the Commodore's report. Acanthus, Eglantine, Montbretia and Potentilla are named among the escorts. Rolf Jarl arrived Halifax on Sept. 1, having started out in Milford Haven Aug. 14. Her voyages in this period are shown on Page 4.

With a cargo of lumber, A. Hague later has her returning to the U.K. in Convoy SC 103*, originating in New York on Sept. 26-1942, arriving Liverpool Oct. 14. Rolf Jarl, however, joined this convoy from Sydney, C.B., taking station 134, and stopped at Oban on the 14th. Ada, Boreas, Carmelfjell, Ingerfire, Jan, Norfalk, Pan Aruba, Rio Branco, Solhavn, Solitaire, Solstad and Vinland are also listed.

More voyages around the U.K. now followed, with some voyages to Reykjavik in between. Again, please see the various archive documents as well as A. Hague's Voyage Record above. As can be seen on Page 5, she spent a long time in Reykjavik in 1943 - according to A. Hague, she had lost rudder prop & shaft off Iceland on March 31 and had to be towed into port. She also had a long stay at Tyne later on, having arrived there in tow from Iceland on July 14 - departure is given as Dec. 11, following repairs. Her 1944 voyages start on Page 6. A. Hague also mentions a collision in Barry Roads at the beginning of that year; no further info is available. Page 7 shows another long stay at Hartlepool that summer; reason not known. Her 1945 movements start on Page 8.

From Page 9, we learn that she got to go home to Norway in the fall of 1945; see also Page 10.

* The unlinked ON convoys mentioned here will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, along with further details on each. In the meantime, the ships sailing in them (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. The OG convoys will also be added, but for now, see my page listing ships in all OG convoys. Note also that the entire SC series will eventually be updated and completed, including the already existing convoys (some have already been updated); see ships in all SC convoys.

For more information on all the other Norwegian ships named on this page, please see the alphabet index below, or go to the Master Ship Index.

POST WAR:

Sold in Aug.-1950 to Reederei Richard Schröder, Hamburg and renamed Maria Schröder. Ran aground and sank in the Red Sea on Apr. 11-1956, on a voyage from Akaba to West Germany.

Related external link:
Ships hit from Convoy SL 78

Back to Rolf Jarl on the "Ships starting with R" page.

Nordenfjeldske's other ships by this name:
This was the company's 2nd ship by this name. The first Rolf Jarl was delivered from Trondhjems Mekaniske Verksted in June-1911, 1265 gt. Sunk by by U-43 on Sept. 27-1916, near Hornøy light (close to Vardø). She was on a voyage Aalesund-Archangel with a cargo of herring in barrels at the time. The crew was transferred to Roald Jarl, which was nearby. Nordenfjeldske also had a Rolf Jarl later on, built in Emden in 1958, on a 5 years time charter for Canadian Transport Co. Ltd., Vancouver (renewed for another 18 months in Dec.-1963). Sold in 1965 to Copenhagen and renamed Heering Mille, sold again in 1965 (Liberia) and renamed Malaga, then sold again in 1972 to Somalia and renamed Uliang, later to Hong Kong/Panama (1978) and renamed New Rubi. Still in service as such in 1982.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Nordenfjeldske - 1857-1985", by Finn R. Hansen, and misc. (ref. My sources).