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

D/S Lom Updated Jan. 7-2010

To Lom on the "Ships starting with L" page.

Crew List

Owner: D/S A/S Ibis
Manager: Johs. Larsen, Bergen
Tonnage: 1268 gt, 719 net, 1970 tdwt
Signal Letters: LEJO

Built at Hardinxveld, Netherlands in 1920.

Related item on this website:
Guestbook message from the nephew of one of Lom's casualties, Tom Moores.

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

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

Voyage Record
From March-1940 to Nov.-1943:

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

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each (some listings are incomplete). 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 in between those discussed here, please see the documents received from the National Archives of Norway and A. Hague's Voyage Record above. Follow the convoy links provided for more info - several Norwegian ships took part.

Judging from Page 1 of the archive documents, it looks like Lom was in London when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940; she had arrived there from Dunkirk on the 7th, and later made several more voyages to France in the course of the spring.

That summer, she's listed in Convoy OA 169, which originated in Southend on June 17. Her destination is given as Weymouth, where she arrived on June 18. The convoy was composed of 2 parts, OA 169(1) and OA 169(2), Lom being in station 44 of Part 2, which had several Norwegian ships (see the external links below - note that she's also mentioned in Convoy OA 170 with a note saying "did not sail"). A. Hague has not included Lom in OA 169 (external link), but his listing is incomplete.

In Aug.-1940 we find her in Convoy OA 204, departing Methil on Aug. 25, dispersed on the 29th - see external link provided within the Voyage Record; Heire, Solitaire and Svint are also named. Lom's destination is not given, but when going back to Page 1, we see that she arrived Newcastle, N.B. on Sept. 10, heading back to the U.K. on Sept. 27 with the slow Convoy SC 6 from Sydney, C.B., cargo of lumber for Preston, arriving there on Oct. 13.

Skipping now to Aug.-1941, when she's listed, with destination Iceland, in station 44 of the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 7. She arrived Reykjavik on Aug. 22 (see Page 4) and according to Arnold Hague, she later joined Convoy SC 41 from there in order to head back to the U.K. (convoy had started out in Sydney, C.B. on Aug. 24). This convoy is not yet available among the SC convoys included on my website, but will be added - see ships in all SC convoys. Several Norwegian ships took part, among them Einvik, which was sunk; follow the link for more info.

Lom was attacked by He 111 aircraft on Jan. 25-1942 off Linney Head, only slight damage (Page 5 shows her voyages in this time period).

In Aug.-1943 she shows up in Convoy KMS 24, departing Liverpool on Aug. 17, arriving Gibraltar on the 30th - see also Page 10. 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.

Related external links:
OB (& OA) convoys - OA 169 and OA 170 are included.

Lom had arrived Bari on Nov. 25-1943 with a cargo of aviation fuel from Philippeville*, Africa. On December 2 a large allied convoy of tankers, ammunition ships and supply vessels was at anchor in Bari with much needed supplies for the British, American and Canadian armies for their advance up the Italian mainland. The Liberty ship John Harvey (captain Knowles) had a cargo of liquid mustard gas bombs, and was guarded by a unit of the 701st Chemical Maintenance Company. In addition to Lom, the Norwegian D/S Bollsta,Norlom,VestandSalamis were present. About 20 enemy planes attacked and one of the ammunition ships was hit and blew up, starting the domino effect of events. Ship after ship caught on fire. The end result was over 1000 dead, many injured and suffering from the effects of the mustard gas. Follow the link to my page about Bollsta for a list of all the ships damaged or sunk. The external websites that I've linked to at the end of this page have more information on this attack.

*According to "Lloyd's War Losses, Vol. I", Lom had arrived from Taranto with a cargo of 906 tons of war materials, including benzine. In fact, she had rescued 40 survivors from Empire Dunstan on Nov. 18 and landed them at Taranto. This ship had been sunk by U-81 that same day (Convoy AH 9 - external link - Lom is included) - ref. this external page. Lom had been to Philippeville earlier on that month - again, see Page 10.

Lom's gunners took part in the defence against the attacking Ju 88's, but not long after the attack had started she was struck by a bomb which exploded in No. 1 hold and immediately caught on fire. Several other bombs fell very close to the ship, the lifeboats were destroyed. After a while the fire reached the ammunition on the bridge and boat deck and started to explode. The majority of those who were on board saved themselves by jumping overboard and swimming away, many were injured and had to be admitted to a hospital. Trimmer Malfred Larsen died there on Dec. 16.

An inquiry was held in Algiers on Dec. 19-1943 as well as in London on Febr. 25-1944 (with the 1st mate). The radio operator, the steward, Stoker McLeod and the galley boy gave statements at the inquiry in Algiers. The radio operator and the steward had been ashore when the explosion occurred and when they returned to the ship it was on fire. They were both ordered away from the harbour area. They remained in Bari for 2 days before being sent to Taranto where they stayed for 5 days, and were subsequently taken by ship to Algiers, arriving Dec. 13. The steward states that Lom's captain was on board Norlom at the time of the attack.

The Canadian Stoker McLeod was also on shore and was just returning to the burning ship, seeing several men in the water, among them 1st Mate Sauness whom he helped up on the breakwater, then started to lead him over to a first aid station. Meeting Galley Boy Parkinson, who was also just returning to the ship, the 1st mate was handed over to him, while the stoker returned in order to see if he could assist others. The 1st mate was covered in oil and had a bad cut over his eye, so the galley boy took him along to a destroyer about 200 yards away where first aid was being given. The 1st mate was later taken to a hospital, then evacuated to Malta on Dec. 19 where he was again admitted to a hospital. He was released on Jan. 28-1944, and on Febr. 4 he was sent to the U.K. with HMS Eastway, arriving Greenock on Febr. 21.

Stoker McLeod, meanwhile, had found 3rd Engineer Adorsen trying to get onto the quay together with Stoker Farries. The 3rd engineer got onto the quay while the stoker was still on a raft with a gunner from Lom when Stoker McLeod helped the 3rd engineer towards the first aid station. Stoker McLeod left the quay at 10 a.m. the next morning, with Lom still burning (total loss). He says he later saw 10 men from Lom in the hospital.

I believe all of Lom's casualties were buried in Bari.

Crew List:
* Karl J. Beck later joined Tai Yang.

* Commemoration details for the stoker can be found on this page on the Commonwealth War Graves Comm. website. His full name is given as Richard Nelson Farries, date of death Dec. 3-1943. See also the Canadian Merchant Navy War Dead Database (entering Lom for ship will bring him up in the search result). Tom Moores is also included at the Commonwealth War Graves Comm. website; he's commemorated at Portsmouth Naval Memorial - see also this Guestbook message. The Norwegians are commemorated at the memorial for seamen in Stavern, Norway - link below.

Back to Lom on the "Ships starting with L" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume II, and misc. (ref. My sources).