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M/S Vinland To Vinland on the "Ships starting with V" page. Manager: Knut Knutsen O. A. S., Haugesund Delivered in Nov.-1924 from Burmeister & Wain's Maskin- og Skibsbyggeri, Copenhagen as Vinland to D/S A/S John Bakke (O. A. Knudsen), Haugesund. 4436 gt, 2664 net, 7525 tdwt, 381.3' x 53.7' x 24.9', 2 x 6 cyl. 4 tev B & W, 1780 bhp, 10.5 knots, 2 propellers. After Vinland had been delivered, Burmeister & Wain built 3 sister ships for the former Haugesund shipowner Ivar An. Christensen; Primero, Segundo and Tercero. Vinland was Haugesund's first new motor vessel in foreign trade and in 1928/29 she was put into regularly scheduled sailings to South America, but was later used for general tramping. From March-1938 she was managed by Knut Knutsen O. A. S. Captain: Mathias Midbøe, until he died on board while in Halifax on Apr. 4-1942, buried there (see Norwegian War Graves in Nova Scotia - external page - Captain Midbøe is listed). He had previously survived the sinking of Eli Knudsen in 1940. Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database). Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each. Errors may exist, and several voyages are missing.
Judging from the information found on Page 1 of the archive documents, Vinland was on her way from Talcahuano to Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark when war broke out there in Apr.-1940, but was diverted to London. With a general cargo for Falmouth, she's listed as sailing in Convoy HX 36 from Halifax on Apr. 18. She arrived Falmouth on May 1, London on May 8, remaining there for several weeks. The following month, we find her in Convoy OA 169, which left Southend on June 17 and was dispersed 2 days later. Her destination is given as Colon, cargo of cement - note that according to the archive document, she arrived Cristobal on July 10 (voyage information is given as London for Talcahuano). This convoy was composed of 2 parts, OA 169(1) and OA 169(2), Vinland being in station 13 of Part 1, and was the only Norwegian ship, while Part 2 had several (ref. external links provided in the Voyage Record). Her subsequent voyages are shown on the archive document already mentioned; 1941 voyages start on Page 2 and continue on Page 3. In Aug.-1941, she was in Convoy HX 144 from Halifax, along with the Norwegian Polartank, Orwell, Hallanger, Eidanger, Havprins, Grena, Evanger, Norse King, Suderøy, Ranja and Sommerstad. Vinland arrived Liverpool, via Belfast Lough, on Sept. 1. Later that month, she joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 17, and arrived Cristobal on Oct. 12, the convoy having been dispersed on Sept. 29. She subsequently proceeded to Los Angeles, then Vancouver, where she remained for quite a long time; again, see Page 3 above. She's mentioned in connection with Convoy HX 171 from Halifax on Jan. 20-1942, but there's a notation on the form that says "She is signalling as she comes along and leaves the convoy and anchors in stream off the Federal Tower", which probably means she did not sail (Acanthus and Rose are named among the escorts). In fact, she's listed, with a general cargo for Liverpool, in the slow Convoy SC 66, which departed Halifax on Jan. 23 and arrived Liverpool on Febr. 9. She now remained in Liverpool for several weeks (Page 3), before joining the westbound Convoy ON 77*, departing Liverpool on March 17, dispersed March 28, Vinland arriving Halifax the next day. It'll be noticed, when going back to the archive document, that she later had another long stay in Vancouver and also in New York. Convoy info for some of her voyages in this period can be found in the Voyage Record above. In Sept. 26-1942, A. Hague has included her in Convoy SC 103* from New York, arriving Liverpool Oct. 16. She returned to the U.S. at the end of that month with Convoy ON 142*, which left Liverpool on Oct. 30 and arrived New York Nov. 21. Vinland was now used as military transport for the Torch operations which had commenced in Nov.-1942. From New York (where she had stayed for several weeks), she headed to Casablanca on Jan. 13-1943, having joined Convoy UGS 4 - see link in Voyage Record. Page 4 shows her voyages in this period. As will be seen, she headed back to New York again 3 weeks later, remaining there for a month, before making a voyage to Oran, and in May she made a voyage from Oran to Gibraltar in Convoy MKS 13*, then went back to New York, where she again stayed for 3 weeks. The Voyage Record has some convoy information. In July, she headed to Liverpool again, having joined Convoy SC 136 from Halifax on July 8 (Commodore was in Titanian), and the following month, we find her in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ONS 15*, which left Liverpool on Aug. 6 and arrived Halifax on the 21st; Vinland, however, was bound for New York, and arrived there on Aug. 23. On Sept. 15, she's listed in Convoy SC 142 from Halifax to Liverpool, later returning across the Atlantic in Convoy ONS 20*. This convoy left Liverpool on Oct. 9 and arrived Halifax on the 26th, but Vinland was again bound for New York, where she arrived on Oct. 30. Her last Trans-Atlantic voyage that year was made in Convoy SC 149 from Halifax on Dec. 15, with arrival Liverpool Dec. 31. A couple of weeks later, she joined the westbound Convoy ONS 27*, departing Liverpool Jan. 13-1944 (Commodore was initially in Suderøy, but she returned to port). Vinland arrived New York on Febr. 3, later proceeding to Boston, where she had quite a long stay, before heading to Halifax in order to join Convoy SC 155 on March 14. Her destination on that occasion is given as Iceland; she arrived Reykjavik, via Loch Ewe, on Apr. 7 - again see Page 4 and Voyage Record above. Later that month, we find her in the Iceland-U.K. Convoy RU 116, together with Marques de Estella. Via Loch Ewe, Vinland now proceeded to Boston, having joined Convoy ON 234*, which originated in Liverpool on Apr. 26 and arrived New York May 12; Vinland sailed from Loch Ewe on the 26th and arrived Boston May 10 (according to A. Hague, she had carried toxic stores on this voyage). Having remained in Boston until July 1, she proceeded to Halifax, joining the Halifax portion of Convoy HX 298 on July 5 (convoy originated in New York, July 3), general cargo for Liverpool, where she arrived July 19. The following month, she's listed in the westbound Convoy ON 248S*, which sailed from Liverpool on Aug. 10 and arrived New York on the 27th; Vinland had started out from Belfast Lough on the 11th. On Sept. 16, she left New York in Convoy HX 309 back to the U.K., for which Laurits Swenson served as the Vice Commodore's ship. Via Southend, Vinland arrived Methil Roads on Oct. 6 (Page 4), and did not leave again until Nov. 26, subsequently proceeding to Antwerp, where she also appears to have spent over a month - again, see Voyage Record as well as Page 5. As can be seen, she also spent almost 3 weeks at Belfast Lough. At the end of Jan.-1945, she joined the westbound Convoy ONS 41*, which left Liverpool on Jan. 29 and arrived Halifax Febr. 20. Vinland had sailed from Belfast Lough on Jan. 30, and according to Arnold Hague she became a straggler, having had some problems with her steering - judging from the info on the archive document, she was bound for New York, later arriving there on March 2, remaining for over a month. Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 5, where we also learn that she went home to Norway in Oct.-1945. The document lists her voyages to March-1946.
Went to D/S A/S Lisbeth in 1948, sold in Sept.-1954 to Einar M. Gaard A/S & Sigurd Haavik A/S (also Haugesund) and renamed Gardhavn (general tramping and seasonal lumber trade). Sold to Greece in Jan.-1962, Spyridon Xatapodis, Itache and renamed Captain John, under Liberian flag. Went to Geo N. Petrianides, Piræus in 1962. Arrived Bombay on Dec. 3-1962, laid up under arrest. Went to Societa Maritima Aurora S.A., Duisburg/Panama on Dec. 3-1963 and reported broken up in India around the spring of 1965. Back to Vinland on the "Ships starting with V" page. Other ships by this name: Norway (O. & A. Irgens) had lost a steamship named Vinland in WW I, built 1906, 1143 gt - sunk by a German U-boat in the Western Atlantic on June 7-1918. Also, there was a Vinland in 1966 (Arne Dybvig, Flekkefjord), originally built as Portia for Svenska Lloyd, Gothenburg in 1955, 493 gt. Vinland became Skaansund of Haugesund in 1969, Nano K of Cyprus in 1972, Palmgirl in 1976. Sold for breaking up in Greece 1979. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Våre motorskip", Leif M. Bjørkelund & E. H. Kongshavn, and misc. (ref. My sources).
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