M/S Salta
Updated Febr. 5-2010

To Salta on the "Ships starting with S" page.


Postcard (from 1925) received from Arve Hoel, Norway.
More pictures are available on this external page (click in them to enlarge).

Her voyages are listed on this original document received from the National Archives of Norway.

(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database).

Interned - 1940:

This was one of the 26 Norwegian ships interned in North and West Africa 1940-1942. My page Interned Ships has a list of all of them.

According to "Nortraships flåte" she was interned in Dakar on June 22-1940 - whether this internment date is correct or not, I don't know. "Sjømann - Lang vakt" by Guri Hjeltnes says she had a crew of 33, 32 of whom were Norwegian, 24 escaped. 21 of her crew managed to escape to Bathurst in a small boat on July 27-1941, and were subsequently taken to Freetown in a British corvette, where they joined M/S Lidvard, which had arrived there after her remarkable escape (follow the link to Lidvard for details).

As can be seen in the Voyage Record, A. Hague has included Salta, with a cargo of grain and general, in station 75 of Convoy SL 37, originating in Freetown on June 25-1940, arriving Liverpool on July 12, Salta joining from Dakar; the Norwegian Sama is also listed. According to the first external website that I've linked to at the end of this page, Salta had been cancelled from Convoy SL 34, as well as from Convoy SL 35. If she was interned in Dakar on June 22, she could not have been in SL 37 either. This also becomes more evident from the next paragraphs.

A visitor to my website has sent me a copy of an interview with the 1st mate on Salta, Knut H. Helland, who was one of the 21 who escaped in the lifeboat on the same night as Lidvard got out of Dakar. He states that Salta had been en route from Buenos Aires to Norway with a cargo of grain, and carrying 16 passengers, when she encountered engine trouble and proceeded to Dakar for repairs (this must have been in the spring/summer of 1940 - see the archive document). While there, France capitulated resulting in the internment of the ships that were in port at Dakar. After his escape, Helland joined Lidvard as a radio operator and came with her to the U.S. Once in Boston he joined D/S Bris as a mate and was on board when that ship was torpedoed on April 20-1942 on a voyage from Baltimore to Natal, Brazil (follow the link to Bris for more details on this incident). Knut Helland later served on M/T Egda.

The information in the above paragraph is echoed in this message in my Norwegian Guestbook, posted by the son of someone who served on board at the time. He confirms that Salta was in Buenos Aires (giving the date as Apr. 9), loading a cargo for Norway. En route, they were told to head to Freetown for convoy, but engine trouble resulted in a new order to go into Dakar for repairs. Further problems caused their stay there to be longer than expected and they ended up being interned when France fell. He adds that his father, Alfred H. Pilskog, managed to escape with a lifeboat on May 17-1941.

According to the archive document, Salta had arrived Buenos Aires from Santos on Apr. 8-1940, remaining there until May 10 - voyage is given as Buenos Aires-London, diverted Avonmouth (but there's no mention of arrival Avonmouth) - she must have stopped at Montevideo, because she's said to have sailed from there on May 12, arriving Freetown on the 31st, leaving again June 3, with arrival Dakar June 7. Then it says, "abt. June 27, presumed sailed". Did she really head to the U.K. in Convoy SL 37 from Dakar on that date? As already mentioned, this convoy had originated in Freetown on June 25-1940 and arrived Liverpool on July 12, but according to A. Hague, Salta joined from Dakar. However, I find it very unlikely; it would seem odd that she would have gone to the U.K. and back to Dakar again later on, because France had already fallen by then, and several ships had already been interned. In other words, I don't think she could have been in Convoy SL 37, unless she joined and returned to port (misc. entries for 1941 and 1942 now show her in port in Dakar).

Later Voyages:

Salta was, of course, freed after Operation Torch in Nov.-1942 and was again registered with Nortraship on June 11-1943. Some of the men from the torpedoed Corneville joined her that month - follow the link for more details. "Nortraships flåte" says that due to the bad state she was in, Salta was taken to Gibraltar and used as a storeship for the rest of the war(?). However, going back to the archive document, we learn that she left Dakar on July 5-1943 and arrived Freetown July 8, continuing to Takoradi a month later*.

* All this fits in with the fact that Arnold Hague has included her in Convoy OS 50, which had started out in Liverpool on June 16-1943 as the combined Convoy OS 50/KMS 17 and split up on June 27, the KMS portion arriving Gibraltar on June 29, while the OS convoy continued to Freetown, with arrival there July 8. Salta is said to have joined this convoy from Dakar - as mentioned, she had left Dakar on July 5. The following month, he has her in a convoy with the designation OSS 52, departing Freetown on Aug. 8-1943, arriving Takoradi on the 12th. The Norwegian Jenny is also listed (bound for Lagos) - ref. external links provided in the Voyage Record. It'll be noticed, when going back to the archive document, that there's now a long gap in her voyages. I have no way of knowing whether she remained at Takoradi for as long as indicated on the document, or whether some voyages are missing.

In Apr.-1944, she's listed, again with Jenny, in Convoy STL 16, originating in Freetown on March 28, arriving Takoradi Apr. 2, but this seems odd; Salta started out from Takoradi on Apr. 1 and arrived Lagos Apr. 3. About a week later, she appears in Convoy LTS 16, which left Lagos on Apr. 11 and arrived Freetown on the 18th. However, according to the archive document, though she was bound for Freetown and the U.K., she was ordered in to Takoradi, with arrival there on Apr. 13. This may have had something to do with the fact that the captain had died. "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig" states that Captain Kylander died of Malaria when on a voyage from Lagos to the U.K. in 1944. The Stavern Memorial (link at the end of this page) adds he died at sea on Apr. 12-1944 after having fallen ill on board. His illness may have been a result of the internment in Africa? Some other crew members at that time were: 1st Mate Aksel Ingvaldsen, 2nd Mate Kolbjørn Werner Nilsen, 2nd Engineer David Haldorsen, and Steward Anders Emil Aarsund.

Salta left Takoradi again on Apr. 15, arriving Freetown Apr. 20. The next day, we find her listed in Convoy SL 156, which departed Freetown on Apr. 21 and joined up with Convoy MKS 47 from Gibraltar on May 3, before continuing to the U.K. as the combined Convoy SL 156/MKS 47, with arrival Liverpool on May 13, but it does not look like Salta followed this convoy to the U.K.; from the archive document we learn that she stopped at Dakar on Apr. 25 (in other words, before the MKS convoy joined); there's no mention of her arrival U.K. Bosphorus was also in company in the SL convoy. It now looks like Salta spent quite a long time at Dakar; departure is given as June 16, when she proceeded to Gibraltar, where she arrived on the 27th.

No more voyages are shown until Aug. 17-1945, when she left Gibraltar for Torrevieja - this might have been the period J. R. Hegland is referring to in "Nortraships flåte", when he says she was taken to Gibraltar and used as a storeship, rather than this taking place in the summer of 1943, as mentioned above - had she been in Gibraltar from June 27-1944 to Aug. 17-1945, as indicated on the archive document?

At the beginning of Sept.-1945, she called at Kirkwall, before proceeding to Oslo, Norway, where she arrived on Sept. 6.

POST WAR:

Sold in Sept.-1956 to Hong Kong Navigation & Investment Co. Ltd., Hong Kong and renamed Senorita. Sank off Honshu on Jan. 30-1957, following a collision with an unknown object when on a voyage Houston, Texas-Kobe, Japan.

Related external links:
SL Convoys - As will be seen, Salta is mentioned in Convoy SL 34 and SL 35. See also SL 37, where her destination is given as Belfast.

Stavern Memorial commemoration - Captain Erik W. Kylander is commemorated at this Memorial for Seamen in Stavern, Norway. The Norwegian text says he died on Apr. 12-1944 after having fallen ill on board, adding he was buried at sea(?).

Back to Salta on the "Ships starting with S" page.