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

M/T Regina Updated May 13-2012

To Regina on the "Ships starting with R" page.

Partial crew list

Source for all pictres: Historical Department, MAN B&W Diesel, Copenhagen.
They also sent me this picture, as well as this one.
(Size and quality of all pictures have been reduced to save space).
Another picture is available on this external page (click in it to enlarge).

Manager: H. E. Hansen-Tangen, Kristiansand
Tonnage: 9545 gt, 14 900 tdwt.

Built by Burmeister & Wains Maskin- og Skipsbyggeri, Copenhagen in 1937.

Captain: Ingvald Kjelsvik.

Regina was one of the 26 Norwegian ships interned in North and West Africa in 1940-1942 - this page has a list of all 26. It's difficult to determine the exact dates for the various events, as there is so much conflicting info in the misc. sources, but I've made a note of what I've been able to find, as follows:

A French visitor to my site has told me that Regina sailed from Marseilles to Oran with a cargo of 16 000 tons of fuel oil on behalf of the French government on June 21-1940. According to the document received from the Norwegian archives, she arrived Oran on June 26. Left Oran on July 6 and arrived Bone on the 9th.

"Sjømann - Lang vakt" by Guri Hjeltnes says Regina was seized in Oran on June 20-1940, then interned in Bone (later found at Trieste harbour with torpedo damage, handed back to Nortraship and repaired - this was presumably after the Allies had invaded North and West Africa in Nov.-1942). "Nortraships flåte" says she was interned on June 22-1940, later requisitioned. Roger W. Jordan's "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939" states she was seized in Oran June 22-1940, adding she came under German control, renamed Toni IV by the Germans in 1941.

On May 31-1941 (May 13? - see details at * further down on this page) a motorized lifeboat from Regina arrived Cartagena with 9 (8?) men on board (about half of the seamen interned in Morocco or Algeria managed to escape, some from their ships, some from prison camps).

I've found an article in the book "Tilbakeblikk" which gives a brief account of the escape from Regina while interned in Bone. 8 Norwegians and a Spanish lawyer, who was "under cover" following the Spanish Civil War took part in the escape. The only participants named in this article are Radio Operator Magnus Nygaard, Boatswain Knutsen and Runar Johansen. Regina's 2nd Mate was also on board (or, the 2nd mate may be identical to Magnus Nygaard, serving as combined radio operator/mate? - again, see * below). It took them 11 days to get to Cartagena, having experienced a full storm for the first 2 days. They encountered a Spanish passenger vessel en route, offering to take them to Mallorca if the captain could keep the lifeboat - the offer was declined. Later, they met a fishing vessel and were given fish and shrimp to eat. The fishermen also gave them some oil, and although they couldn't use it in the boat it came in handy later for calming down the waves around the boat during the storm. In Cartagena they eventually managed to get a Norwegian passport under a fake name for the Spanish lawyer, whereupon they were all sent to Gibraltar with the British Truro. From there, they were asked to take the captured French Cap Cantin to England, and as part of the crew on this voyage they had 3 Norwegian and 3 Danish escapees from D/S Kari, which was interned in Port Lyautey (follow the link for more info). Checking further, I find that A. Hague has included Cap Cantin in Convoy HG 67 from Gibraltar in July-1941 - external link.

The article referred to above was was written by Søren Brandsnes, who interviewed the radio operator in the 1980's. Magnus Nygaard died in 1985. Brandsnes is mentioned several times on this website; among many other ships, he served on Polykarp during the war and is still around, living in Kristiansand, Norway (I had the immense pleasure of meeting him in person, when I visited the "warsailors" there in Sept.-2007. Here's a picture from that event - Søren on the left).

Guri Hjeltnes says that after Regina had been requisitioned in the summer of 1941 her remaining crew was sent to Algiers and placed on Bosphorus. This ship took on board 21 from M/T Regina and 22 from M/T Langanger on July 21-1941. They later took part in several escapes from Bosphorus, follow the link for more details. This page on Lillesand Sjømannsforening's website has the story of Motorman Helge Emanuelsen from Regina who is said to have escaped on Aug. 17-1941; this fits in with the date for one of the escapes from Bosphorus - see my page about this ship for details. The website adds that he joined the British San Zeferino(?) in Gibraltar on Sept. 26-1941. Søren Brandsnes' article, mentioned above, is also included (text in Norwegian).

Partial Crew List: "Sjømann - Lang Vakt" says she had a crew of 34, 30 of whom were Norwegian, 2 died, 18 escaped, 2 went home.
The following are listed as being in Africa at the time of the allied invasion in Nov.-1942 (however, another source indicates the 2nd engineer may have escaped) See also this Guestbook message.

I've checked the names mentioned on this page in Kristian Ottosen's "Nordmenn i fangenskap" (Norwegians in imprisonment), and here's what it says:

I cannot find the captain and his wife, nor the cook in this book.

The 1st mate is listed as Guttorm Peder Valsgaard, "arrested" date is given as July 6-1940 (this is the date she's said to have left Oran for Bone on the archive document), transferred June 21-1941, Bona, transferred Oran - released Nov. 16-1942.

The same details are given for 1st Engineer Stokke, Oiler Mehlum, and Steward Hermansen, except there's no mention of Oran. According to this external page, Steward Hermansen paid off Regina on June 21-1941. Freed on Nov. 16-1942 (following Operation Torch), travelled from Casablanca to Dakar with Bergensfjord on Jan. 23-1943 in order to join Duala. (It'll be noticed, when going to my page about Bergensfjord, that she did indeed make a voyage from Casablanca to Dakar in this period, and the first voyage for Duala that year shows her as leaving Dakar at the beginning of March - this ship had also been interned).

* This book says that 2nd Engineer Rath escaped on May 2-1941. There's also a 2nd Mate Magnus Nygaard listed as having escaped on the same date; in other words, he may have served as combined Radio Operator/2nd mate. Needless to say there are quite a few Knutsen's and Knudsen's in this book, but I was able to find a Boatswain Knud Knudsen, with the same "arrested" and transfer dates as the others, who also escaped on May 2-1941, and who could very well have been Regina's boatswain mentioned in the text further up on this page. There's also an Ordinary Seaman Runar Johansen listed with the exact same dates - all escaping from Bone (or Bona). The fact that the escape date seems to be far off the arrival date of May 31, does not necessarily mean that much; one or the other source could be incorrect. It took them 11 days to get to Cartagena, so perhaps the numbers in the arrival date have been swapped around and should be May 13?

The escape date of May 2-1941 coincides very closely with the details found in a posting to my Ship Forum, which says the following (as per French archives - text in italics is my own notes):

"According to a letter of the Norwegian master written in 1941 to the French authorities, when the French interned the ship in Bone in 1940 (no date given), they took away parts of the engine to ensure that the ship will not flee.

On 3/May/1941, seven crew members of the Regina left the ship with its motorboat, leaving behind a letter saying they will join the London Norwegian Government’s Navy.
The seven men are listed as:
2nd officer Magnus Nygaard (later joined Fagersten).
3rd officer Ansgar Askildsen (according to this external site, he paid off Regina on May 22-1941, having escaped from Oran. Joined Cap Cantin on May 27 in Gibraltar, paid off in England Aug. 12-1941. This fits in with the fact that Cap Cantin is listed in Convoy HG 67, departing Gibraltar on July 8-1941, arriving Liverpool July 24 [external link]. Later served on Grado, Kronprinsessen, Mui Hock).
3rd engineer Viggo Kristensen
able seaman Johan Jakobsen (this external page says he paid off Regina on Aug. 19-1941, also names his subsequent ships).
boatswain Knut Knudsen
ordinary seaman Wiliam Markant
ordinary seaman Runar Johansen (later served on Orwell, Gudrun, Trondheim, Thorshøvdi (see crew list for this ship), Sirehei and Katy according to this external page).
(source is a letter of the Norwegian master asking for a new motorboat, written in English, so probably by the Master himself).

The Regina was seized by the French on 21 June 1941, together with the Langanger.

On 24 June 1941, the crew of both ships were asked if they wanted to return to Norway or not.
Regina: 2 wanted to return to Norway, 18 didn’t and asked to go to Portugal (including the master and his wife)
Langanger: 2 wanted to return to Norway (including the commander), 23 didn’t and asked to go to Portugal." end quote from forum posting

Arnold Hague has included Regina in the Halifax portion of Convoy HX 229A in March-1943 (adding she sailed from Halifax on March 11). The information on my page about this convoy is based on "The Critical Convoy Battles of March 1943" by Jürgen Rohwer and as can be seen he has a Dutch Regina in the New York section, departing March 9. A. Hague's listing for this convoy, which arrived Liverpool on March 26, can be found at Ships in all HX convoys. Unfortunately, voyages for this time period are not included on the archive document, so I cannot confirm whether it was the Norwegian Regina. At the beginning of July that year, A. Hague has her in Convoy MKS 16A - scroll down to the third table on that page. He says she had left Tunis on July 1 and arrived Gibraltar on the 6th.*

* Please note that according to the various postings in this Forum thread, the Norwegian Regina could not have bveen in any of these convoys; she had been damaged and laid up by then. Please read all the postings in the thread, one of which suggests that it may have been the Canadian corvette HMCS Regina.

The archive document says she left Trieste on Dec. 21-1945 and arrived Gibraltar Jan. 10-1946, departing that same day for Naples. Later sold to Brodospas, and arrived Split, Yugoslavia on May 1-1959 to be broken up.
According to this external page, she was owned from 1955 by Hansen-Tangens Rederi A/S (H. E. & Yngve Hansen-Tangen), Kristiansand, no name change. From 1958, Hansen-Tangens Rederi A/S (Yngv. Hansen-Tangen), Kristiansand.

Back to Regina on the "Ships starting with R" page.

Norway also had a Regina post war, originally delivered as Nova to Det Bergenske D/S, Bergen in Aug.-1964, 26 661 gt. Renamed Regina for the management of Yngvar Hansen-Tangen, Kristiansand in 1968. Later names: Guldregn 1973 (Oslo), Ping Hu 1974 (China), Da qing 251 1977, Kriti Rock (Panama) 1989, sold for breaking up in the 1990's.

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. for cross checking facts, as named within above text - (ref. My sources).