D/S Knoll - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945 (original) (raw)

D/S Knoll Updated Nov. 29-2011

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

This shows the ship when she had the name Fager.
Source: Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.
Another picture is available on this external page (click in it to make it larger).

Manager: A. Salvesen, Oslo
Tonnage: 1151 gt

Built by Trondhjems mek. Verksted, Trondheim, Norway in 1916. Previous names: Fager until 1933, Akabahra until 1936, Mirva until 1939.

What follows was found at the external website that I've linked to above:
Delivered in Apr.-1916 as Fager to Nilson, Nyquist & Co. D/S A/S, Kristiania. From 1925, Nilson, Nyquist & Co. D/S A/S, Oslo, no name change. From Apr.-1933, owned by D/S A/S Akabahra (E.D. Knutsen), Oslo, renamed Akabahra. From 1935, D/S A/S Akabahra (Hans B. Jeppesen), Oslo, same name. Owned from Oct.-1936 by A/S Mirva (Simonsen & Astrup), Oslo, renamed Mirva. A/S A. Salvesens Rederi (A. Salvesen), Oslo, became owners in Oct.-1937, same name. Renamed Knoll in May-1939.

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 | Page 8 | Page 9 | Page 10 | Page 11 | Page 12 | Page 13 | Page 14

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

Voyage Record
From Jan.-1940 to Apr.-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.

Some Convoy Voyages & Misc.:

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.

Knoll is listed among the ships in Convoy HN 9A from Norway to the U.K. at the end of Jan.-1940. She's said to have arrived Ardrossan on Febr. 2 and was bound for Havre. As will be seen when following the link, several Norwegian ships took part.

According to Page 1 of the archive documents, she was at Greenock when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940, having arrived there from Manchester that same day. She later made some voyages to France.

At the end of July that year we find her, with destination Sydney, C.B., in Convoy OB 192, which originated in Liverpool on July 31 and dispersed Aug. 4, Knoll arriving her destination on Aug. 14 (she had started out from Milford Haven on July 31) - ref. external link provided within the Voyage Record; Hardanger, Somerville, Stargard and Taborfjell are also listed. Having made a voyage to Quebec, she returned to Sydney, C.B. and was scheduled to go back to the U.K. with the slow Convoy SC 4 on Sept. 10, but instead joined the next convoy a week later, SC 5, cargo of lumber for Great Yarmouth - again, see Page 1.

She was subsequently mostly in service transporting coal, iron and food supplies around the U.K. On March 26-1941, she was attacked by 2 aircraft, 8 n. miles west of Lundy Island, damaged and beached at Lundy Island, temporarily repaired, then taken in tow to Swansea on the 29th. (According to Page 2 of the archive documents, she had left Falmouth on March 25, arrived Swansea March 29, and did not leave again until Apr. 26 - see also Page 3 and Page 4 for further 1941 voyages).

That summer, she was one of several Norwegian ships in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 1, originating in Liverpool on July 26, dispersed Aug. 9. Her destination is given as St. Stephen, where she arrived on Aug. 14, having started out from Milford Haven on July 25 (Page 4). On Aug. 30, she's listed with a cargo of lumber in station 76 of Convoy SC 42 from Sydney, C.B., in which Stargard and several others were sunk - follow the link for details on this convoy battle and the names of ships sunk.

Knoll had no form of armament at the time of the attack in March-1941 described above, but on Nov. 28-1941 she was better able to defend herself (equipped with 3 Marlin guns) when she was under attack again between St. Ives and Trevose Head. The British S/S Macbrae was attacked at the same time and between them they managed to hit the attacking aircraft, which subsequently withdrew. Page 5 shows her voyages in this period.

Skipping now to Oct.-1943, when she headed to Gibraltar - see Page 11 of the archive documents. For this voyage she had joined Convoy KX 11, which left Milford Haven on Oct. 22 and arrived Gibraltar Nov. 1 (link in Voyage Record). Knoll proceeded to Algiers on the 10th, with arrival there Nov. 13, having sailed in Convoy KMS 31. This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section; in the meantime, the ships sailing in it are named in the section listing ships in all KMS convoys. She now remained in that part of the world for quite some time, as will be seen from the archive document already mentioned, as well as Page 12 and Page 13. Convoy information for some of these voyages is available in Hague's Voyage Record.

She was damaged again at Bari on Apr. 9-1945 when the ammunition ship S/S Charles Henderson (Liberty Ship, built 1943) blew up during the unloading of cargo. Knoll had arrived Bari from Ancona on Apr. 2 with Convoy HA 25 (ref. link in table above). The harbour was badly damaged and several people injured or killed. 3 other ammunition ships were set ablaze but further explosions were avoided. One of the ships set on fire was Knoll, which had a large cargo of bombs, and her holds had to be filled with water. This thread on my Ship Forum has some further details. See also my page about Far. Knoll left Bari again on Apr. 21, arriving Taranto the next day, later proceeding to Naples and Brindisi.

The rest of her voyages are listed on Page 13 and Page 14; as can be seen, she went home to Norway in Nov.-1945.

(According to this external page).

Sold in Nov.-1947 to D/S A/S Gudvin (H. Gjerpen), Oslo - same name. From 1955, D/S A/S Gudvin (H. Gjerpen & Co), Oslo. In Sept.-1956, owners became A/S Rena Rederi & Ole T. Flakke (Ole T. Flakke), Kristansundsund N., still with the name Knoll. From May-1958, Flakkes Rederi A/S (Ole T. Flakke), Kristiansund N. In 1958, a M.A.N. bhp 1200 engine was installed. Remasured in 1958, 2050 tdwt, 1143 gt., 650 net. Owned from March-1960 by Kr.sund N. & Nordmøre Forretningsbank A/S., Kr.sund N., no name change. From Jan.-1961, P/R J. Hetland & K. Nilsen (K.Nilsen), Egersund, renamed Ramsnes. Ran aground on Sept. 21-1971 in Bessakersundet when on a voyage from the White Sea to Shoreham with lumber. Refloated and continued to Haugesund. Docked and condemned. Sold in Febr.-1972 to Machinehandel en Scheepssloperij de Koophandel Nieuw, Lekkerland, for breaking up. Arrived Rotterdam in tow on March 15.

Another website (Teesships U.K.), which also had pictures of Ramsnes (but I can no longer find them, because the website has moved and the links have not yet been updated), said the following:
Sold in 1947 to H. Gjerpen & Co, Oslo, same name. Sold in 1956 to Ole T. Flakke, Kristiansund N, same name. Re-engined in 1958 (steam to diesel). From 1960 owners were Kristiansund N. & Nordmøre Forretningsbank A/S, Kristiansund N (this was a bank). Sold in 1961 and renamed Ramsnes (J. Hetland & K. Nilsen). Ran aground on Sept. 21-1971 and stranded at Drogsholmen. Refloated and towed to a yard in Haugesund for repairs, but condemned. Sold in 1972 for scrapping by Machinehandel en Scheepssloperij de Koophandel Nieuw Lekkerland, Rotterdam, arriving in tow on March 15.

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

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "The World's Merchant Ships 1939", R.W. Jordan and misc. (ref. My sources).