D/S Iris
Updated Nov. 11-2011

To Iris on the "Ships starting with I" page.

Crew List


Source: D. Martin
Another picture is available on this external page (click in the thumbnail to make it larger).

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

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

Voyage Record From Febr.-1940 to Aug.-1944:

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.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1940	Febr. 17	Methil	Norwegian Waters	Febr. 22	ON 14	–
	Febr. 28	Norwegian Waters	Methil	March 1	HN 15	–
	March 7	Methil	Norwegian Waters	March 10	ON 18	–
	March 13	Bergen	Methil	March 17	HN 19	–
	March 24	Methil	Norwegian Waters	March 27	ON 22	–
	Apr. 3	Bergen	Methil	Apr. 7	HN 24	Missing voyages, Page 1
?	July 1	Southend	Methil	July 3	FN 210	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link)
	July 21	Liverpool*	–	–	OB 187	*From Clyde (Page 1). Dispersed 53 43N 23 30W, July 25. Convoy available at OB 187 (external link)
	July 25	Detached from OB 187	Montreal	Aug. 2	Independent	A. Hague says: Crew trouble, to lay up at Toronto. Left Montreal Aug. 26 (Page 1).
1941	Nov. 16	Montreal	St. John's, N.F.	Nov. 20	Independent	–
	Nov. 23	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax	Nov. 28	Independent	Left Halifax Nov. 29 (Page 1).
1942	March 31	Halifax	Cape Cod Canal	Apr. 1	XB 6	Convoy available at XB convoys (external link)
	Apr. 1	Cape Cod Canal	New York City	Apr. 3	Independent	–
	July 6	New York City	Cape Cod Bay	July 8	Independent	–
	July 9	Cape Cod Bay	Halifax	July 11	BX 28	To Sydney, C.B. Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	July 11	Halifax	Sydney, C.B.	July 13	HS 26	Convoy available at HS convoys (external link)
	July 16	Sydney, C.B.	Greenland	July 22	SG 2	Convoy available via this page (external link) Again, see also Page 1
	Oct. 7	Greenland	Sydney, C.B.	Oct. 15	GS 9A	A. Hague says: Towing another vessel (Panamanian Halma). Convoy available via link above
	Oct. 18	Sydney, C.B.	Sydney, C.B.	Oct. 20	SH 54B	A. Hague says: Towing one ship (Halma), put back. Convoy available at SH convoys (external link)
	Oct. 21	Sydney, C.B.	Halifax	Oct. 24	–	A. Hague says: Possibly towing one ship.
	Oct. 24	Halifax	New York City	Oct. 28	ON 137	Missing voyages, Page 1 Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	Dec. 29	New York City	Halifax	Jan. 2-1943	HX 221	For St. John's, N.F.
1943	Jan. 8	Halifax	St. John's, N.F.	Jan. 11	HX 222	Halifax to St. John's. N.F.
	Jan. 15	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax	Jan. 18	JH 29	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Jan. 22	Halifax	Boston	Jan. 24	HF 31	Onward to Boston. Convoy available at HF convoys (external link)
	Jan. 31	Boston	New York City	Febr. 1	Independent	–
	Febr. 3	New York City	Halifax	Febr. 7	SC 119	For St John's, N.F. Convoy will be added. See ships in SC convoys
	Febr. 8	Halifax	St. John's, N.F.	Febr. 11	HJ 33	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Febr. 18	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax	Febr. 22	JH 37	Convoy available via link above
	Febr. 23	Halifax	Boston	Febr. 25	HF 38	Onward to Boston. Convoy available at HF convoys (external link)
	March 2	Boston	New York City	March 3	Independent	–
	March 9	New York City	Halifax	March 13	HX 229A	–
	March 15	Halifax	St. John's, N.F.	March 18	HJ 40	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	March 22	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax	March 25	JH 43A	A. Hague says: Probably this convoy. Available via link above
	March 25	Halifax	Boston	March 27	XB 39	Convoy available at XB convoys (external link)
	Apr. 4	Boston	Halifax	Apr. 6	BX 41	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	Apr. 9	Halifax	Argentia	Apr. 13	HJ 45	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Apr. 19	St. John's, N.F.*	Halifax	Apr. 23	JH 49	*From Argentia, Apr. 19 (Page 2). Convoy available via link above
	Apr. 24	Halifax	St. John's, N.F.	Apr. 27	HJ 48	Convoy available via link above
	Apr. 30	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax	May 4	JH 51	Convoy available via link above
	May 6	Halifax	Boston	May 8	XB 50	Convoy available at XB convoys (external link)
	May 14	Boston	Halifax	May 16	BX 51	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	May 19	Halifax	Sydney, C.B.	May 20	HS 86	Convoy available at HS convoys (external link)
	May 20	Sydney, C.B.	St. John's, N.F.	May 23	BW 25	Convoy available at BW convoys (external link)
	May 27	St. John's, N.F.	Botwood(*)	May 28	JN 28	Convoy available via this page (external link) *Arrived Sheet Harbour, June 2 (Page 2).
	June 5	Sheet Harbour	Halifax	June 5	Independent	–
	June 9	Halifax	Boston	June 11	XB 57A	Convoy available at XB convoys (external link)
	June 30	Boston	Halifax	July 2	BX 60	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	July 3	Halifax	St. John's, N.F.	July 5	HJ 59	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	July 15	St. John's, N.F.	Greenland	July 19	SG 28	Convoy available via link above
	Nov. 19	Greenland	St. John's, N.F.	Nov. 24	GS 36	Convoy available via link above
	Nov. 27	St. John's, N.F.	Boston	Dec. 1	–	Arrived New York, Dec. 5 (Page 2).
1944	Febr. 7	New York City	Boston	Febr. 10	Independent	–
	Febr. 18	Boston	Halifax	Febr. 20	BX 96	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	Febr. 21	Halifax	St. John's, N.F.	Febr. 26	HJ 84	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	March 5	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax	March 9	JH 96	Convoy available via link above
	March 13	Halifax	Boston	March 15	XB 100	Convoy available at XB convoys (external link)
	March 25	Boston	Halifax	March 27	BX 101	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	March 28	Halifax	St. John's, N.F.	March 31	HJ 91	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	Apr. 7	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax	Apr. 10	JH 103	Convoy available via link above
	Apr. 16	Halifax	Boston	Apr. 19	XB 104	Convoy available at XB convoys (external link)
	Apr. 30	Boston	St. John's, N.F.	May 5	–	–
	May 10	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax	May 13	JH 108	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	May 14	Halifax	Boston	May 16	XB 108	Convoy available at XB convoys (external link)
	May 25	Boston	Halifax	May 27	BX 109	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	May 29	Halifax	Sydney, C.B.	May 30	HS 139	Convoy available at HS convoys (external link)
	May 31	Sydney, C.B.	St. John's, N.F.	June 2	BW 101	Convoy available at BW convoys (external link)
	June 5	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax*	June 7	JHF 20	Convoy available via this page (external link). *Arrived St. John, N.B. June 7, Boston June 10 (Page 3).
	June 20	Boston	St. John's, N.F.	June 24	HX 296	–
	June 26	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax	June 28	JHF 23	Convoy available via link above
	June 29	Halifax	Boston	July 1	XB 114	Convoy available at XB convoys (external link)
	July 9	Boston	Halifax	July 11	BX 115	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	July 12	Halifax	St. John's, N.F.	July 14	HJF 22	Convoy available via this page (external link)
	July 18	St. John's, N.F.	Halifax	July 20	JHF 25	Convoy available via link above
	July 21	Halifax	Cape Cod Canal*	July 22	XB 117	*Boston. Convoy available at XB convoys (external link)
	Aug. 1	Boston	Halifax	Aug. 3	BX 118	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	Aug. 3	Halifax	St. John's, N.F.	Aug. 5	–	–
	Aug. 16	St. John's, N.F.	–	–	–	For Frobisher Bay Wrecked off Rigolet. See "Final Fate" below

Misc. Convoy Voyages:

For information on voyages made in between those mentioned here, please see the documents received from the Norwegian archives and A. Hague's Voyage Record above. Follow the convoy links provided for more details; the Commodore's notes are also available for some of them, and several Norwegian ships took part.

On Jan. 9-1940, Iris rescued 2 men from a raft of the Norwegian Manx in the North Sea, 13 died (follow the link for details). Later that month, she picked up 8 (9?) survivors from the Danish Tekla, which had been torpedoed and sunk by U-22 on Jan. 21-1940 - the external website that I've linked to further down on this page has more on this attack. They were landed in Bergen, Iris' destination at the time.

According to A. Hague, she sailed in the U.K.-Norway Convoy ON 14 in Febr.-1940. With mail and passengers, she's now listed in the original Advance Sailing Telegram for Convoy HN 15 back to the U.K. on Febr. 28, and early in March, A. Hague has included her in Convoy ON 18 to Norway. Later that month, she can be found in the Advance Sailing Telegram for Convoy HN 19, bound for North Shields with passengers and fresh fish. A. Hague later has her in Convoy ON 22 back to Norway, and on Apr. 3, we find her in the original document for Convoy HN 24 to the U.K., again with a cargo of fresh fish. She arrived Shields on Apr. 9; in other words, she got out of Norway just before the German invasion (Apr. 9). Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 1. (Other HN and ON convoys also have a ship by this name, but unless the Advance Sailing Telegram is available, which usually gives the ship's tonnage, it's difficult to determine the nationality for sure. See, for instance, Convoy HN 6, where there's a Swedish Iris listed).

Together with Lyra, Iris is said to have arrived Toronto on Aug. 3-1940, carrying men from the Norwegian Air Force (note that the archive document mentioned above says she arrived Montreal on Aug. 2, proceeding to Toronto on Aug. 26, arrival date is not given). According to the book "Krigens Dagbok Norge 1940-1945" they had departed Glasgow on July 21 (Convoy OB 187 - see external link in the Voyage Record; several Norwegian ships are named). The Air Force was establishing a training camp in Canada. Going back to the archive document, we see that she appears to have spent a long time in Canada; departure Montreal is given as Nov. 16-1941. A. Hague states there had been some crew trouble on arrival, adding that she was to lay up in Toronto.

Skipping now to Oct.-1942, when she's listed in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 137, which had originated in Liverpool on Oct. 9, but Iris joined from Halifax and arrived New York on Oct. 28, remaining there for a long time - again, see Page 1. This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section, but for now, the ships sailing in it are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. There's also a ship by this name listed in station 11 of Convoy HX 221 at the end of Dec.-1942; no nationality or tonnage is given, but the departure date of this convoy, Dec. 29, fits with the information found on the archive document. The Commodore for this convoy was in Abraham Lincoln, see also the Commodore's narrative, where Iris is mentioned under Jan. 1-1943, saying she was short on bunkers and was detached to Halifax that afternoon, with arrival the next day. She was bound for St. John's, N.F., and according to A. Hague, she later joined Convoy HX 222 from Halifax to proceed to that destination (Vestfold was sunk). It'll be noticed, when following the link to my page about this convoy, that she's not mentioned in the Halifax portion there, but again, this fits with the info found on the archive document, which says she arrived St. John's on Jan. 11, having left Halifax on the 8th.

The following month, A. Hague has included her in Convoy SC 119, which left New York on Febr. 3 and arrived Liverpool Febr. 22 (convoy will be added, see ships in all SC convoys). Iris, however, was only bound for St. John's again, where she arrived (via Halifax) on Febr. 11 - her voyages in this period are shown on Page 2. She's also listed in Convoy HX 229A from New York on March 9. Iris arrived Halifax on the 13th, so again did not follow the convoy to the U.K.

In June-1944, A. Hague has named her in Convoy HX 296, which originated in New York June 19 and arrived Liverpool July 3 (she's not mentioned in the original convoy documents). Her voyage is given as Boston to St. John's only. From Page 3, we learn that she left Boston on June 20 and arrived St. John's on the 24th, continuing to Halifax on the 26th, then returned to Boston.

Final Fate - 1944:

In the afternoon of Oct. 4-1944, Iris was approaching Cape Harrison on the coast of Labrador with supplies and personnel for the American weather station there when she ran aground in heavy weather. She had been on a voyage to various ports along the northeast coast of Canada for the American Army, the voyage having started in St. John's on Aug. 16 (Page 3). She had departed Hebron for Cape Harrison on Oct. 3.

The grounding caused her to spring a leak which resulted in the engine room filling with water and by 22:00 that evening the water was 3' above the main deck. All the cabins were also flooded, but as the water at that time stopped rising it was decided to remain on board until the next morning at which time USCG Laurel came to the scene and Iris was abandoned. She could not be saved and was declared a total loss. All 36 crew + 47 passengers survived.

Hearings were held in New York on Oct. 16-1944 with the captain, the 1st mate, the 2nd mate, the 1st engineer, the 3rd engineer, and the helmsman, Able Seaman Gjerde appearing.

Crew List - No casualties:
* 1st Mate Knudsen had previously survived the sinking of Scebeli. He later joined Carl Oftedal (this external page has his story - text in Norwegian).
** Annie Martlieu later joined Gudvor. Here's a message from her son, who also posted a note in May-2002, and here's a more recent message. She died in Nov.-1997.

Captain Bjarne Grønneberg	1st Mate Jacob Knudsen*	2nd Mate Peder A. Olsen	3rd Mate Nils Davik	Radio Operator Arnfinn Thomassen	Radio Operator Annie Martlieu** (Canadian)
Carpenter Knut Hubertz	Boatswain Sverre L. Sonesen	Able Seaman Karl Hemnes	Able Seaman Asbjørn Solem	Able Seaman Jørgen M. Nilsen	Able Seaman Arnfinn Dahl
Able Seaman Ole Gjerde	1st Engineer Bjarne Hermansen	2nd Engineer Elias Bakkely	3rd Engineer Petrus Bernhard Ekrem	Donkeyman Joakim U. Olsen	Stoker Alf Anton Hansen
Stoker Johan Hofstetter	Stoker Birger Wilmann	Stoker Øivind Th. Andersen	Stoker Gert Eng	Stoker Marinus F. Mathisen	Oiler Thorleif Dahle
Oiler Odd Måsø	Trimmer Henry Snow (Canadian)	Trimmer Raymond Tobin (Canadian)	Steward Adolf Olsen	Cook Peder Sveen	2nd Cook Mons B. Larsen
Galley Boy William E. Colwell (Canadian)	Mess Boy Isaac Ronald Mac (Canadian)	Saloon Boy Ragnar Andresen	Saloon Boy John Joseph Coady (Canadian)	Gunner Roald Jan Karlsen	Gunner Gerhard A. Schönbeck (Swedish)
+ 47 passengers

There was also a German D/S Iris, 3323 gt, ex Norwegian Herøy, sunk by allied aircraft in Aspevåg near Ålesund, Norway on March 17-1945. The Norwegian D/S Log was lost in the same attack.

Back to Iris on the "Ships starting with I" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Bergenske, byen og selskapet", by Dag Bakka Jr., some info received from T. Eriksen, Norway (misc. sources), "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume I, and misc. (ref. My sources).