M/S Siljestad - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

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

Some Convoy Voyages:

Tony, a visitor to my website has told me that Siljestad was in station 76 of Convoy HX 142 in Aug.-1941, together with the Norwegian Nyholt (56), Kristianiafjord (86) and Morgenen (124). Corvus was also initially in this convoy but was sent to SC 39 because she was too slow for HX 142. According to Arnold Hauge, HX 142 departed Halifax on Aug. 1-1941 and arrived Liverpool on the 18th, 65 ships (please note that this does not mean that all the ships had Liverpool as their final destination, many ships went to other ports on arrival U.K. waters). According to Tony's information 63 ships sailed from Halifax in this convoy, 8 from Sydney, C.B. Kirkpool and Scottish Musician had engine defects and were sent back to Halifax. Like Corvus, Hercules (Dutch) was also sent to join SC 39 because of her slow speed. Rotterdam, Murena, Hjelmaren and Narragansett went missing in the fog (from HX 142). Empire Sailor did not join HX 142 till Aug. 6. Perth was the rescue ship.

The following comes from the Commodore:
"Delayed in sailing by fog which persisted during the whole convoy. First count was on August 4th when four ships were missing. On Aug. 5 Sydney portion of 8 ships and SC 39 of 27 ships joined HX 142. SC 39 parted company with HX 142 on Aug. 13". Both these convoys are available via the external links provided below.

Siljestad later joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 12, which left Liverpool on Sept. 1-1941 and dispersed on the 14th. Her destination is not given, but when going to Page 2 of the archive documents, we see that she arrived Philadelphia on Sept. 23.

The external website that I've linked to below has Siljestad in station 84 of Convoy OS 13 in Nov./Dec.-1941, together with the Norwegian Finnanger, K. G. Meldahl and Velox. Siljestad was on a voyage from Oban to Freetown with general and war stores. The convoy originated in Liverpool on Nov. 30 and arrived Freetown on Dec. 20.

In Febr.-1942 we find her going in the other direction with Convoy SL 100, which left Freetown on Febr. 9-1942 and arrived Liverpool on March 4. Her cargo is given as W. A. produce, destination Mersey. Follow the link provided for more info on these convoys.

Related external links:
Convoy HX 142 (Siljestad is listed as British here, but this is incorrect). The site also has SC 39, as well as a section for SL/MKS convoys and OS/KMS Convoys - here's the main page. As can be seen, Siljestad is included in Convoy OS 13 and SL 100.

Final Fate - 1942:

Siljestad had left the U.K. again at the beginning of Apr.-1942 with the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 83, which departed Liverpool on Apr. 4. She was bound for New York, where she arrived on Apr. 20 (see Page 2). This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section, in the meantime, the ships sailing in it are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. On May 6 she departed New York for Alexandria (via Cape Town) with general cargo and war materials.

At 21:30 on May 14*, when about 420 n. miles northeast of Barbados she was struck on the port side below the bridge by a torpedo from U-156 (Hartenstein), blowing a large hole in her side, wrecking the bridge and the radio shack. At the time of attack she was on a course 161° true (not zig-zagging), sailing at a speed of 10 1/2 knots in calm seas and good visibility, wind east/southeast force 2-3, no other ships in sight - no distress signal was sent. She was armed and the gun crew were on watch aft, but no counter offensive was offered.

3rd Mate Bjerkseth was on watch on the bridge at the time, with Able Seaman Haugland at the wheel, while Able Seaman Svellingen was on lookout in the starboard pillbox. The 1st and 2nd mates were asleep in their cabins; both managed to get out through the rubble, the 2nd mate through the wall to the adjacent cabin. The captain, who was in his office, was hit by furniture and wall panels, injuring both his legs as well as his hand. His door was blocked, but he was eventually able to get out through a porthole. As he came out on the lower bridge the forward starboard boat was about to be launched, the last to leave the ship, and he and the 2nd mate joined the other 16 in it. The forward port lifeboat had been split in 2 in the explosion. Able Seaman Ellefsen and Ordinary Seaman Johansen jumped overboard from the stern section of the ship after having thrown a small raft out, but the latter did not make it to the raft.

The 1st mate and others lowered the aft starboard boat, while the 3rd mate and some others launched the aft port motorboat. However, the motorboat was found to be damaged, so those who were in it were transferred to the 1st mate's boat, holding 13 in all. The motorboat's occupants had seen Ordinary Seaman Schüller lowering himself down the side of the ship, but he did not jump when encouraged to do so, as the motorboat was immediately filled with water.

About half an hour after the torpedo had struck, the ship went straight down by the bow. At this time the U-boat came up to ask the usual questions about ship and cargo etc., and after having given them the course and distance to Barbados it disappeared again. The survivors proceeded to transfer supplies from the rafts and the damaged motorboat, whereupon the 2 boats headed for land. They were picked up the next morning* (May 15) by the Yugoslavian D/S Kupa which kept both lifeboats hoisted up to her starboard side, while taking care of the survivors and supplementing their lifeboat contents. The intention was to continue in the boats later on, as Kupa was bound for Cape Town, but while the Norwegians were still on board this ship was also torpedoed and sunk by U-156 (port side in No. 1 hatch). She sank by the bow in about 20 minutes - Siljestad's crew were able to get back in their own lifeboats and continued towards Barbados, with 20 in the captain's boat, 11 in the 1st mate's. Kupa's crew members were in 2 lifeboats.

The captain's boat lost contact with the others in the course of the night, but on May 18 they spotted a ship with all her lights on (rather an unusual sight for that time). This turned out to be the Las Palmas bound Italian M/T Arcola, which with her clear nationality markings on her side could sail without danger from the German U-boats. Here's something I don't quite understand, the ship had a British "control crew" on board (why? enlighten me, please!). 3 young British seamen from Siljestad were transferred to the Arcola, while captain Kaltenborn and 16 others preferred to continue to Barbados, after having been given plenty of food and water. They reached Bridgeport, Barbados in the afternoon of May 20.

The 11 men in the 1st Mate's boat landed at Guiria on May 23, having been towed in by a patrol boat from the Venezuelan Coast Guard. They were later taken to Trinidad on May 28. The survivors from Kupa reached Barbados, after having sailed for 10 days.

The maritime inquiry into Siljestad's loss was held in New York on July 7-1942 with the captain, the 3rd mate, and Able Seamen Haugland and Svellingen appearing.