M/S Triton

To Triton on the "Ships starting with T" page.

Crew List


Picture received from Sverre Johansen, Norway (postcard collection).

Some War Voyages:

(More will be added).

In Oct.-1940 Triton was 1 of 7 Norwegian ships in Convoy HX 79. The others were Benwood, Sandanger, Egda, Thyra, Høyanger and Ravnefjell. The convoy departed Halifax on Oct. 8 and arrived Liverpool on Oct 23 with a loss of 12 ships, no Norwegian ships were lost. It appears Triton had joined from Bermuda in station 51 of the feeder convoy BHX 79 (along with Høyanger), and was in station 56 in the main convoy, with wheat, wool, and steel for Liverpool. According to "Nortraships flåte" Triton was attacked while in in this convoy and reported missing from Oct. 21 until the 23rd when she arrived Clyde (no such attack is mentioned by Rohwer). The "Ships in Atlantic Convoys" section has a list of all the ships in this convoy, as well as info on their cargoes, destinations etc. - follow the convoy link above. See also the external link further down on this page.

On March 4-1942 she joined Convoy OS 21, voyaging from Liverpool to Bermuda/Panama/Australia in station 21 of the convoy. Several other Norwegian ships also took part. See the 2nd external website that I've linked to at the end of this text for more convoy details.

Final Fate - 1942:

Hit by 2 torpedoes in the aft cargo holds and sunk by U-566 (Remus) on Aug. 17-1942, northeast of the Azores in position 39 31N 22 43W (39 30N 23 00W?), on a voyage from Sydney, N.S.W. and Freetown to Belfast Lough and Avonmouth with a 9500 tons cargo* of wool, wheat, zinc concentrate and 867 bags of mail in Convoy SL 118 (she had departed Sydney on May 25, Fremantle on June 16, arrived Cape Town for bunkers on July 9, took on board 358 bags of mail, departed July 14**, arrived Freetown July 25, departed in convoy SL 118 on Aug. 4 - see the external link at the end of this text for more on this convoy). The 2 port lifeboats were damaged and could not be used, but the crew took to the starboard boats. The aft starboard raft was also launched, manned by 10-15 men who were later picked up by the lifeboats.

* Mike Holdoway, the webmaster of the SL Convoys site, has told me that the records for Convoy SL 118 state she had a total cargo of 8941 tons, consisting of 3232 tons bulk wheat, 3000 tons zinc concentrates, 2682 tons wool, 27 tons bagged wheat, 81 bags mail, and carried 1 passenger.

** On July 22-1942 Triton rescued 11 survivors from the American ship William F. Humphrey, which had been sunk by the German auxiliary cruiser Michel in the South Atlantic on the 16th. 29 had been taken on board Michel. (My page Victims of Michel has more on this raider).

All 43 on board Triton had survived and were picked up half an hour later by the British S/S Baron Dunmore (also in SL 118). 4 had been injured and were transferred to one of the escorts for treatment. They were landed in Loch Ewe on Aug. 26 where they were transferred to the hospital ship St. Andrew, before being sent to Glasgow on Aug. 27, arriving the same day. The maritime inquiry was held there on Aug. 31-1942 with the captain, and the 1st and 3rd mates attending, all of whom had been on the bridge when the attack occurred.

Crew List - No casualties:
* Birger Karsten Torkildsen later survived the loss of Prins Harald.

Captain Einar Tholvsen	1st Mate Sigurd Thorstensen	2nd Mate Finn Wilhelmsen	3rd Mate Johannes Hjelle	4th Mate Alfred Gullaas	Radio Operator Bjarne Lande
Carpenter Gunnar Hammarstrand (Swedish)	Boatswain Lars Juliussen	Able Seaman Johan Roscher	Able Seaman Erling Berg	Able Seaman Harry Adolf Olsen	Able Seaman Kristoffer Brimsholm
Able Seaman Kåre Rustad	Ordinary Seaman Johan Kiel	Ordinary Seaman Johan Meyer Karlsen	Ordinary Seaman Oscar Sjø	1st Engineer Harald Edvin Jensen	2nd Engineer Birger K. Torkildsen *
3rd Engineer Olav Klepp	Electrician Sigurd K. Opdahl	Mechanic Ingolf Haakonsen	Mechanic Erling Lindberg	Mechanic Aron Svela	Mechanic Thoralf Egeland
Mechanic Arne Gundersen	Mechanic Per Oscarsen	Mechanic Rolf Pettersen	Oiler Harald Arnesen	Oiler Carlo Rikstad	Oiler Harald Olsen
Oiler John Muller (Polish)	Oiler Leslie Allan Boucher (British)	Steward Olav Kristiansen	Cook Erling Rolstad	Galley Boy Albert Wood (Australian)	Mess Boy Milton Macario (Dutch)
Mess Boy Ernst Cuthbert (British)	Saloon Boy William Glowe (Australian)	Saloon Boy Frank Glennen (Australian)	Saloon Boy Wilhelm Åsberg	+ 2 British Gunners	+ 1 passenger (a British Engineer)

Related external links:
HX 79, 19 Oct, 1940 - 20 Oct, 1940

OS and OS/KMS Convoys - This website lists all the ships in quite a few of these convoys, along with their convoy stations and info on their destination. The site also has a section on the SL / SL/MKS convoys, as well as the Russian Convoys. As can be seen, Triton is listed in Convoy OS 21 in March-1942, and was in SL 118 when sunk in Aug. that year.

Operations information for U-566

U-566

Back to Triton on the "Ships starting with T" page.

Other ships by this name: Wilh. Wilhelmsen later had another ship named Triton 1948-1969. Holland lost a steamship by this name in WW II, built 1928, 2078 gt - torpedoed, shelled and sunk by U-558 on June 2-1942, on a voyage from Demerara to Chesapeake Bay. (Holland had also lost a steamer by this name in 1923). Also, there was a Greek submarine by the name Triton in WW II.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: Wilh. Wilhelmsen fleet list, "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "German Raiders of World War II", August Karl Muggenthaler, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Volume II, Norwegian Maritime Museum, and misc. (ref. My sources).