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M/S Fernplant
Updated Aug. 13-2011

To Fernplant on the "Ships starting with F" page.


All pictures were kindly received from Historical Department, MAN B&W Diesel, Copenhagen.
Their representative says that their museum (external link) has models of some ships.
Here are 2 more pictures, Pic 1, and Pic 2.
(Size and quality have been reduced to save space. Several more, very similar pics were also received).

More pictures are available on this external page (click in them to make them larger).

Manager: Fearnley & Eger, Oslo
Tonnage:
5274 gt

Built by Burmeister & Wains Maskin- og Skipsbyggeri, Copenhagen in 1939.

Captain: Gunnar Rogne.

Helene Karoline J. Fischer Dale served as a radio operator on this ship after the war. She had previously served as stewardess on Bayard from March-1940 till Dec. that year, and on the same ship from Febr.-1941 till March-1942, before joining Laurits Swenson in the same capacity in May-1942, till July-1942. The following month she started school at Little Norway, Toronto to become a radio operator, and fresh out of school she joined Fred. Olsen's Baalbek as 2nd radio operator in June-1943 (till Sept.-1943), before signing on Alf Lindeberg in Oct.-1943 where she stayed till Dec.-1945. Just 2 days after signing off Alf Lindeberg she joined M/S Fernplant, this time as 1st radio operator, remaining with this ship until March-1946. She was later awarded Krigsmedaljen and Haakon VII Frihetsmedalje - see my Norwegian War Medals page. Many women sailed with the Norwegian fleet during the war; mostly as stewardesses or saloon girls. Norwegian ships also had several female Canadian radio operators; a list of their names can be found at the end of my page about Mosdale. (My mother was also a radio operator, though not during the war. Her ships can be found at Åse's Ships). The majority of the information on Helene Fischer Dale was received from Olive Roeckner, who herself served as radio operator on Norwegian ships (she in turn received the information from Berit Pittman, Canada). A book has been written about her experiences - see my text under Narvik.

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


Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.

Voyage Record
From Jan.-1942 to Nov.-1945:

(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.

Departure From To Arrival Convoy Remarks
1942 Jan. 24 Los Angeles San Francisco Jan. 26 Independent A. Hague says:
Previously traded in Pacific
(compare w/Page 1 and Page 2)
Jan. 27 San Francisco Seattle Jan. 29 Independent
Febr. 6 Seattle Balboa Febr. 20 Independent
Febr. 22 Cristobal Trinidad Febr. 27 Independent See also narrative below
March 1 Trinidad Capetown March 22 Independent
March 23 Capetown Aden Apr. 7 Independent
Apr. 7 Aden Suez Apr. 11 Independent Missing voyages, Page 2 above
Apr. 21 Port Said Haifa Apr. 22 Independent
Apr. 29 Haifa Port Said Apr. 30 Independent
May 10 Port Said Alexandria May 11 Independent
May 17 Alexandria Port Said May 18 Independent Left Port Said May 19
(Page 3).
May 20 Suez Aden May 25 Independent
May 25 Aden Capetown June 10 Independent
June 19* Capetown Trinidad July 11 Independent *Page 3 gives departure June 16
July 15 Trinidad Key West July 23 TAW 5 Convoy available at TAW 5
(external link)
July 27 Key West Hampton Roads July 31 KN 124 Convoy available at KN 124
(external link)
Aug. 2 Hampton Roads New York City Aug. 3 Independent
Sept. 6 New York City Gitmo Sept. 12 NG 303 For Suez.
Convoy available at NG convoys
(external link)
Sept. 13 Gitmo Cristobal Sept. 17 GZ 3 Convoy available at GZ convoys
(external link)
Sept. 18 Balboa Capetown Oct. 14 Independent
Oct. 17 Capetown Aden Nov. 2 Independent
Nov. 2 Aden Port Sudan Nov. 5 Independent
Nov. 6 Port Sudan Suez Nov. 8 Independent
Nov. 29 Suez Aden Dec. 3 Independent
Dec. 4 Aden Bombay Dec. 10 Independent Left Bombay Dec. 10
(Page 3).
Dec. 21 Bombay Colombo Dec. 24 Independent
1943 Jan. 2 Colombo Hobart Jan. 20 Independent
Jan. 21 Hobart Balboa Febr. 17 Independent
Febr. 18 Cristobal New York City Febr. 27 Independent
March 19 New York City Gitmo March 26 NG 350 Convoy available at NG convoys
(external link)
March 27 Gitmo Cristobal March 31 GZ 26 Convoy available at GZ convoys
(external link)
Apr. 2 Balboa Fremantle May 5 Independent
May 6* Fremantle Aden Independent *Page 3 gives departure Apr. 6
May 24 Aden Suez May 29 Independent Left Suez June 15
(Page 3).
June 29 Port Said Iskenderun July 1 Independent
Aug. 5 Iskenderun Haifa Aug. 6 Independent See also narrative below
Aug. 8 Haifa Port Said Aug. 9 Independent
Aug. 9 Port Said Alexandria Aug. 10 Independent
Aug. 25 Alexandria Gibraltar Sept. 4 MKS 23
Sept. 8 Gibraltar New York City Sept. 24 GUS 14 Convoy available at GUS convoys
(external link)
Oct. 22 New York City Hampton Roads Oct. 23 Independent
Oct. 25 Hampton Roads Port Said Nov. 22 UGS 22 Convoy available at UGS convoys
(external link)
Missing movements, Page 4
Dec. 4 Port Said Haifa Dec. 5 Independent
Dec. 6 Haifa Mersin Dec. 7 Independent
Dec. 8 Mersin Iskenderun Dec. 9 Independent Left Iskenderun Dec. 12
(Page 4).
Dec. 26 Port Said Alexandria Dec. 27 Independent A. Hague says:
Passage from Iskenderun not reported
(but see note above)
Dec. 27 Alexandria Hampton Roads Jan. 24-1944 GUS 26 Convoy available at GUS convoys
(external link)
1944 Jan. 24 Hampton Roads Baltimore Jan. 25 Independent
Jan. 30 Baltimore New York City Febr. 1 Independent
Febr. 20 New York City Hampton Roads Febr. 21 Independent
Febr. 23 Hampton Roads Alexandria March 19 UGS 34 Convoy available at UGS convoys
(external link)
Apr. 5 Alexandria New York City May 2 GUS 36 Convoy available at GUS convoys
(external link)
May 21 New York City Hampton Roads Independent
May 23 Hampton Roads Alexandria June 17 UGS 43 Convoy available at UGS convoys
(external link)
June 26 Alexandria Port Said June 27 Independent
June 28 Port Said Haifa June 29 Independent
June 29 Haifa Iskenderun June 30 Independent
July 6 Iskenderun Mersin July 7 Independent
July 22 Mersin Port Said July 24 Independent
July 25 Port Said Baltimore Aug. 18 GUS 47
Aug. 22 Baltimore New York City Aug. 23 Independent
Sept. 20 New York City Hampton Roads Sept. 21 Independent
Sept. 22 Hampton Roads Port Said Oct. 17 UGS 55 Convoy available at UGS convoys
(external link)
Oct. 27 Port Said Iskenderun Oct. 28 Independent
Nov. 8 Iskenderun Mersin Nov. 9 Independent
Nov. 16 Mersin Port Said Independent Page 4 gives arrival Nov. 21
Nov. 22 Port Said Oran Nov. 28 Independent
Dec. 3 Oran Baltimore Dec. 22 GUS 60 Convoy available at GUS convoys
(external link)
1945 Jan. 7 Baltimore New York City Jan. 8 Independent
Jan. 22 New York City Passed Gibraltar Febr. 7 UGS 70 Convoy available at UGS convoys
(external link)
Febr. 7 Passed Gibraltar Port Said Febr. 13 Independent
Febr. 21 Port Said Iskenderun Febr. 22 Independent
March 7 Iskenderun Mersin March 7 Independent
March 18 Mersin Port Said March 19 Independent Via Iskenderun - see Page 5
March 20 Port Said Oran March 26 Independent
March 28 Oran Baltimore Apr. 13 GUS 80 Via Hampton Roads
(Page 5).
Convoy available at GUS convoys
(external link)
Apr. 20 Baltimore New York City Apr. 21 Independent
May 2 New York City UGS 90 Dispersed May 18.
Convoy available at UGS convoys
(external link)
May 18 Dispersed from UGS 90 Alexandria May 24 Independent
May 25 Alexandria Port Said May 25 Independent
June 2 Port Said Alexandria June 3 Independent
June 5 Alexandria New York City Independent Page 5 gives arrival June 19/20
July 4 New York City Port Said July 21 Independent
July 25 Port Said Alexandria Aug. 12 Independent Via Iskenderun (see Page 5)
Aug. 14 Alexandria Boston Aug. 30 Independent
Aug. 30 Boston New York City Sept. 4 Independent
Sept. 16 New York City Alexandria Oct. 2 Independent
Oct. 10 Alexandria Istanbul Oct. 13 Independent
Oct. 20 Istanbul Izmir Oct. 21 Independent
Oct. 25 Izmir New York City Nov. 10 Independent Subsequent voyages, Page 5


 Some War Voyages: 
As can be seen, only a few of her voyages are mentioned here. For information on voyages made in between those noted below, please see the documents received from the National Archives of Norway and A. Hague's Voyage Record above.

According to Page 1 of the archive documents, Fernplant sailed from Shanghai on Apr. 9-1940, the day war broke out in Norway. She arrived Manila on Apr. 12. Her 1941 voyages also start on this document and continue on Page 2, which also has a few 1942 voyages.

"Nortraships flåte" states that Fernplant was shelled on the night leading up to Febr. 25-1942, when off Aruba (from the archive document, we learn that she was on her way from Cristobal to Trinidad on that date). Her log states that the incident took place at 00:16 while she was proceeding on a zig-zag course. The fire came from an unknown surfaced attacker on the starboard quarters. Under the leadership of 3rd Mate Morgan Nilsen Fernplant returned the fire, but missed. Maneuvers were performed to get the enemy behind her while full speed was given, then Fernplant's 4" aft gun was fired. After Fernplant's 4th shot, the attacker stopped firing, then at 00:20, as the intruder took off, 2 more shots were fired from Fernplant. One of the shells from the unknown attacker had exploded 5-10 meters behind Fernplant, with the shrapnel causing some damages to the ship.

Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 2 - see also Page 3, which has the rest of her 1942 voyages as well as some 1943 voyages - convoy information for some of them can be found in the Voyage Record above.

Claims in some sources that Fernplant was sunk by Limpet mines are incorrect. Luigi Ferraro did attach Limpets to the ship at Alexandretta on Aug. 2-1943, but she arrived Haifa on Aug. 6, quite unaware of the danger she had been in. The explosives were found during an underwater inspection by the British naval authorities, probably initiated because another unexploded Limpet had recently been found on another ship.

Later that month, she made a voyage from Alexandria to Gibraltar with Convoy MKS 23 (scroll down to the second table on that page). She had left Alexandria on Aug. 25 and arrived Gibraltar Sept. 4. The rest of her 1943 voyages are shown on Page 4, which also has her 1944 voyages - again, A. Hague's Voyage Record above has convoy information for some of them.

Skipping now to the summer of 1944, when I have her among the ships in Convoy GUS 47, which left Port Said on July 24-1944; Fernplant was on a voyage from Mersin (July 22); she arrived Baltimore on Aug. 18. The Norwegian Tricolor, Polartank, Kong Sverre and Lidvard also joined this convoy from Port Said, while Topdalsfjord later joined from Bizerta. Gard is also mentioned, voyage from Gibraltar to U.S.A. for major engine repairs.

Page 4 also lists some 1945 voyages, while the rest are shown on Page 5 (to Apr.-1946), with convoy details in A. Hague's record above.

 POST WAR: 

Sold in 1963 to Societe Monegasque de Transports Maritimes, Monaco, and renamed Saint Charles. Sold in 1967 to Thalassa Shipping Corp, Panama, and renamed Thalassa. Sold in 1970 to Astro Atlanica Armadora S.A., Panama, renamed Thalassa B. Broken up at Mangalore in Nov.-1970.

Related external link:
Alexandretta
- A Section of the Italian "Regia Marina". Fernplant is mentioned.

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