M/T Thorshavet - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Owner: Bryde & Dahls Hvalfangerselskap A/S
Manager: A/S Thor Dahl, Sandefjord
Tonnage: 11 015 gt, 6602 net, 16 150 tdwt
Signal Letters: LJZK

Built by Deutsche Werft AG, Betrieb Finkenwärder, Hamburg in 1938.

Captains: Atle Tange and Arne Harbo Hansen.

In Admiralty service from 1940 (Royal Fleet Auxiliary).

From Sept.-1939 until Sept.-1942, Ole Mauritz Thorsen from Sandefjord served on this ship (ordinary seaman, able seaman and carpenter). He paid off shortly before she was sunk, in order to go to Mate's school in England (died 1995). If anybody knew him and would like to get in touch with his wife, I can provide her address - my contact address is included at the bottom of this page.

Some War Voyages – 1940-1942:

(More will be added).

Thorshavet is listed in Convoy SL 51, which departed Freetown on Oct. 12-1940 and arrived Oban on the 31st. Towards the end of that year she appears in Convoy OB 259, which left Liverpool on Dec. 14-1940 and dispersed on the 17th. Her destination is given as Abadan / Cape - see the external link to the SL and OB convoys further down on this page for the names of other ships in these convoys, some of which were Norwegian.

Thorshavet, bound for Clyde with fuel oil, sailed in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 114 in March-1941, joining the convoy from Bermuda (this is the convoy in which Hidlefjord was sunk, and Kaia Knudsen damaged). The following month she's listed as bound for New York in Convoy OB 307, departing Liverpool on Apr. 7, dispersed on the 13th. There's a little snippet of information in this report saying she was westbound when met by the Ocean Escort for Convoy SC 28 on Apr. 17, in 49 36N 41 31W. (To avoid any misunderstanding, please note that Thorshavet was not herself in SC 28, which was an eastbound convoy). She returned to the U.K. towards the end of May with Convoy HX 128, fuel oil for Oban - station 24. Towards the end of this latter voyage she's said to have rescued 11 survivors from the Belgian trawler John. Jan-Olof, Sweden has told me that "Lloyd's War Losses, Vol I British, Allied and Neutral Merchant Vessels Sunk or Destroyed by War Causes", 1989 reprint says the following about this trawler: "Attacked by aircraft on June 2, 1941. Again attacked June 3 about 300 miles S. by E. of Inglos Hofdi, 93 miles N.W. of St.Kilda. Abandoned by crew. Presumed sunk. Sighted on June 3 by Thorshavet in 58 13N 11 16W. Crew 11, no casualties". Thorshavet's captain at that time was Atle Tange.

Thorshavet subsequently shows up in Convoy OB 335, which left Liverpool on June 16-1941 and arrived Halifax on July 2; however, Thorshavet was bound for Curacao on that occasion. Later that month we find her in station 43 of Convoy HX 140, voyage from Curacao to Clyde with fuel oil, together with the Norwegian Ferncastle (113), Madrono (112), Boreas (16), Velox (56), Velma (96), Alaska (106), Stiklestad (95), Vardefjell (84), Evita (114), Olaf Bergh (124), Skiensfjord (97), Thorshov (83), Bonneville (82), and Helgøy (77). Beth and Petter were also initially in this convoy but left due to engine problems. Thorshavet returned the following month with the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 6 (departure Liverpool on Aug. 11-1941). Her destination is given as Trinidad. In Sept. that same year she's listed in station 33 of the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 150, together with the Norwegian Fenris (83), Solfonn (44), Havkong (84), Garonne (62), Heina (64), Topdalsfjord (34), Varanger (66?) and Braganza (66?). Thorshavet, bound for Curacao, now joined the westbound Convoy ON 24*, which departed Liverpool on Oct. 8 and dispersed on the 15th.

The external site below also has her in Convoy HX 167 at the end of Dec.-1941. As will be seen, she's not mentioned on my own page about this convoy, but my information is incomplete. Thorshavet's destination is given as Hvalfjord, Iceland.

In Jan.-1942 we find her in the westbound Convoy ON 59*, which left Liverpool on Jan. 23 and dispersed on Febr. 6, however, Thorshavet joined this convoy from Iceland. She subsequently headed back to the U.K. at the end of that month in Convoy HX 177.

Follow the links for more details on these convoys; they all had several Norwegian ships. More info on the other Norwegian ships already mentioned here can be found with the help of the alphabet index at the end of this page.

In March-1942 she shows up in Convoy OS 23, voyaging from Oban to Curacao in ballast in station 85 of the convoy, which left Liverpool on March 24. In May she's mentioned in Convoy SL 109, which departed Freetown on May 4. Thorshavet detached from the convoy on May 6 to proceed independently - her destination is not given, but it looks like she did make a voyage to Curaçao again, see next paragraph. These convoys are not included in my own convoy section, but the external website that I've linked to below has more infomation on them.

Encounter with a German Raider - May-1942?

There's an interesting personal account about Thorshavet in the book "Sjøfolk i krig" (seamen at war) by Leif M. Bjørkelund. The story is told by one of the crew, Able Seaman Johan Byrkja and the incident took place at the beginning of June-1942 when she was on a voyage from Curaçao to Freetown, about a week after departure Curaçao on May 29*. It appears they were followed for a long time by what was believed to be a German raider, looking very much like the Norwegian M/S Venus (Bergenske Dampskibsselskab), which was rumoured to have been converted to a raider. Thorshavet changed course, but to no avail. The enemy ship came extremely close at one point, before suddenly turning around and withdrawing at full speed. I've never seen this episode discussed anywhere else, and it would be interesting to know if anyone with access to German records could identify this vessel for me (could it have been Stier perhaps? Or Thor, or Michel?).

* Note that she is, in fact, listed as bound for Freetown in Convoy OT 4, leaving Curacao on that date - she had previously arrived Curacao on May 26 in Convoy TO 1 (both are external links).

After the mysterious vessel had disappeared Thorshavet changed course and headed south for a while before turning towards the coast of Africa. En route they encountered a British cruiser and signalled a message about the "enemy" ship operating in the South Atlantic. The cruiser escorted them part of the way, but the next morning it took off to search for the raider. Thorshavet reached Freetown on June 14-1942. From there she travelled in convoy via Gibraltar to Loch Ewe, and arrived Scapa Flow on July 4. This must have been Convoy SL 113 - see the external site below, where she's indeed included in this convoy, which left Freetown on June 15 and arrived Liverpool on July 5. The Norwegian Thorhild, Fagerfjell and Vanja are also listed (Vanja did not sail). Thorshavet's cargo was 15 158 tons of Admiralty fuel, station 54.

In Aug.-1942 she can be found in Convoy OS 38, voyaging from Oban to Gibraltar in station 44. Again, refer to the external website below for more information (convoy departed Liverpool on Aug. 20).

She must have returned to the U.K., because she's also listed in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 133*, departing Liverpool on Sept. 25-1942, arriving New York, her destination at that time, on Oct. 11. Her final destination appears to have been Curacao, because she's listed with that destination in Convoy NG 314, departing New York on Oct. 15-1942, arriving Guantanamo on Oct. 22 (ref. link provided below - the Norwegian Anna Knudsen, Britamsea, Sandanger, Skandinavia and Thorshov are also listed). Rick Pitz, a visitor to my website, has informed me via this message in my Guestbook that Thorshavet subsequently joined Convoy GAT 16, which left Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for Trinidad that same day (Oct. 22) and arrived Trinidad on Oct. 28. As will be seen in the next paragraph, her return voyage was to be her last.

* All the ON convoys are now available and will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, with more information on each. In the meantime, please go to the section listing ships in ON convoys.

Related external link:
SL convoys and OS/KMS Convoys - The site also has a section for the OB convoys, among others, as well as a very useful Multi-Convoy Web Search feature - here's the main page. As can be seen, Thorshavet is listed among the ships in Convoy OB 259, OS 23, SL 109, SL 113 and OS 38. Note also that by going to this section of the same site and clicking on "Ship Search", using "Thorshavet" as keyword, some local U.K. convoys that are not mentioned in my own text will come up. Here are SL 51, OB 307, OB 335, HX 167, NG 314, and GAT 16, all mentioned in my text above.

Final Fate - 1942:

Captain Arne Harbo Hansen.

She left Trinidad again on Nov. 2-1942 in Convoy TAG 18 (external page) with a cargo of 15 000 tons fuel oil for the UK via New York. She's listed as cancelled from Convoy HX 216, which left New York on Nov. 19-1942, so this appears to be the convoy she was meant to join for her voyage to the U.K. However, on Nov. 3 she was torpedoed by U-160 (Lassen), 12 16N 64 06W (north of Margarita Island, Caribbean according to Charles Hocking). An excerpt from her deck journal states she was hit immediately afterwards by a 2nd torpedo, both exploding in the engine room on the starboard side, time given as 00:14 ("Nortraships flåte" gives the time 01:00, while Rohwer gives 06:30, German time).

4 lifeboats were launched, and as the ship stayed afloat, some of the men reboarded at dawn in order to search for 3 missing men, 1 of whom, the 3rd engineer was found floating in the engine room, but the other 2 were not found. The survivors were picked up by a destroyer that afternoon and landed in Curacao the following evening.

On Nov. 6 a salvage vessel was sent out to the wreck, but on the 7th she was reported to have sunk.

The Norwegian tanker Astrell was also torpedoed and sunk while in TAG 18 - my page about this ship also names other ships sunk.

An inquiry was held in New York on Nov. 30-1942 with the captain, the 2nd mate, and the Norwegian radio operator attending (the others had not yet arrived New York). The 2nd mate stated that Thorshavet had been in the 5th column of the convoy, with 4 columns on each side of her, and was sailing right behind the commodore vessel, which means she must have been in station 52(?). The radio operator said he had sent out an SOS while the crew went to the boats, having found the radio equipment in full order.