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

D/S Kristianiafjord Updated Dec. 4-2011

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

Source: Bjørn Milde's postcard collection.
More pictures are available on this external page (click in them to make them larger).

Manager: Den Norske Amerikalinje A/S, Oslo
Tonnage: 6759 gt, 4149 net, 9050 tdwt.
Dimensions: 421.7' x 55.8' x 26.5'.
Machinery: Two steam turbines, double reduction geared to a single screw shaft, by Cammel Laird & Co. Ltd., Birkenhead.

Completed in June-1921 by Napier & Miller Ltd., Old Kilpatrick, Glasgow (Yard No. 231) for NAL.

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
(unfortunately, Page 2 is worn, so that some information is missing in the margin)
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 May-1940 to March-1945:

(Received from Don Kindell - His source: The late Arnold Hague's database).

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.

For information on voyages made prior to and 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 on them, several Norwegian ships took part.

According to Page 1 of the archive documents, Kristianiafjord was in Tamatave when the Germans invaded Norway on Apr. 9-1940. It'll also be noticed that she appears to have spent a long time at Southampton that summer. She had arrived there from Casablanca on June 23 and departure is given as Aug. 13. A few days later, she's listed in Convoy OB 201, which originated in Liverpool on Aug. 20 and dispersed on the 25th. Ref. external link provided within the Voyage Record; Davanger is also included. Kristianiafjord arrived Table Bay on Sept. 24, having started out from Milford Haven on Aug. 19. With a general cargo, she headed back to the U.K. again on Dec. 7 in station 41 of Convoy SLS 58 from Freetown (again, see link in the table above).

At the beginning of 1941, we find her, together with Beduin, Buesten, Madrono, Norefjord, President de Vogue and Solsten, in Convoy OB 279, which left Liverpool on Jan. 28 and dispersed on Febr. 2, Kristianiafjord arriving New York on the 18th. As can be seen when going back to Page 1, she subsequently spent quite a long time there; departure is given as Apr. 18, when she proceeded to Halifax in order to join Convoy HX 123 on Apr. 25, bound for Hull with a cargo of steel; Cruising order/Commodore's notes are also available for this convoy. Kristianiafjord arrived Hull (via various other ports) on May 18. The following month, she's listed as bound for St. Thomas in Convoy OB 332, originating in Liverpool on June 8. Dagfred is also listed (links to these OB convoys can be found in the Voyage Record). Kristianiafjord arrived St. Thomas on June 29, having sailed from Loch Ewe on June 10. From St. Thomas, she continued to Macoris, with arrival July 1.

Tony, a visitor to my website has told me that she was in Convoy HX 142* in Aug.-1941 (in station 86), together with the Norwegian Nyholt (56) Siljestad (76) and Morgenen (124). Corvus was also initially in this convoy but was sent to SC 39* because she was too slow for HX 142. Arnold Hague's "The Allied Convoy System" says HX 142 departed Halifax on Aug. 1 and arrived Liverpool on the 18th, 65 ships (see also Page 2 of the archive documents). According to Tony's information 63 ships sailed from Halifax in this convoy, 8 from Sydney, C.B. Kirkpool and Scottish Musician had engine defects and were sent back to Halifax. Like Corvus, the Dutch Hercules was also sent to join SC 39 because of her slow speed. Rotterdam, Murena, Hjelmaren and Narragansett went missing in the fog (from HX 142). Empire Sailor did not join HX 142 till Aug. 6. Perth was the rescue ship for this convoy.

The following comes from the Commodore's report:
Delayed in sailing by fog which persisted during the whole convoy. First count was on August 4th when four ships were missing. On Aug. 5 Sydney portion of 8 ships and SC 39 of 27 ships joined HX 142. SC 39 parted company with HX 142 on Aug. 13. (Both these convoys will be added to my Convoys section).

At the end of that month (Aug. 30-1941), Kristianiafjord headed in the other direction in station 12 of the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 11, bound for Hampton Roads, where she arrived on Sept. 16, the convoy having been dispersed on Sept. 11. On Nov. 3 she's listed among the ships in Convoy HX 158 from Halifax, returning across the Atlantic the following month with Convoy ON 46*, which originated in Liverpool on Dec. 13 and dispersed on the 21st, Kristianiafjord arriving Philadelphia on Dec. 30 (she had started out from Loch Ewe on the 13th).

On Jan. 20-1942, she joined Convoy HX 171 from Halifax to Liverpool. Acanthus and Rose are named among the escorts. She arrived Liverpool on Febr. 2, remaining there for several weeks, then in March that year she can be found in Convoy OS 22, voyaging from Liverpool to Capetown with stores in station 62. Again, see the external link provided within the Voyage Record; Andrea Brøvig and Thalatta are also named. OS 22 left Liverpool on March 13 and had Freetown as its final destination, but Kristianiafjord detached from the convoy on Apr. 1 and arrived Capetown on Apr. 14, later proceeding to Bombay, with arrival there on May 14 - departure is given as June 19, when she headed to Cochin. Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 2; convoy information to match some of these can be found in A. Hague's record above (as can be seen, she also spent a month in New York that fall).

Skipping now to Apr. 20-1943, when she's listed in Convoy SL 128 from Freetown, which joined up with Convoy MKS 12* from Gibraltar on May 4. She had a general cargo, voyage Calcutta/Vizagapatam for Loch Ewe, where she arrived on the 14th - see also Page 3 of the archive documents. The Norwegian Toledo, Rutenfjell and Evviva are also included in this convoy. In June that year, Kristianiafjord can be found in station 62 of Convoy OS 50/KMS 17, voyage Oban-Algiers. The convoy left Liverpool on June 16 and split up on the 27th, the KMS convoy arriving Gibraltar on June 29, while the OS portion continued to Freetown, where it arrived July 8. Kristianiafjord arrived Algiers on July 3, having started out from Oban on June 19. The Gibraltar portion is available in my Convoys section at KMS 17. See also the second table on that page (names of ships in the combined convoy are available at the external website that I've linked to within the Voyage Record - Norfalk, Evviva, Lysaker V, Marga and Vigsnes are also listed).

She left Algiers again on July 21, joining Convoy MKS 18, which arrived Gibraltar on July 23 (scroll down to the second table on the page). Kristianiafjord subsequently made a voyage from Gibraltar to Buenos Aires, and according to A. Hague she joined Convoy OS 52 for this voyage. This convoy had started out in Liverpool on July 19 as the combined Convoy OS 52/KMS 21 which split up on July 28, the KMS portion* arriving Gibraltar on July 29, the OS portion continuing to Freetown where it arrived Aug. 7 (the Norwegian Fernhill was sunk - Jenny is also listed). As already indicated, Kristianiafjord was not present from the U.K., but started out from Gibraltar on July 27 to join OS 52, and arrived Buenos Aires on Aug. 23, continuing to Rosario the next day.

In Oct.-1943 she sailed in Convoy SL 138/MKS 28 in which the Norwegian Hallfried was sunk - follow the link for details. Kristianiafjord (in the SL convoy) was on a voyage from Rosario to Loch Ewe, cargo of linseed and general. Other Norwegian ships were Lisbeth, Spurt and Norefjord. (The Gibraltar portion is available at MKS 28). SL 138 had left Freetown on Oct. 13, joined up with the MKS portion from Gibraltar on the 24th, and arrived Liverpool on Nov. 5; Kristianiafjord stopped at Loch Ewe that day. She now appears in another westbound North Atlantic convoy, namely ON 214*, which left Liverpool on Dec. 2 and arrived New York on the 20th. Kristianiafjord had joined from Loch Ewe and now remained in New York for over a month - again, see Page 3, which also has a few 1944 voyages, while the rest are shown on Page 4. Convoy information for some of them is available in the Voyage Record.

In Oct.-1944, we find her in Convoy SL 174/MKS 65, voyage Casablanca-Immingham, cargo of phosphates, peas and mica. The SL portion of this convoy (in which Kristianiafjord sailed) originated in Freetown on Oct. 18, joined up with the MKS portion* from Gibraltar at the end of that month, and arrived Liverpool on Nov. 7. Kristianiafjord, however, had sailed from Casablanca on Oct. 28 and arrived Immingham, via Southend, on Nov. 10. The Norwegian Jenny, Brønnøy and Norelg also took part, the latter joining with the MKS portion from Gibraltar.

She later joined the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 274*, which left Southend on Dec. 23-1944 and arrived New York on Jan. 8-1945 (Commodore in Samuel Bakke). With sugar for London, she was scheduled for the slow Halifax-U.K. Convoy SC 167 in the middle of Febr.-1945 (Novasli was sunk), but instead joined the next convoy on Febr. 25, SC 168*. She arrived Clyde on March 12, later proceeding to Liverpool, where she arrived March 28, and as can be seen when going back to Page 4, she did not leave again until Nov. 27-1945. According A. Hague, she was in for repairs.

Page 5 shows her voyages to Apr.-1946, and it looks like she finally got to go home to Norway that month.

* The ON convoys will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, along with further details on each. In the meantime, the ships sailing in them (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. The KMS and MKS convoys will also be added, but for now, please see ships in all KMS convoys and ships in all MKS convoys. Additionally, the entire HX series and SC series will eventually be updated and completed, see ships in all HX convoys and ships in all SC convoys. Several Norwegian ships took part.

More information on the other Norwegian ships mentioned here is available via the alphabet index at the end of this page, or go to the Master Ship Index.

Sold in 1955 to Marinos & Frangos Ltd., Nassau and renamed Aghios Stefanos. Stranded and on fire on Febr. 15-1958 on Gem Reef near Sandaken, position 05 35N 119 09E. Fire extinguished the next day. Refloated on Febr. 20, and arrived Sandaken on the 24th for examination. Sold on June 18-1958 by Court order for £ 31,505. Arrived Hong Kong on Aug. 21-1958 for breaking up by Hong Kong Chiap Hua Manufactory Ltd.

Den Norske Amerikalinje had 3 ships with this name at various times; this was the second one. The Norway Heritage Project website has more information on these ships; see this page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, Norwegian America Line fleet list, and misc. (ref. My sources).