D/S Varøy - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Owner: Dampsk.-A/S Føina (D/S A/S Varøy?)
Manager: Knut Knutsen O. A. S., Haugesund
Tonnage: 1531 gt, 890 net, 2070 tdwt
Signal Letters: LFFN

Delivered in March-1892 from J. Blumer & Co., Sunderland as Lisabon to R. N. Sloman & Co., Hamburg, tonnages as above, 249.9' x 33.5' x 21.5', triple exp. (G. Clark). Purchased by A/S Atlas (Chr. Haaland), Haugesund in Oct.-1927 (renamed Hegre??), then taken over by Den Skandinaviske Syd-Pacific Linje (Knut Knutsen O.A.S.) in Febr.-1928. Renamed Varøy in 1929, registered owner D/S A/S Varøy.

Captain: Berge Andreassen (who had previously been the 1st mate on board since Nov.-1939, took over command on Apr. 1-1941)

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5

Varøy is listed in the Norway-U.K. Convoy HN 10B in Febr.-1940, bound for Rouen with a cargo of cellulose. She must have gone back to Norway, because in March she can be found in Convoy HN 20, same destination and cargo. A. Hague gives her arrival Rouen as Apr. 3. As will be seen when going to Page 1 of the archive documents, she later arrived The Downs from Rouen on Apr. 9, the day of the German invasion of Norway. On Apr. 12, she arrived London, remaining there for several weeks, before making another voyage to France.

In July that year, she's listed, together with Barøy, Solhavn and Torvanger, in Convoy OB 180, which originated in Liverpool on July 7 and dispersed on the 10th, Varøy arriving Sydney, C.B. on July 20 - she had started out from Milford Haven on July 7. She returned to the U.K. the following month in Convoy HX 68, which left Halifax on Aug. 24 and arrived Liverpool Sept. 8. Varøy, carrying a cargo of lumber, joined this convoy from Sydney, C.B., and according to Page 1, she arrived Tayport on Sept. 10, Dundee Sept. 16. She later joined Convoy OA 222, departing Methil on Sept. 30. This convoy rendezvoused with Convoy OB 222 on Oct. 3, and was dispersed on the 5th, Varøy arriving Sydney, C.B. on Oct. 15 (ref. links provided within the Voyage Record - Nina Borthen was sunk - follow the link for details). Having made a voyage to Quebec and back to Sydney, C.B., she later joined Convoy HX 84 from there, in which Jervis Bay and others were sunk; see also Solfonn for more details and links. This convoy had originated in Halifax on Oct. 28 and was dispersed on Nov. 5, Varøy arriving Clyde on Nov. 11.

The rest of her 1940 voyages and some of her 1941 voyages are shown on Page 1, with convoy info for some of them in the table above. It'll be noticed that she spent a long time in Plymouth, where she had arrived on Dec. 4-1940; departure is given as Febr. 15-1941.

In the summer of 1941, she's listed in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 1, originating Liverpool on July 26 with several Norwegian ships, as will be seen when following the link. Varøy was only bound for Iceland and arrived Reykjavik on Aug. 2, having started out from Milford Haven on July 25 - see Page 2.

Her 1942 voyages start on Page 3, while the rest are listed on Page 4 and Page 5. Occasional long stays in port are shown all through her record.

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

Final Fate - 1942:

Varøy sank following a collision in convoy off Gt. Yarmouth on Oct. 8-1942 when on a voyage Southend-Grangemouth. A visitor to my website has told me she had departed Gravesend on Oct. 3 for Cliffe to load cement, left again on Oct. 6, then left Thames that same day for Grangemouth in Convoy FN 33* in station No. 2(?), cargo of 1825 tons cement. Most of this agrees with the captain's report, however, he says they did not get away until 11:30 in the morning of Oct. 7 due to fog (see also Page 5), and that Varøy was No. L 17 F (not sure what this means) and was to be the 4th vessel in the starboard column, the ships bearing even numbers being assigned to the port column, those with odd numbers to the starboard column. He adds that although L 13 F and L 15 F were included in the cruising order, no names of the ships were given, and when the convoy formed up, Varøy took up the 2nd position in the starboard column, i.e, right behind the Vice Commodore ship. The only other ships he remembers are Mr. Therm(?), Commodore Vessel, Commander Taylor R.N.R., leading the port column, and the Norwegian Ask which was stationed somewhere astern of them. According to convoy orders the columns were to keep 3 cables apart and the ships in each column 2 cables behind each other. The escorts were HMS Wallace (S.O.) in the front and HMS Quantock in the rear. The other escorts did not join in time because of the fog. The convoy was diverted through the Would Channel, and kept clear of the fog.

* This convoy has been designated FN 833 by Arnold Hague (FN 33/Phase 9) - see this external page. In addition to Ask, the Norwegian Stirlingville is also listed, but the info is otherwise incomplete (only 6 of 23 ships are named).

The speed was originally set to 7 1/2 knots but as they left Southend a little late the speed was about 8 to 8 1/2 knots. That afternoon the 1st mate picked up a flag signal from the Commodore saying that the speed was to be 8 knots and orders were given to the engine room accordingly. At that time, the rule was that ships trading in the North Sea should not exhibit lights, unless necessary to avoid collisions, so no ships in the convoy had their lights lit.

At 1.55 am (engine room time) on Oct. 8, when 5.2miles off Cromer, Norfolk Varøy collided with Francis Fladgate, in station 5 of the same column. The captain of Varøy says this happened when they were between Buoys 8b and 57g, having passed No. 8a buoy at 1.28 am. The weather at the time was thick fog with heavy rain. Both ships were steaming at 7.5 knots; neither had time to swing, and the angle of impact was estimated as 45° from aft by Francis Fladgate, and 70° by Varøy, which was struck in No. 2 hold. Her deck was raised about 2-3', the side set in 2-3' and she was settling down by the head very quickly, so the crew was ordered to the boats. At the time of the collision the convoy was already in considerable confusion, partly due to the darkness, partly owing to the fact that Helmwood, a ship in the convoy, had collided with a tug at anchor at about 1:30 am, 1/4 mile west of 8a buoy.

The 2 lifeboats left the ship at about 02:10 and pulled over to a buoy where they were tied up until picked up by ML 201 at 02:30 and taken to Grimsby. Varøy sank in about 20 minutes, position 52 58 24N 1 28 45E. In the captain's opinion the collision was caused by Francis Fladgate getting out of her position in the convoy and altering course to port towards the ship in the starboard column, and he thinks that when she saw that she was outside the starboard column she attempted to fall in astern of Varøy but misjudged the distance and struck her in the starboard side with her stem. (It would be interesting to read Francis Fladgate's report, which probably blames the Norwegian ship).

Crew List - No casualties:
The 2nd engineer had previously served on Benwood, Leka, Snar and Bestum. Following the loss of Varøy, he served on Grey County, Bergensfjord and Leka - see also this external page.

Captain Berge Andreassen	1st Mate Ole Hovlandsvåg	2nd Mate Søren Gram	Boatswain Olaf M. Brekvam	Able Seaman Erling Koppen	Able Seaman Norman Nilsen
Able Seaman Arthur Fon	Able Seaman John Wilson (British)	Ordinary Seaman Trygve Moldøy	Ordinary Seaman Johannes Johansen	1st Engineer Karl M. Wråldsen	2nd Engineer Odd Hansen
Donkeyman Henry Langeland	Stoker William Litherland (British)	Stoker Trygve Saastad	Stoker Erns Schaal (Nationality?)	Trimmer Sigurd Halvorsen	Trimmer Adolf Skorpeide
Steward Monrad Jacobsen	Cook Gotfred Aronsen	Mess Boy George Henry Swale (British)	Gunner Hans J. Hansen	Gunner Henry Tangen	+ 2 more?