D/T Buccinum- Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945 (original) (raw)

(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.

For information on voyages made in between those mentioned here, please see the documents received from the National Archives of Norway and A. Hague's record above.

As will be seen when going to Page 1 of the archive documents, Buccinum was on her way from Corpus Christi to Las Palmas when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940. It'll also be noticed that she spent quite a long time in Montevideo that fall, with another long stay in Trinidad later on. Her 1941 voyages also start on this document.

In March-1941, she was scheduled for the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 26, in which Helle and several others were sunk, but she did not sail. She was also cancelled from Convoy SC 27 (in which Favorit was sunk), but finally got away with SC 28, departing Halifax on Apr. 9. According to the Commodore's notes, she suffered 4 breakdowns on this voyage; she had a cargo of diesel oil for Manchester and sailed in station 62. Follow the links for more details on these convoys; see also this report for SC 28. In June that same year we find her, together with the Norwegian Facto, Ila, Inger Elisabeth, Sirehei and Torborg, in Convoy OB 337, which left Liverpool on June 20 and dispersed on the 28th, Buccinum arriving Aruba independently on July 13. From there, she proceeded to Freetown 2 days later, and A. Hague has now included her in Convoy SL 83, departing Freetown on Aug. 5. Links to these 2 convoys have been provided within the table above. The final destination of this convoy was Liverpool, but Buccinum headed to St. Vincent, Cape Verdes, where she arrived Aug. 11, continuing to Capetown on Aug. 15, with arrival Sept. 6 - again, see Page 1. According to the Stavern Memorial (link at the end of this page), she lost a crew member on this voyage. Steward Karl Oskar Olsen from Arendal is said to have died at sea on Aug. 26-1941 following illness.

Her 1942 voyages can be found on Page 2 (showing a long stay in Bombay). This document also has a few 1943 voyages (with a long stay in Colombo), while the rest are listed in Page 3 (also showing occasional long stays in port). Convoy information for some of them can be found in the Voyage Record above.

Skipping now to March-1944, when she made a voyage from Port Said to Augusta in Convoy MKS 43*, and arrived Augusta on March 16. The Norwegian Belpareil, Egerø, Ledaal, Måkefjell, Norholm, Selvik, Slemmestad and Sneland I are also listed in this convoy, some were bound for the U.K., others had other destinations. At the beginning of the following month we find Buccinum in Convoy KMS 45*, which had left Gibraltar on March 27, but Buccinum joined from Augusta and was bound for Port Said, where the convoy arrived on Apr. 6. Other Norwegian ships in this convoy were Europe, Facto, Hjalmar Wessel and Roald Amundsen. Buccinum subsequently remained in Port Said for several weeks (Page 3).

In July that year she made a voyage from Alexandria to Augusta with Convoy MKS 55*, which had originated in Port Said on July 8 (arrived Gibraltar July 20) and also included Falkefjell, Gallia, President de Vogue and Thorshavn. For info, this convoy later joined up with Convoy SL 164 on July 21, the combined convoy then proceeding to the U.K., but as already mentioned, Buccinum was bound for Augusta, where she arrived on July 14, having sailed from Alexandria on the 9th, according to A. Hague - again, see also Page 3. (MKS 43, mentioned above, also later joined up with an SL convoy - SL 152, then sailed to the U.K. as SL 152/MKS 43. The KMS convoys usually started out from the U.K. as combined OS/KMS convoys, which then split up off Gibraltar - the first external website that I've linked to at the end of this page has further explanations on these combined convoys). From Augusta, Buccinum proceeded to Bari 2 days later - her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 4, with convoy information for some of them in the Voyage Record above.

In Aug.-1944, she's listed in Convoy MKS 58*, together with Egda, Facto and Lido. This convoy departed Port Said on Aug. 7 and arrived Gibraltar on Aug. 17 (then joined up with SL 167, the combined convoy proceeding to the U.K.), but Buccinum's destination was Bizerta, where she arrived on Aug. 14. Later that year she made a voyage from Alexandria to Malta in Convoy MKS 66*, which had originated in Port Said on Oct. 26 (arrived Gibraltar Nov. 6, joined up with SL 175 Nov. 8 and sailed as a combined convoy to the U.K.). Buccinum, however, had left Alexandria on Oct. 27 and arrived Malta on Nov. 1, leaving Malta again on Nov 7, joining Convoy KMS 67* in order to travel to Port Said, where she arrived on Nov. 12. Galatea, Hjalmar Wessel, Nordnes and Viggo Hansteen are also named in this convoy. (KMS 67 had originally started out in the U.K. as the combined Convoy OS 93/KMS 67, which split up off Gibraltar).

Her 1945 voyages also start on Page 4 and continue on Page 5 (which shows a long stay in Alexandria that spring) and Page 6 (to Apr. 25-1946, when she left Abadan for Oslo - arrival Norway is not given).