M/T Kaldfonn - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945 (original) (raw)

M/T Kaldfonn Updated Nov. 22-2011

To Kaldfonn on the "Ships starting with K" page.

Manager: Sigvald Bergesen, Stavanger
Tonnage: 9931 gt

Delivered from Deutsche Werft A/G, Hamburg (186) on Aug. 11-1936 as Kaldfonn to Skibs-A/S Ringfonn (Sigvald Bergesen, Stavanger) - 10 139(?) gt, 5903 net, 14 770 tdwt, 492.9' x 66.1' x 36.4', 2-t double 6 cyl. 600/1100, 4100 bhp MAN DM (Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürenberg A/G, Augsburg), 12 knots.

Related items on this website: Message on my Find Old Shipmates Forum from John Davies, who served as 3rd radio operator on Kaldfonn in 1943/1944, and is looking for his shipmate, Ole Markussen. See also this posting (and my list of Kaldfonn's gunners further down on this page).
Messsage from the son of John Nutter, who also served on Kaldfonn.
Another message from a relative of Gordon Henry Randle, who was radio operator on board in Nov.-1941.

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
(unfortunately, Page 2 has some information missing in the margin)
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6

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

Voyage Record
From Nov.-1941 to Jan.-1946:

(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 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 most of them, and several Norwegian ships took part.

Her 1940 voyages, and some of her 1941 voyages are shown on Page 1, continuing on Page 2.

On Nov.- 8-1941, Kaldfonn can be found among the ships in the Halifax-U.K. Convoy HX 159. The following month, she made a voyage to Aruba, having joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 42*, which departed Liverpool on Dec. 1 and dispersed on the 14th, Kaldfonn arriving Aruba on Dec. 23. 2 days later, she proceeded to Halifax, and from there, she joined Convoy HX 169 on Jan. 8-1942, returning with Convoy ON 65*, which originated in Liverpool on Febr. 8 and dispersed on the 19th, Kaldfonn arriving Galveston on March 6. She headed back to the U.K. again on Apr. 8 in Convoy HX 184 from Halifax, arriving Heysham on Apr. 22 (Page 2), then in May, she's listed in Convoy OS 27, bound for Curacao in station 105 of the convoy, which originated in Liverpool on May 2. See the external link provided within the Voyage Record for more details - Athos, Belnor, Mosli, Norholm and Toledo are also included. Kaldfonn arrived Trinidad on May 20, having detached from the convoy on May 9. Page 3 shows her subsequent voyages, while convoy info for some of them can be found in the Voyage Record above.

Skipping now to Nov. 19-1942, when we find her in Convoy HX 216 from New York. Kaldfonn had a cargo of fuel oil and also had 5 passengers on board (station 94). According to the Commodore's notes for this convoy, Kaldfonn and Salamis (another Norwegian ship) were detached at 16:00 (zone) on Dec. 1, in 56 42N 12 52W, to proceed independently; Kaldfonn arrived Liverpool on Dec. 4, and on Dec. 11, she headed back to New York with Convoy ON 153, in which the Norwegian Bello was sunk, among others (follow the links for details). Again, see Page 3 and Voyage Record above for info on her subsequent voyages.

According to Arnold Hague, she later joined Convoy HX 227*, departing New York on Febr. 18-1943, arriving Liverpool on March 6. Acanthus and Eglantine are named among the escorts - see HX convoy escorts. She returned to New York later that month, having joined Convoy ON 175*, leaving Liverpool on March 24, arriving New York Apr. 16.

What follows is from crew member Dag Midbøe's personal documents (used here with permission), received from Neil Carlsen, Norway (please compare his information with the archive documents and the Voyage Record above). His information has been supplemented with details found in other sources. Midbøe was on board from Apr.-1943 until the spring of 1944.

Kaldfonn left New York again on May 7-1943 and sailed to the U.K. in Convoy HX 238, arriving Clyde on May 22. Note that she's mentioned in the Commodore's notes under the heading "Dispersal of convoy - May 21" (she had been scheduled for the HX 237 on May 1, but did not sail - Sandanger and Brand were sunk). Again, see also Page 3.
On June 10, she departed Clyde for New York, Convoy ON 188*, arrival June 26. Commodore was in Abraham Lincoln. (Kaldfonn's voyages in this period are shown on Page 4; it'll be noticed that she now had a long stay in New York).
She left New York on Aug. 7 for Belfast and Londonderry, Convoy HX 251, arriving Belfast Lough Aug. 22. (Commodore was in Laurits Swenson. Acanthus, Potentilla and Rose were among the escorts for a while - again, see HX convoy escorts).
Departed Londonderry for New York on Aug. 28, Convoy ON 199*, arrived Sept. 10, then on the 16th she sailed to Glasgow in Convoy HX 257*, arrived Sept. 30 (Potentilla and Rose escorted for a while).
Left Glasgow on Oct. 6 for New York in Convoy ON 205*, arriving on Oct. 23 (Abraham Lincoln's captain served as Vice Commodore).
Departed on Oct. 31 in Convoy HX 264* with misc. U.K. ports as her destination, arriving Clyde on Nov. 17. (Vice Commodore in Samuel Bakke).
On the 24th of that month she left the U.K. in Convoy OS 60/KMS 34 (station 72) for Horta, arriving Dec. 5 - see the external link in the Voyage Record for more convoy details, Gabon, Hardanger, Norefjord and Norfalk are also named (the KMS portion will also be added to my own site; see ships in all KMS convoys).
On Dec. 10 she left Punta Delgada, the Azores in Convoy GUS 23 for New York, with arrival on Dec. 25 (ref. link in table above), then on Dec. 29 she was ready for another voyage to the U.K. in Convoy HX 273, arriving Liverpool on Jan. 14-1944 (Stanlow next day - again, see the archive document).
She departed Liverpool on Jan. 24-1944 in Convoy ON 221* and arrived New York on Febr. 11.
Left New York on March 28 with Convoy HX 285, arrived destination on Apr. 8 (the archive document already mentioned says she arrived Loch Ewe on Apr. 12, Scapa Flow Apr. 13). She had been cancelled from the previous convoy, HX 284
On Apr. 25, she departed Clyde for the U.S. in Convoy ON 234*, with arrival Baltimore on May 13. (Page 5 says she left Clyde on Apr. 27 - as can be seen, she remained in Baltimore for several weeks).
Dag Midbøe subsequently payed off - my page about Leiv Eiriksson has the names of his other ships.

Kaldfonn was now scheduled for Convoy HX 296 from New York on June 19-1944 (she was still in Baltimore on that date), but instead joined the next convoy on June 24, HX 297, for which Brimanger served as Commodore Vessel. Kaldfonn arrived Clyde on July 10, and later that month, we find her in the westbound Convoy ON 246*, which originated in Liverpool on July 25 and arrived New York Aug. 9 (Commodore was again in Brimanger). She headed back to the U.K. on Aug. 17 in Convoy HX 304 from New York (Vice Commodore was in Emma Bakke), later joining Convoy ON 252* in order to return to New York, where she arrived Sept. 22 (Commodore in Geisha). Acanthus, Rose and Tunsberg Castle were among the escorts for a while (see ON convoy escorts), as was Buttercup, which came under the Norwegian flag following the loss of Tunsberg Castle (follow the link to my page about this ship for more info). About a week later, she joined Convoy HX 311 to Liverpool, then headed back to New York on Oct. 21 in Convoy ON 261, arriving New York Nov. 5. Just 4 days later, she's listed in Convoy HX 319, bound for Shellhaven - Commodore was in Villanger. Kaldfonn's last Trans-Atlantic voyage that year was in made in the westbound Convoy ON 270, which arrived New York on Dec. 22.

She was scheduled for the New York-U.K. Convoy HX 330 on Jan. 3-1945 (Commodore in Topdalsfjord), but instead joined the next convoy on Jan. 8, HX 331 - Commodore was in Montevideo. Kaldfonn's destination is given as Stanlow, and she arrived there on Jan. 28, according to Page 5. The following month, she's listed in Convoy ON 282*, departing Liverpool on Febr. 1, arriving New York on the 19th (Commodore was again in Topdalsfjord). A. Hague has also included Kaldfonn in Convoy HX 340*, which left New York on Febr. 23 and arrived Liverpool March 10 (Commodore in Tungsha); Kaldfonn arrived Bowling on March 11, subsequently joining the westbound Convoy ON 290*, which originated at Southend on March 11 and arrived New York on the 29th (Kaldfonn sailed from Clyde on the 12th). She left New York again on Apr. 3, joining Convoy HX 348*, which arrived Liverpool Apr. 20 - Kaldfonn arrived Avonmouth on Apr. 21, and a week later, she appears in the westbound Convoy ON 299*, which originated at Southend on Apr. 26 and arrived New York May 13; in other words, VE Day was celebrated at sea. Kaldfonn had started out from Milford Haven on Apr. 28 and arrived Hampton Roads May 13, continuing to New York on May 15. On the 19th of that month, she joined Convoy HX 357* from New York, and arrived Clyde June 3 (Commodore in Abraham Lincoln).

Kaldfonn (like many other Norwegian tankers) had a spare deck installed to allow for the transport of aircraft, and also carried depth charges on deck in addition to gear for replenishing the escorts at sea. As can be seen in the Voyage Record above, she was used as Escort Oiler for the majority of the convoys mentioned here.

She returned to New York already on June 5, but this time, no convoy was necessary. Page 6 shows her voyages up to and including Apr.-1946.

These men served as gunners during the war years:
Gunnery Officer Ole Ellefsen, Jan Lorentzen, Håkon Hansen, Reidar J. Andersen, Anton Gullager, Odd Bekken, Jens Tollefsen, Edgar Fjellheim, Adolf Johansen. Ragnvald Berget, Knut Bakke, Hans Pedersen, Odd Isene, Ole Markussen (see this message in one of my Forums from John Davies, a ship mate), Eilert Olsen, Reidar S. Andersen, Mathias Sandvik, Olaf L. Henriksen, Per Kræmer, Knut Klemmetsen, Ole Hollund, Frank Bjørnstad, Karl Evensen, Gunnar Johansen, Bjarne Albertsen, Leif J. Wåge, Jarle Johansen, Sivert Pettersen, Odd Melkestavik, Erling Olsen, Martin Hellemansen, Eilert D. Andersen, Johannes O. Saaler, Otto J. Kallevik. (From "Tilbakeblikk" - ref. My sources).

* The ON convoys will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, with more information on each. In the meantime, the ships sailing in them (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. The entire HX series will also be updated and completed, but for now, please see ships in all HX convoys. As can be seen, they all had several Norwegian ships.

More details on all the other Norwegian ships named on this page can be found via the alphabet index below, or go to the Master Ship Index.

Sold in June-1951 to Rederi-A/S Norse King (Odd Godager), Oslo and renamed Norse King, transferred in 1957 to Skibs-A/S Don. Sold in in Dec.-1958 to I/S Wilfred (manager Anders Wilhelmsen), Oslo and renamed Wilfred. Arrived Santander in tow of tug Cintra on May 4-1962 to be broken up.

Back to Kaldfonn on the "Ships starting with K" page.

Sig. Bergesen later had another Kaldfonn, built in Port Glasgow in 1955. The Clydebuilt Ships website has more details as well as a picture.