D/S Ruth I - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Owner: A/S Britannic
Manager: Brummenæs & Torgersen, Haugesund
Tonnage: 3531 gt, 2172 net, 5800 tdwt
Signal Letters: LCWO

Delivered in Apr.-1900 from C. S. Swan & Hunter Ltd., Newcastle as Ruth to Hagb. Waage, Christiania (Oslo). Tonnages as above, 330' x 48' x 24.7', triple exp. 276 nhp (T. Richardson & Sons), owners: D/S A/S Ruth. Purchased by A/S Britannic (Brummenæs & Torgersen) in 1927, renamed Ruth I in Apr.-1932. In lumber and coal trade.

Related items on this website:
Guestbook message from the daughter of Knute Grytebust, who served on Ruth I (still around, Febr.-2008).
Guestbook message from the grandson of Captain Einar Haugland, with some info on his life after the war. He lived to be 97 years old.
Guestbook message from the granddaughter of Stoker Kai Emil Seiler, one of the casualties of Ruth I.

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4

Some Convoy Voyages:

More will be added.

Ruth I is listed as sailing in Convoy HN 19 from Norway to the U.K. in March-1940, bound for Workington with a cargo of ore. Follow the link for names of other ships taking part.

In May that same year, she's listed, together with Akershus, Bjørkhaug, Inger Lise and Varangberg, in Convoy OA 156, departing Southend on May 27, dispersed May 30. No destination is given for Ruth I, but when going to Page 1, we learn that she arrived Nantes on May 30 (I'm not entirely convinced her listing in this convoy is correct). The following month, we find her in Convoy OB 167, which originated in Liverpool on June 13-1940 and dispersed on the 17th, Ruth I arriving New York on July 2. (These convoys are available via the external links provided further down on this page). She headed back to the U.K. on Aug. 25 with the slow Convoy SC 2 from Sydney, C.B., in which the Norwegian Gro was sunk. Ruth I had a cargo of steel and scrap for Hull. In Oct.-1940, she's listed as bound for Sydney, C.B. in Convoy OA 226, which left Methil on Oct. 8 and joined up with OB 226 and Oct. 11, then dispersed the next day, Ruth I arriving her destination on Oct. 26.

She was scheduled to return to the U.K. in Convoy SC 17, which left Halifax on Dec. 23-1940, but did not sail, and was also cancelled from SC 18 on Jan. 2-1941, but eventually got away in Convoy SC 19 on Jan. 12. She lost touch with the convoy and was attacked by aircraft, as follows:

From a visitor to my website, Juan Carlos Salgado (author, and researcher of WW2 incidents related to Spain) I've received the following:
"According to Kenneth Poolman ("Focke-Wulf Condor - Scourge of the Atlantic"), on page 55, this ship was attacked and damaged on 28 January 1941 by Condors: '...Condors picked up two stragglers from Convoy SC 19. One of them, the Norwegian Ruth I, carrying a cargo of pit props, was attacked at 8.30 a.m. three hundred and fifty miles west of the Orkneys. Bombs and cannon fire damaged her superstructure, and wounded her Chief Engineer and Boatswain."

This incident is also recorded in "Nortraships flåte" which says that 5 aircraft (FW 200) spotted the convoy(?) in 55 55N 13 20W, notified the U-boats in the area and attacked just before 09:30 on Jan. 28. Time for the attack on Ruth I is given as 09:26, but no injuries are mentioned, and she was not damaged according to this source, which adds that 2(?) British ships were sunk in the attack, and when 3 U-boats reached the area late into the night another 5 ships went down. Ships sunk by U-boats in this convoy were, in fact, the Greek Aikaterini, the British King Robert and W. B. Walker, all on Jan. 29 and all sunk by U-93 - the British West Wales, sunk by U-94 on the 29th, the Egyptian Sesostris by U-106, and on the 30th the British Rushpool was sunk by U-94. (As far as I can tell, the only ship sunk by aircraft was Grelrosa - and I also believe these 2 ships were far away from the convoy itself when they were spotted - follow the link to SC 19 - see also the Analysis of attacks).

The following month, she shows up in Convoy OB 292, originating in Liverpool on Febr. 28-1941, dispersed March 6. Again, no destination is given for Ruth I, but according to Page 1 she arrived St. John, N.B. on March 24 (the document says she had sailed from Loch Ewe on March 2). With a cargo of steel and lumber for Garston, she was scheduled for the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 28 on Apr. 9, but did not sail - she was also cancelled from the next convoy, SC 29, as well as from SC 31 and SC 32, but joined SC 33 from Sydney, C.B. on June 1; destination is now given as Portishead, where she arrived, via Belfast Lough and Barry Roads, on June 23 (Page 2). She later joined Convoy OG 69*, which departed Milford Haven for Gibraltar on July 19-1941, but after Inga I had been torpedoed Ruth I and 2 British ships were ordered by the Commodore to leave the convoy, and she reached Cadiz safely on Aug. 2. Follow the link to Inga I for more info on what had taken place in the convoy.

She headed back to the U.K. again later that month in Convoy HG 71, departing Gibraltar on Aug. 18-1941, arriving Liverpool Sept. 2. This convoy is not available mong the HG convoys included in my Convoys section, but I've linked to it further down on this page. She now appears among the ships in Convoy OG 74*, which left Liverpool on Sept. 12 and arrived Gibraltar on the 27th; Ruth I, however, was bound for Huelva, where she arrived that same day. With a cargo of iron pyrites for Mersey, she headed back to the U.K. again in the Gibraltar-U.K. Convoy HG 75 on Oct. 22. 6 German U-boats and 3 Italian submarines were waiting off Gibraltar, and the convoy battled its way through for 5 days, losing 4 Merchant ships, namely Alhama, Ariosto, Carsbreck and Ulea, all British, but Ruth I, the only Norwegian ship in the convoy, made it through yet again. The British destroyer Cossack (F 03) was also lost, according to Jürgen Rohwer, while HMS Ariguani was damaged (F-105 - formerly a merchant ship, requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted to Naval fighter catapult ship).

In Nov.-1941, she joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 41*, departing Liverpool on Nov. 27-1941, dispersed Dec. 11, Ruth I arriving Tampa on Dec. 30.

In Jan./Febr.-1942 she took part in Convoy SC 67 from Halifax, and in March she's listed in the westbound Convoy ON 76*, which left Liverpool on March 15 and arrived Halifax on the 31st; Ruth I was bound for New York, where she arrived Apr. 2, having started out from Loch Ewe on March 15. She sailed back to the U.K. in May in Convoy SC 84, subsequently joining the westbound Convoy ON 104*, which originated in Liverpool on June 16-1942. She was bound for Halifax, where she arrived on July 1, having sailed from Loch Ewe June 16. She was scheduled for the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 93 (Newfoundland portion) later that month, but did not sail. She was also cancelled from SC 94, SC 95 and SC 96, and I've checked the Advance Sailing Telegrams for SC 97 and SC 98, but Ruth I is not mentioned in any of them. She does not show up in an eastbound North Atlantic convoy again until Convoy SC 113, originating in New York on Dec. 12-1942, arriving Liverpool Jan. 2-1943; Ruth I joined this convoy with the Halifax portion - ref. external link below. According to Page 3 of the archive documents, she had previously arrived Halifax from St. John's in tow of a tug on Sept 23, departing for Loch Ewe on Dec. 16, arriving there Jan. 1-1943.

She later returned across the Atlantic in Febr.-1943 with the westbound Convoy ON 169 (from Liverpool Febr. 22, to New York March 21), becoming a straggler from the convoy on March 6, arriving Halifax on March 15, proceeding to St. John, N.B. 3 days later, where she appears to have spent quite a long time (again, see Page 3 of the archive docs). In July-1943 she sailed in Convoy SC 136 from Halifax, and in Sept.-1943 we find her in the westbound Convoy ONS 18, which joined up with Convoy ON 202 and lost several ships, including Oregon Express and Skjelbred. Please follow the link to my page about this convoy for much more information on the battle, including the Commodore's report and several other reports; see also my pages about Skjelbred and Oregon Express for further details. Ruth I arrived Sydney, C.B. on Sept. 28 (having sailed from Oban on the 14th), and early in Nov.-1943 she's listed in the Sydney, C.B. portion of the eastbound Convoy SC 146, cargo of lumber for Grimsby, where she arrived Nov. 27.

Her last westbound North Atlantic convoy voyage took place in Convoy ONS 29*, which originated in Liverpool on Febr. 12-1944 and arrived Halifax on the 29th (see also Page 4).

Convoy information for voyages made in between those already noted above can be obtained by following the instructions provided at the external link below - compare the results with the details found on the various archive documents.

* The ON and ONS convoys mentioned here will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, with further info on each, in the meantime, the ships sailing in them (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys and on the page listing ships in all ONS convoys. The OG convoys will also be added, but for now, please see my page listing ships in all OG convoys.

Related external links:
Convoy OA 156 - Based on Arnold Hague's database. The site also has OB 167, OA 226, OB 292, HG 71 and SC 113, all mentioned above. By going to this page and clicking on "Ship Search" on the left hand side, using "Ruth I" as keywords, several convoys that are not mentioned in the above narrative will come up.

Casualties of Cossack - A section of the HMS Cossack Association website.

Final Fate - 1944:

In the period Jan./March 1944 Germany lost close to 40 U-boats in the North Atlantic. In the same time period over 100 convoys with around 3360 Merchant ships had crossed back and forth, and only 3 had been sunk, so the conventional U-boats had lost in the face of the developing defence methods of the Allies. A number of them were called back, some stayed in the North Atlantic as weather ships, while still others were kept for the convoy routes, if nothing else than to tie up the Allied battle forces.

The eastbound Convoy SC 156 had an encounter with a member of the latter group when U-302 (Sickel) attacked on Apr. 6-1944. The first ship to be hit was D/S Ruth I, with a cargo of steel, lumber and pitprops on a voyage from Halifax to Loch Ewe, having left Halifax on March 29. The torpedo struck on the port side behind midships, and the engine room and fireroom immediately filled with water, killing 3 men there. She broke in two and within a few minutes the midships deck was in the water line, with the 2 parts sticking high up. The port lifeboat and the motorboat were destroyed in the explosion, and the starboard boat was leaking considerably but could still be used, so 17 men got into it. A "homemade" raft held the other 19 survivors.

Ruth I sank 20 mins later, position 45 05N 35 11W ("Nortraships flåte" gives 45 04N 35 20W), with lumber and props scattered over a large area of the ocean. Page 4 of the archive documents gives time as 04:40 GMT, but whether this shows the time of initial attack or actual sinking, I don't know. The Captain's report gives time as approx. 02:20 for the attack.

All 36 were picked up about an hour and a half later that morning by the British frigate HMS Chelmer. (Lt. Cdr. R. A. Cherry) where the injured were treated by the ship's doctor. On Apr. 12 they were transferred to the British rescue vessel Goodwin and landed at Gourock the next day.

The maritime inquiry was held in Glasgow on Apr. 17-1944 with the captain, the 2nd mate, the 3rd engineer and Able Seaman Iversen appearing.

Next, Sickel on U-302 turned his attention to M/T South America. These two Norwegian ships were to be Sickel's last victims. Shortly after the attack on Convoy SC 156, U-302 was sunk with all hands by the British frigate HMS Swale.