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D/S Selbo To Selbo on the "Ships starting with S" page. Owner: Skibs-A/S Selvik Delivered in Aug.-1921 from Ouse Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., Goole (79) as Hubro to Bergen Lloyd (Bjørnstad & Brækhus), Bergen. Managed from 1923 by Sigurd A. Brækhus, Bergen. Sold in Jan.-1933 to Ångfartygs-A/B Kjell (L. Jeansson A/B, Stockholm), Kalmar, Sweden and renamed Balder. Sold again in 1938 to Skibs-A/S Selvik (Einar Wahlstrøm), Oslo and renamed Selbo. Captain: Arne Ragnar Lund Related items on this website: 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. Errors do exist, and some voyages are missing. See also the narrative below.
Selbo is listed in the Norway to U.K. Convoy HN 10 in Febr.-1940, bound for Northfleet with pulp. According to A. Hague, she returned to Norway early in March with Convoy ON 18, and at the end of that month, we find her in Convoy HN 22 from Norway, again bound for Northfleet with pulp. As will be seen when going to Page 1 of the archive documents, she later arrived Blyth (from London) on Apr. 9-1940, the day of the German invasion of Norway. She remained there until May 1, when she proceeded to France. It'll also be noticed that she later appears to have spent a long time at Tyne (Shields); the reason for this long stay is not known. In Aug.-1940, she's listed, together with the Norwegian Norefjord and the Panamanian Norvinn (Norw. managers), in Convoy OB 199, which originated in Liverpool on Aug. 16 and dispersed on the 20th. Her destination is given as Chedabucto; according to the archive document referred to above, she arrived St. Francis, N.S. on Aug. 30, having started out from Clyde on the 17th - A. Hague says she had become a straggler on Aug. 19, in other words, the day before the convoy was dispersed. She headed back to the U.K. again on Sept. 10 in the slow Convoy SC 4 from Sydney, C.B. Selbo was bound for Manchester with a cargo of pulp wood, arriving there, via Runcorn and Partington, on Oct. 16. A few days later, she was scheduled for Convoy OB 232 (ref. external link below), which left Liverpool on Oct. 21, but she did not sail. She shows up again, together with Akabahra, Henrik Ibsen, Inger Elisabeth, Ledaal, Mathilda, Rolf Jarl and Sandanger, in Convoy OB 256, leaving Liverpool on Dec. 8, dispersed Dec. 12, Selbo arriving Sydney, C.B. on Dec. 25 (link provided within the Voyage Record). From there, she proceeded to St. John, N.B., then Yarmouth, N.S., before heading to Halifax (again, see Page 1). With a cargo of pit props for Hull, she was scheduled for the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 19 on Jan. 12-1941; from Page 1 above, we learn that she was still at Yarmouth, N.S. at that time (see also Ruth I). She instead joined the next convoy on Jan. 22, SC 20, and arrived Hull, via Loch Ewe and Methil Roads, on Febr. 14. She subsequently appears in Convoy OB 292, originating in Liverpool on Febr. 28, dispersed March 6. Her destination is not given (ref. link in Voyage Record), but according to the archive document, she arrived Halifax on March 19, having sailed from Loch Ewe on March 2. Fjord, Granli? (said to have been sunk, but there's some disagreement as to convoy - follow link for details), Hellen, Ruth I and Solitaire are also listed. Having made voyages to St. John, N.B., Annapolis and Digby, then on to Halifax, Selbo headed back to the U.K. on Apr. 29 in Convoy SC 30, bound for Boston (Lincs.), cargo of lumber, arriving her destination, via Loch Ewe and Methil Roads, on May 25 - the Commodore's narrative/escort's report are also available for this convoy. In June that same year, we find her in Convoy OG 65*, which departed Liverpool on June 14 and was a Gibraltar bound convoy, which arrived there June 28; note, however, that Selbo arrived Lewisport on June 27 (see Page 2), so must have left the convoy at some point in order to proceed to that destination (she had started out from Oban on June 15). According to Arnold Hague, she returned with Convoy SC 38*, which left Sydney, C.B. on July 22-1941 and arrived Liverpool Aug. 8 - Selbo, carrying a cargo of pulp, stopped at Loch Ewe Aug. 6. This convoy is not yet available among the SC convoys included in my Convoys section, but will be added. The following month, she joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 12, which originated in Liverpool on Sept. 1 and dispersed on the 14th. Selbo joined from Loch Ewe, and it looks like she was bound for Philadelphia, but her arrival there is not given on the archive document. She left Philadelphia again on Oct. 3 for Sydney, C.B. and from there, A. Hague now has her, with a general cargo, in station 93 of Convoy SC 49*, departing on Oct. 11, arriving Liverpool Oct. 27; Selbo stopped at Belfast Lough that day, later proceeding to Cardiff, where she arrived Oct. 30. About a month later, she made a voyage to Gibraltar, and for this voyage, A. Hague has included her in Convoy OG 77*, which left Milford Haven on Nov. 24 and arrived Gibraltar Dec. 13; going back to Page 2, we learn that she sailed from Clyde on Nov. 28, but arrival Gibraltar is not given. Having made a voyage to Almeria and back to Gibraltar, she headed back to the U.K. in Convoy HG 77 on Dec. 31. She was bound for Barrow with iron ore, arriving there on Jan. 14-1942. She now made another Trans-Atlantic voyage, joining the westbound Convoy ON 60*, which started out in Liverpool on Jan. 26-1942 and arrived Halifax Febr. 15, Selbo proceeding from there to Curacao on Febr. 24, with arrival March 9, returning to Halifax a few days later. On March 30 we find her, with a cargo of phosphates for Aberdeen, in the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 77. She arrived Aberdeen, via Loch Ewe, on Apr. 19 (according to Page 3), subsequently returning across the Atlantic with Convoy ON 90* (from Liverpool Apr. 28, to Halifax May 15 - Selbo joined from Loch Ewe). In June that year, she's listed in Convoy SC 86 from Sydney, C.B., cargo of lumber for Liverpool, and at the end of that month she can be found in the westbound Convoy ON 108*, departing Liverpool June 30. Selbo arrived Halifax on July 15, remaining there for several weeks before heading back to the U.K. on Aug. 29 with Convoy SC 98, cargo of lumber for London.
Related external links: See also this chronological
Selbo served as ammunition and supply ship for Operation Torch in Nov.-1942, and is said to have been one of the first supply ships to arrive Algiers after the allied invasion. Carrying 1524 tons of cased petrol, she's listed, together with Akabahra, Berto, Bjørkhaug, Evviva, Hildur I and Marga (all carrying similar cargoes), in Convoy KX 5, which sailed from Clyde on Oct. 30-1942 and arrived Gibraltar Nov. 10. From Gibraltar, she later joined Convoy TE 5, departing Nov. 18, arriving Algiers Nov. 21 (both these links are external). Berto and Marga are again included, as are Facto and Selvik. On Nov. 27 she was given orders to continue to Bone with her cargo of petrol (in 25 gallon cans), and was in a convoy(?) 15 n. miles north of Cape Cavallo when German aircraft attacked on the 28th (Page 3 gives the time of loss as 13:20). She was hit in the stern by a torpedo and immediately set on fire when her cargo exploded. 8 were able to get into the motor lifeboat which the captain and 3rd mate had launched, the other lifeboats were on fire. The boat landed 4 hours later at Mon near the Phare Alida Light where some British soldiers were stationed. 3rd Engineer A. Samuelsen, who had been badly burnt, was immediately taken by car to an American first aid station at Djidjelli. The next day the others were taken to Bougie where they were accommodated at the theater over night (the 3rd engineer had meanwhile been transported to the military hospital near Bougie). On Nov. 30, they were moved from Bougie to Camp Iferiuer where they stayed until Dec. 3, at which time they embarked M/S Derwenthall, departing Bougie on Dec. 4, arriving Algiers that same evening (according to A. Hague, this ship left Bougie on Dec. 3 and arrived Algiers Dec. 5, having sailed in Convoy MKS 3X). Cook Borgersen and Able Seaman Sørensen arrived Algiers on Dec. 12 with the Norwegian D/S Evviva, which is said to have been in the same convoy as Selbo during the attack (one of Evviva's gunners is said to have shot down a plane and later received a British "mentioned in dispatches"). Following the attack, several of Selbo's crew had jumped overboard, 9 of whom were rescued by a lifeboat from the British escort trawler Lord Nuffield and taken to Bone. 6 men were left behind in the hospital there when the above mentioned 2 crew members departed with Evviva (according to Evviva's voyage record for this period, she left Bone on Dec. 6). Able Seaman Alf Løken and Donkeyman Johannes Hellerud later died and were buried in Bone. A personal story found in the book "Tilbakeblikk" states that survivors from Selbo were taken aboard the freed Norwegian Bosphorus, which had been interned in Algiers for two and a half years. They arrived Greenock with that ship on Dec. 23-1942 (Convoy MKS 3Y), and the maritime inquiry was held there on Dec. 29 with the captain, the 1st mate and Able Seaman Sørensen (helmsman) appearing. The 1st mate stated that all those who had died during the attack had been aft, except for the mess boy who had been amidships. The mate had seen 2 bodies floating in the water, terribly burnt and unidentifiable. Crew List:
Related external link: Back to Selbo on the "Ships starting with S" page. This company had another Selbo post war, this ship sailed as Bencas during the war; follow the link for info. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume II, and misc. (ref. My sources).
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