M/T Stigstad - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Misc. Convoy Voyages – 1940-1942:

Follow the links provided for more details. More convoy information will be added.

As will be seen when going to Page 1 above, Stigstad got out of Norway on March 29-1940, shortly before the German invasion (Apr. 9), and arrived New York on Apr. 16. Later that month, she's listed among the ships in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 38. Her destination is given as Manchester, where she arrived on May 17. She subsequently joined Convoy OB 151, departing Liverpool on May 19-1940, dispersed May 22. Her voyage information is given as Liverpool-New York, station 12, and she arrived New York on June 3. (Alaska, Fana, and Titanian are also listed in this convoy). She headed back to the U.K. on June 17 with Convoy HX 51 from Halifax, bound for Liverpool with a cargo of lub. oil, station 32, and in July she's listed in Convoy OB 182, again bound for New York. This convoy left Liverpool on July 11-1940 and dispersed on the 14th, Stigstad arriving New York on July 24.

On Sept. 1-1940 we find her in station 72 of Convoy HX 70 from Halifax. This convoy arrived Liverpool on Sept. 16; as can be seen when going to Page 1, she did not arrive Liverpool until Sept. 25. Her final destination was Manchester, where she arrived Oct. 1, later joining Convoy OB 229, departing Liverpool Oct. 15-1940, dispersed Oct. 18. No destination is given for Stigstad, but according to the archive document mentioned above, she arrived Galveston on Nov. 7. She was scheduled for the Bermuda portion of Convoy HX 91 on Nov. 23, but instead joined the next convoy from Halifax on Nov. 29, HX 92, lub. oil for Birkenhead, station 71. A report on the passage is also available for this convoy. (See external links below for more on the OB convoys mentioned here)

At the beginning of the new year, she shows up in Convoy OB 274, departing Liverpool on Jan. 14-1941, dispersed Jan. 19. Again, no destination is given for Stigstad, but going back to the archive document mentioned above, we learn that she arrived New York on Jan. 30. According to Arnold Hague, she returned to the U.K. in Convoy HX 110, which left Halifax on Febr. 19-1941 and arrived Liverpool March 11. As will be seen when following the link to my own page about this convoy, she's not mentioned there, but only the Bermuda portion is available to me. I've linked directly to Hague's listing further down on this page. Later that month, she's listed as bound for New York in Convoy OB 302, leaving Liverpool on March 24-1941, dispersed 6 days later, Stigstad arriving her destination on Apr. 10 (also available via the external link below). In May that year she sailed in Convoy HX 127 from Halifax, bound for Liverpool in station 93 of the convoy, in which quite a few Norwegian ships took part. The following month she appears in Convoy OB 334, leaving Liverpool on June 11-1941, arriving Halifax on June 25. Stigstad, however, was again bound for New York, where she arrived on June 28.

She was scheduled to return with Convoy HX 137 from Halifax on July 6-1941, but instead joined the next convoy on July 11, HX 138, bound for Manchester. The following month we find her in the westbound Convoy ON 5, which left Liverpool on Aug. 6-1941 and dispersed on the 14th, Stigstad arriving New York Aug. 22. She later went back to the U.K. in Sept.-1941 with Convoy HX 148, along with the Norwegian Ørnefjell (55), James Hawson (83), Grey County (93), Herbrand (52), Idefjord (35), Egda (54), Vivi (76), and Mirlo (23), as well as the Panamanian Norvinn (Norwegian managers, therefore listed on this website, station 53, between Herbrand and Egda). Some of these ships, including Stigstad, subsequently headed back to the U.S. with the westbound Convoy ON 20 on Sept. 25. Stigstad arrived Galveston on Oct. 21, the convoy having been dispersed on Oct. 9. In Nov.-1941 she sailed in Convoy HX 161, together with the Norwegian Solfonn, Havprins, Havkong, Vav, Nueva Andalucia, Fernwood, Taborfjell, Athos, Brasil, Morgenen, Thorshøvdi and Torfinn Jarl. 1941 was rounded off by going in the other direction with the westbound Convoy ON 52*, which originated in Liverpool on Dec. 31-1941 and dispersed Jan. 11-1942. Her destination is not given, but according to Page 2, she arrived New Orleans on Jan. 28-1942, having started out from Loch Ewe on Dec. 31.

Stigstad is mentioned among the ships leaving Halifax in Convoy HX 177 on Febr. 25-1942, then towards the end of the following month we find her listed as bound for New York in the westbound Convoy ON 79* (from Liverpool March 23-1942, to Halifax Apr. 7). She arrived New York on Apr. 7, having sailed from Loch Ewe on March 23, subsequently heading back to the U.K. on Apr. 26 with Convoy HX 187, and arrived Garston on May 9. About a week later, she joined the westbound Convoy ON 95* in order to sail to Baytown. This convoy left Liverpool on May 15-1942; Stigstad arrived New York on May 30, Baytown on June 12, according to Page 3. In July that same year she's listed in Convoy HX 199 from Halifax, and the following month we find her in station 43 of the westbound Convoy ON 123, which left Liverpool for the U.S. on Aug. 21. Stigstad sailed from Loch Ewe that day, and arrived New York on Sept. 5.

She also sailed in Convoy HX 215, which departed New York on Nov. 11-1942 and arrived Liverpool on the 25th. Stigstad had a cargo of lub. oil and was bound for Mersey. She later joined the westbound Convoy ON 151*, departing Liverpool on Dec. 3-1942, arriving New York Dec. 23. She may have been scheduled to head back to the U.K. with Convoy HX 221 on Dec. 29 that year, but did not sail; the name is very difficult to decipher, and I'm not entirely sure this was Stigstad. Arnold Hague instead has her in the slow Convoy SC 116, which departed New York on Jan. 4-1943 and arrived Liverpool on the 29th; again, ref. external link below (see also Page 4). The Norwegian corvettes Acanthus and Eglantine are named among the escorts.

For information on some of Stigstad's other convoy voyages, made in between those already noted above, please follow the instructions provided at the external link below, then compare the results with the details found on the various archive documents.

* All the ON convoys mentioned here are available and will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, with more details on each. In the meantime, the ships sailing in them (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. As will be seen, several Norwegian ships took part in them.

For more information on all the other Norwegian ships named here, please see the alphabet index at the bottom of this page, or go to the Master Ship Index.

Related external links:
OB convoys - OB 151 and OB 302 are included. Note also that by going to this section of the site (based on Arnold Hague's database) and clicking on "Ship Search", typing "Stigstad" as keyword, several convoys that are not mentioned in my own text will come up. Here are OB 151, OB 182, OB 229, OB 274, HX 110, OB 302, OB 334 and SC 116, all mentioned in the above narrative.

See also this chronological
list of OA and OB convoys 1940

Final Fate - 1943:

As mentioned, Stigstad had arrived the U.K. from New York with the slow Convoy SC 116 in Jan.-1943. She departed Liverpool in Convoy ON 166 on Febr. 11-1943, in order to return to New York in ballast (she had previously left Manchester on Febr. 8). In a heavy storm she fell further and further behind until she lost sight of the convoy altogether, and was sailing alone when she was torpedoed on Febr. 21, first by U-332 (Hüttemann), and a few minutes later by U-603 (Bertelsmann), 49 26N 29 08W. Time given on Page 4 of the archive documents is 15:05.

According to a report presented at the subsequent maritime hearings, the ship was hit by 3 torpedoes, all on the starboard side. The steward had seen the first one coming at about 15:00* and ran up to the bridge to notify the officer on watch, 2nd Mate Alvenes, but the torpedo exploded near tank No. 16 before evasive maneuvers could be made. The 4" gun aft was immediately manned. About 2 minutes later a 2nd torpedo struck below midships then a 3rd exploded in the engine room.

* Rohwer gives German time as 16:59 for the first attack, and 17:05 for the second, adding in a footnote "The Stigstad was hit by one torpedo from U 332 and then by two from U 603, and sank in 15 min.". Rohwer does not list Stigstad as a straggler from this convoy.

Both starboard boats had been destroyed by the explosion, and due to the heavy starboard list it was impossible to get the aft port boat launched, but the forward port boat was succefully put on the water before Stigstad sank in 4-5 minutes, and the 2 aft rafts also floated free. 34 had survived, some of whom had jumped overboard and were picked up by the lifeboat. 3 were found floating on their lifevests face down in the water, all were dead. The U-boat came up and asked the usual questions about the ship and cargo, then left, only to come back half an hour later to hand them several cans of bread, 12 tins of Norwegian herring in tomatoes, 7 tins of blood pudding, 12-15 lbs of prunes and 7 lbs of Danish butter, before it took off.

After having taken on board the 14 men as well as supplies from the rafts the survivors set sail for Ireland (about 700 miles away), taking care of the injured the best they could in the overcrowded lifeboat. 2 weeks later, on March 7, when about 60 miles northwest of Valentia Island, Ireland (position 52 30N 12 08W) they were located by the British trawler Thomas Boot (from the Welsh port Milford Haven, skipper A. Howie), which interrupted its fishing and landed them at Valentia the next day. Keeping in mind that this was in the middle of winter, it's hard to even imagine what those 2 weeks must have been like. Captain Pettersen says the men on the trawler gave them their own beds, and the steward stayed up all night to cook and bake for them.

On arrival Valentia they were met by representatives from Red Cross and The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society. 6 were admitted to a hospital, while the rest were distributed in various hotels. On March 16, 16 travelled to Liverpool, another 11 were able to leave on the 19th and the remaining 7 on the 23rd. The hearings were held in Liverpool on Apr. 7-1943 with the 2nd mate, the 1st engineer, the 3rd engineer, the steward, Able Seaman Edland (helmsman), and Able Seaman Taraldsen (gun duty) appearing.

Worth mentioning (found in "Handelsflåten i krig", book 4 by Guri Hjeltnes. She lists her source as an Interview with 2nd Mate Peder Alvenes, Nov. 1987 by Harris Gregersen, Rohwer 1983):
Peder Alvenes says they were very sceptical when the U-boat came up, thinking at first that Hüttemann was up to no good, but instead he asked them in English if they had any food in the lifeboat. When the reply was negative he said he would go over to the other U-boat that had also attacked their ship, and might come back with supplies for them. Alvenes says, "but you know, we didn't trust him. While we were waiting we picked up all those who were still in the water, the rest were on a raft". But after 30 minutes Hüttemann returned with a box on deck. He helped get the food transferred to the lifeboat himself, then said, "I hope you keep going", then took off. (2 of the survivors, Einar Abrahamsen and Arne Mathisen, were reunited 44 years later).

Other Norwegian ships sunk from Convoy ON 166 were M/S Ingria, N. T. Nielsen-Alonso and M/T Glittre. Follow the links for more details. My page about this convoy has further info, including the names of other ships sunk (other Norwegian ships sailing in this convoy were Molda, Skandinavia, Tai Shan, Tropic Star and Brasil). See also the external links below.

A. F. Klaveness & Co. A/S, Oslo also had a Stigstad post war, delivered in Jan.-1961, 13 074 gt. Later names: Ronabay from 1963 for Einar Saanum, Mandal, Panamanian Lugano from 1973, An Foo 1975, Fu Kang 1976, Julius Helm 1979, Yannis K 1980, sold for breaking up in 1982, having had an engine room fire the previous year when en route to Boston from Rotterdam.