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D/S Veni To Veni on the "Ships starting with V" page. Owner: D/S A/S Veni, Stavanger. Delivered in July-1901 from W. Piekersgill & Sons Ltd., Sunderland as Tonbridge to Galbraith Pembrokke & Co., London. "Våre gamle skip" gives the tonnages as 2981 gt, 1778 net, 4800 tdwt, 324.1' x 47.1' x 21.7', Triple Exp. (J. Dickinson & Sons Ltd.). Purchased by A/S Hiram (Nils Mjelde), Haugesund in 1920 and renamed Veni. Company went bankrupt and the ship was taken over by Torvestad & Skaare Sparebank (H. Karluf Hansen) in 1922. Sold in 1928 to Peder (Pedersen) Smedvig. (See also this external page, which has a more detailed history). Related items on this website: Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives: Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.
(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database). Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each (where the "Convoy" column is left blank, it means that convoy is not known). Errors may exist, and some voyages are missing.
According to A. Hague, Veni joined the Norway-U.K. Convoy HN 8 on Jan. 19-1940, but experienced engine trouble and had to return to Norway that same day. Later that month, she's listed in Convoy HN 9A. She arrived Workington on Febr. 1, having started out in Narvik. The escorting HMS Inglefield's report for this convoy states that she had lost touch during the night of Jan. 28/29 and made no attempt to rejoin, though she was in sight of the convoy throughout the following day. She later shows up in Convoy OB 126, originating in Liverpool on Apr. 9-1940 (the day of the German invasion of Norway). Her voyage information is given as Glasgow-Halifax, and she had station 42 of the convoy, which is available at the external link provided in the Voyage Record. According to A. Hague, she arrived Halifax in tow on May 7, having been disabled due to a broken propeller shaft on Apr. 13 - Page 1 gives arrival Halifax as May 5 and as can be seen, she subsequently remained there for a long time. She was scheduled for Convoy HX 45 back to the U.K. at the end of that month, but did not sail. A. Hague says she proceeded to Sharpness independently on June 20, with arrival July 7, continuing to Cardiff on July 26, where she also had quite a long stay. She's now listed in Convoy OB 202, which originated in Liverpool on Aug. 22 and dispersed on the 26th, Veni arriving Sydney, C.B. Sept. 3 (again, ref. external link provided - Alaska, Brask, Bur, Einvik and Mosli are also named. This convoy lost 2 ships, while 1 was damaged; see the link at the end of this page). On Sept. 27, we find her in the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 6, cargo of pit props for West Hartlepool, where she arrived Nov. 8 (having had a long stay at Clyde). It'll be noticed, when going back to the archive document, that she also had a long stay at Tyne later on. At the end of that year she headed to Reykjavik, with arrival Jan. 4-1941 and from there she proceeded to Louisburg and Halifax on Jan. 20 (independently, according to Arnold Hague). Having remained in Halifax for several weeks, she returned to the U.K. in the slow Convoy SC 25, departing Halifax on March 10, cargo of lumber for Grangemouth, where she also remained for several weeks (Page 1). In June, she's listed in Convoy OB 329, which originated in Liverpool on May 31 and dispersed June 5, Veni arriving Halifax on the 16th (she had started out from Oban on June 1). Again, see the link provided within the table above, the Norwegian Belpareil, Bjerka, Bruse Jarl, Christian Krohg (sunk; follow the link for details), Finnanger, Garonne, O. A. Knudsen and Sirehei (returned) are also included. Veni subsequently had another long stop in port, before proceeding to Sydney, C.B. on July 8, and A. Hague now has her, with a cargo of lumber, in station 12 of Convoy SC 37* from there on July 12. The following month, she joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 10, leaving Liverpool on Aug. 27; Veni sailed from Loch Ewe on the 29th and arrived New York Sept. 16, the convoy having been dispersed on the 11th. According to A. Hague, she returned across the Atlantic in Convoy SC 47*, departing Sydney, C.B. on Sept. 29, general cargo, station 54 (Eglantine is named among the escorts - see SC convoy escorts). Veni's voyages in this period are shown on Page 2, and as can be seen, she later had quite a long stay at Tyne again. In Dec.-1941 she joined the westbound Convoy ON 45*, but returned to port, joining ON 49* later that month, and arrived New York on Jan. 10-1942, the convoy having been dispersed on Jan. 5 (she had joined from Clyde). With a cargo of phosphates for Ipswich, she's listed among the ships in Convoy SC 70 from Halifax on Febr. 16-1942, arriving her destination on March 15, returning to Halifax with Convoy ON 84*, which left Liverpool on Apr. 8 (Veni sailed from Loch Ewe that day) and arrived Halifax on the 25th. In May, she sailed in Convoy SC 84 from Halifax, carrying a cargo of steel and pulp for Southampton, where she arrived June 1 (Page 2), and later that month, she's listed as bound for Halifax in the westbound Convoy ON 104*. She arrived Halifax on July 1 (Page 3) and with steel, sulphite and pulp for Southampton, she was scheduled to go back to the U.K. with the slow Sydney (C.B.)-U.K. Convoy SC 93 on July 24, but instead joined the next convoy on July 31, SC 94, which lost so many ships (follow the link for more info), but all the Norwegian ships escaped unharmed. Veni arrived Southampton, via various other ports, on Aug. 18. Towards the end of Sept.-1942 she's listed in the westbound Convoy ON 134*, again bound for Halifax. This convoy originated in Liverpool on Sept. 26 and arrived New York Oct. 17 (Commodore in Bonneville); Veni sailed from Milford Haven Sept. 25 and arrived Halifax Oct. 14. Having made a voyage to Pictou and on to Sydney, C.B., she left Sydney again on Nov. 13, joining Convoy SC 109* (cargo of lumber, station 75 - convoy originated in New York Nov. 9), arriving Liverpool Nov. 30, proceeding to Garston that same day. On Dec. 9, we find her in station 31 of the westbound Convoy ON 152, but is said to have lost touch on the night leading up to Dec. 12 and returned to Clyde, where she arrived Dec. 15. (The Norwegian Grey County, Sommerstad and Bonneville sailed in this convoy, the latter serving as Commodore Vessel again).For a long time I've suspected that Veni may have joined ON 154 later on, because there's mention of her having sighted Norse King, which was lost from this convoy (see my page about this ship, as well as the external links at the bottom of that page). But then again, I couldn't quite get this theory to fit with what Deane Wynne says in his story. He states that they docked in New York on New Year's Eve 1942/'43, after a fairly uneventful crossing. This is the date Convoy ON 152, as well as Convoy ON 153 arrived New York, but Veni is not mentioned at all in the documents I have for ON 153. ON 154, on the other hand, did not arrive New York until Jan. 12-1943, and both these convoys were attacked and lost several ships, so the description "fairly uneventful" does not quite fit (the Norwegian Bello was among those sunk in ON 153). However, Convoy ON 154* is now available to me, via A. Hague's database, and Veni is indeed included among the ships sailing in it. Or could this be an error - did she not return to port from ON 152 afterall, so that they did indeed dock in New York on New Years Eve? However, even the archive document (Page 3) states she put back to port on Dec. 15, leaving again on Dec. 18, with arrival New York Jan. 12-1943, remaining there for a long time. She did not leave New York again until March 20-1943, and A. Hague has included her, with a cargo of flour, in Convoy SC 124*, arriving Liverpool Apr. 9, and again had a long stay in port, until she on May 7 joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ONS 7. Buttercup, which came under the Norwegian flag after the loss of Tunsberg Castle the following year, is named among the escorts. Veni's destination was New York, where she arrived on May 28. On June 27, she sailed from Halifax in Convoy SC 135, cargo of steel and lumber for Hull, where she arrived, via various other ports, on July 15 - see Page 4. She went back to Halifax in Convoy ONS 15* (originated in Liverpool Aug. 6, Veni sailed from Oban Aug. 7), arriving her destination on Aug. 21, returning across the Atlantic the following month with Convoy SC 142 from Halifax, steel and pit props for Garston, with arrival there Sept. 30. She later proceeded to Eastham and Manchester, where she stayed for 2 months, according to the archive document. Her last Trans-Atlantic voyage that year was made in the westbound Convoy ONS 25*, bound for Halifax, where she arrived Jan. 3-1944, the convoy having departed Liverpool on Dec. 15. She subsequently returned in Convoy SC 152, which left Halifax on Jan. 29-1944 and arrived Liverpool on Febr. 15 (Evanger's captain served as Vice Commodore). Veni again had a cargo of steel and pit props for Garston, where she arrived that same day. Later that month we find her in the westbound Convoy ONS 30*, which departed Liverpool on Febr. 27 and arrived Halifax March 13; Veni, however, was bound for Newhaven, Conn. where she arrived March 16. On Apr. 17, she joined Convoy SC 157 from Halifax, cargo of lumber for Plymouth, where she arrived May 3, then made several voyages around the U.K. (again, see Page 4, as well as Page 5) before she headed to Chatham, N.B., having joined Convoy ON 251* (Fjordheim was sunk - follow the link for details). This convoy, for which Tungsha served as Commodore Vessel, departed Liverpool on Sept. 1 and arrived New York on Sept. 19, but Veni had parted company on the 15th and arrived her destination Sept. 18. With a cargo of lumber for Manchester, she returned the following month with the Sydney, C.B. portion of Convoy SC 158 (the convoy had started out in Halifax). She's later listed in the westbound Convoy ONS 36*, departing Liverpool on Nov. 13 (Commodore in Geisha). Veni's destination is given as Halifax, but it looks like she went to St. John, N.B., where she arrived Dec. 4. She proceeded to Halifax later on, arriving Dec. 15, and from there, she joined Convoy SC 163 on Dec. 17, bound for Leith Dock, cargo of flour, arriving Leith on Jan. 3-1945, remaining there until Jan. 21. At the end of that month, we find her in the westbound Convoy ONS 41*, which sailed from Liverpool on Jan. 29-1945 and arrived Halifax Febr. 20, but Veni (which had started out from Belfast Lough on Jan. 30 - Page 5) was detached for the Azores on Febr. 13. According to Page 6, she arrived Fayal on Febr. 16, continuing to St. Michaels, with arrival Febr. 17, then headed back to Fayal on the 19th, arriving the next day. From there, she proceeded to New York, having joined Convoy ONS 42*, which had started out in Liverpool on Febr. 13 and arrived Halifax March 5; according to A. Hague, Veni joined from Horta on Febr. 24. The archive document, which states she had left Fayal on Febr. 22, does not give a date for her arrival New York City (she arrived Cape Cod Canal on March 7). On Apr. 28, A. Hague has included her, with a cargo of lumber, in station 42 of Convoy SC 174* from Halifax. She arrived Preston on May 15; in other words, VE Day had been celebrated at sea. Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 6 and Page 7 of the archive documents - as can be seen, she got to go home to Norway twice in the fall of 1945.
"Våre gamle skip" says Veni, with a cargo of coal, was lost in heavy fog on Jan. 8-1948 off Leith, Scotland. However, this appears to be incorrect; the location was off the coast of Islay and the date was the early hours of Jan. 11 (my Guestbook has a message from the son of someone who was on board at the time). En route from Leith to Sfax, North Africa in ballast she encountered a 50 mph gale which pushed her east of her intended course. Deane Wynne has sent me some information from "Argyll Wrecks" by Peter Moir which says the Air Ministry meteorological ship Weather Recorder (Captain Ford) picked up a Mayday signal from Veni stating they had run aground off Colonsay and were sinking fast. She was in fact on the Balach Rocks, a reef located 2 miles off Ardnave Point, badly holed and bumping heavily on the seabed, gradually slipping off the reef and sinking as she was filled with water. Captain of Veni at the time was Captain Pedersen with a crew of 27. They managed to launch the lifeboats, but 2 of her crew fell overboard as the ship lurched in the swell, 1 of whom, the boatswain, was injured when he crashed against the side of the lifeboat. By then Weather Recorder had reached their position and when they were all safely in the boats they fired flares to let Captain Ford know they were off the ship, whereupon the latter steamed to within two lengths of Veni and rescued the men. Later that day the salvage tug Salveda came to the scene, but upon inspection of the wreck she was found to be beyond saving and she was abandoned. The wreck of Veni is reported to lie in 18-20 meters of water north of the outermost reef of the Balach Rocks. Related external links: Back to Veni on the "Ships starting with V" page. Norway had lost a ship by this name to WW I, delivered 1901 as Dagmar, John P. Pedersen & Søn, Tvedestrand, 654 gt. From 1910 she belonged to A/S Ocean, then Veni for Brødrene Olsen Stavanger in 1913. Changed owners in March-1915, A/S Mjeldes Dampskibsselskap (Nils Mjelde), Haugesund, sold to C. H. Engelhart, Christiania in Apr.-1917. Sunk by explosives on May 10-1917 (UC-17), 15 n. miles off Portland Bill when on a voyage Newport Mon.-St. Malo with 777 tons coal. Crew saved by British patrolboat and taken to Weymouth. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Våre gamle skip" by Leif M. Bjørkelund and E. H. Kongshavn, and misc. as named in the above narrative - (ref. My sources).
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