Manager: Alfred I. Thommesen, Arendal
Tonnage: 759 (799?) gt

Built by Hausweert, N.V.W. Zeeland in 1918. Previous name from 1925 Sortland (Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab), sold to Arendal in 1939 and renamed Royal.

Captain: Harald Skaugen.

Some War Voyages:

(More will be added).

Royal, bound for Granton with paper pulp, is listed in Convoy HN 17 from Norway to the U.K. early in March-1940, returning to Norway later that month with Convoy ON 21. In Apr.-1940 she joined Convoy HN 24, which arrived Methil from Norway on Apr. 7-1940; in other words, she got out of Norway just before the German invasion. Follow the links for more convoy details - several Norwegian ships took part in all these convoys.

She was in British coastal service during the war, manned mostly by Lithuanians and Estonians early in the war, except for the officers and 2 men who were Norwegian. As mentioned, when Norway was invaded on Apr. 9-1940, Royal was in a British port and was meant to go to Gothenburg with coal, but this did not come to pass. She was requisitioned by the Navy and used for a while as "landing vessel", stationed in the Leith fjord, Scotland, where soldiers were trained in landing maneuvers.

She later took part in the Normandy invasion, arriving with ammunition, food and 60 soldiers on June 6-1944, departing on June 17, then made numerous trips back and forth to Normandy. The external site that I've linked to below has information on the convoys she took part in for these voyages, as well as several local U.K. convoys throughout the war.

POST WAR:

Arrived Arendal with a cargo of coal at war's end. Her double decks, which had been removed when purchased in 1939, were re-installed at Pusnes Mek. Verksted, Tromøy, after she had been chartered to a Danish company for use as horse transport Denmark-Poland. After being in this service for about a year, carrying around 200 horses each trip, she made a few voyages transporting cows from Denmark to Leningrad, before being sold to Sweden in 1949. Ran aground near Trelleborg shortly afterwards.

Related external link:
Misc. convoys - By clicking on "Ship Search", typing "Royal" as keyword, several convoys will come up. Royal should be easy enough to spot among the results, which will also show other ships with ROYAL in their names.