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

M/T Salamis Updated May 27-2012

To Salamis on the "Ships starting with S" page.

Source: Roger W. Jordan collection..

Manager: I. M. Skaugen, Oslo
Tonnage: 8286 gt, 12 570 tdwt.

Built by A/B Gøtaverken, Gothenburg, in 1939. 465.1' x 59.4' x 35.9' (dimensions from this posting to my Ship Forum).

Related item on this website:
My Warsailor Stories section has the story of someone who sailed on this ship, Michael Onarheim - text in Norwegian only.

Chief Engineer all through the war was Dehli Rød.

According to "Skip og menn" by Birger Dannevig, Salamis crossed the Atlantic 72 times, sailing a distance corresponding to the earth's circumference at the Equator 12 1/2 times.She was mostly in service between Singapore and Australia until July-1940. After having been equipped with a gun in Australia, she went to Abadan and from there to the U.K. via Cape Hope. From then on she was in continuous service in the Atlantic, at first to the U.K., then in the Mediterranean during the invasions there, before going back to the U.K. to prepare for the invasion of Normandy in June-1944. However, when looking at her voyages in this time period, it does not look like she took part in these operations. As far as I can see, she was not even in the U.K. at that time (see Page 5 and Voyage Record below).

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

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

Voyage Record
From Apr.-1940 to June-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 some voyages are missing.

For information on voyages made in between those mentioned 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 details; the Commodore's notes are also available for most of them and several Norwegian ships took part.

Salamis is listed in Convoy SL 50, which departed Freetown on Oct. 3-1940 and arrived Liverpool on the 26th; Salamis stopped at Belfast Lough on Oct. 25, later proceeding to Avonmouth, where she arrived Nov. 5, according to Page 1. The Norwegian Maridal, Beduin and Vivi are also listed in this convoy - ref. link provided in the Voyage Record. With destination Abadan, she was later scheduled for Convoy OB 246 (left Liverpool on Nov. 20, link at the bottom of this page), but instead joined Convoy OB 249, which originated in Liverpool on Nov. 24 and dispersed on the 28th and also included Dagfred, Hallfried, Heranger, Høegh Scout, Solfonn and Varangberg (returned). As mentioned, Salamis was bound for Abadan, where she arrived, via Table Bay, on Jan. 10-1941.

She later went to Freetown, where she arrived from Capetown on Febr. 14-1941, then joined Convoy SL 66, departing Freetown on Febr. 18, arriving Liverpool on March 14 (link in Voyage Record - several Norwegian ships). Salamis arrived Avonmouth on March 18. She subsequently shows up among the ships in Convoy OG 57, which originated in Liverpool on March 27 and arrived Gibraltar on Apr. 11, but Salamis was bound for New York on that occasion, so left the convoy in order to proceed to that destination, arriving Apr. 11 (she had started out from Milford Haven on March 26 - Page 1). This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section, but for now, please see my page naming ships in all OG convoys. With a cargo of benzine, she headed back to the U.K. again on Apr. 20 in Convoy HX 122 from Halifax; cruising order/Commodore's notes are also available for this convoy. Her destination is given as Manchester; she arrived Liverpool May 8/9, Stanlow May 9, according to Page 2. She now joined Convoy OB 323, which departed Liverpool on May 17 and dispersed on the 25th, Salamis arriving Philadelphia on June 4 (again, ref. link in Voyage Record; Grena, Lise, Orwell and Sama are also named). On June 16, we find her in station 63 of Convoy HX 133 from Halifax, in which Soløy and Vigrid and several others were sunk, and Kongsgaard was torpedoed and damaged - follow the links for details. Salamis was bound for Mersey with Pool oil - she arrived Liverpool on July 2, Stanlow the next day.

A week later, she's listed in Convoy OB 345, departing Liverpool on July 11, arriving Halifax on the 26th, but Salamis proceeded to New York, with arrival there on the 28th - again, see the external link provided in the table above for more convoy information; several Norwegian ships took part. She returned to the U.K. with Convoy HX 143, together with the Norwegian Thorshavn, Belinda, Mosli, Andrea Brøvig, Ravnefjell, Katy, Carmelfjell, Primero, Benwood and Petter. This convoy left Halifax on Aug. 5 and arrived Liverpool on the 20th; Salamis stopped at Belfast Lough that day, proceeding to Avonmouth on the 21st, with arrival Aug. 24. She went back across the Atlantic early the following month with Convoy ON 13; her destination is given as Providence, station 34, and she arrived there on Sept. 19, the convoy having been dispersed on the 11th. She headed in the other direction again on Sept. 28 with Convoy HX 152 from Halifax (in station 84) along with the Norwegian Drammensfjord (106), Beth (44), Evita (93), Trondheim (95), Høegh Giant (92) and Storanger (83). According to Page 2, Salamis stopped at Belfast Lough on Oct. 11, leaving again on the 13th for Barry. Later that month, we find her in station 45 of the westbound Convoy ON 30, bound for Baytown, where she arrived, via New Orleans, on Dec. 1 (the Commodore's narrative is also available), returning to the U.K. with Convoy HX 165, which left Halifax on Dec. 15 and arrived Liverpool on the 30th - her arrival Liverpool is given as Jan. 5-1942 on the archive document mentioned above, and she proceeded to Stanlow and Manchester, arriving the latter on Jan. 11.

She now headed to Curacao, joining the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 59*, departing Liverpool on Jan. 23-1942, dispersed Febr. 6, Salamis arriving Curacao on Febr. 13. On Febr. 25, she started on her voyage back to the U.K. in Convoy HX 177 from Halifax. Going back to Page 2, we learn that she arrived Liverpool on March 9, Ince oil berth on the 11th, and according to Page 3, she arrived Manchester and Barton on the 13th. She subsequently joined Convoy ON 77* in order to sail to New York. This convoy left Liverpool on March 17 and dispersed on the 28th, Salamis arriving New York on Apr. 1. A week later, we find her Convoy HX 184 from Halifax, and at the beginning of May, she's listed as bound for Houston in station 83 of Convoy ON 91*, which originated in Liverpool on May 1 and dispersed on the 15th; Salamis joined from Clyde and arrived Houston, via New York and Hampton Roads, on May 31. At the end of June, she can be found in Convoy HX 196 from Halifax to the U.K. She arrived Liverpool on July 11, Stanlow July 12, Manchester July 14, and a few days later she joined the westbound Convoy ON 113*, which left Liverpool on July 17 and arrived Halifax on the 31st. Salamis, however, was bound for New York again, where she arrived on Aug. 2.

Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 3 of the archive documents; convoy information for some of these is available in the Voyage Record above.

On Sept. 24-1942, she headed to the U.K. in Convoy HX 209 from New York, for which the Norwegian Skiensfjord served as Commodore Vessel. Salamis arrived Liverpool on Oct. 9, Eastham and Stanlow Oct. 11, and Manchester on the 13th, according to Page 4. She returned to New York with Convoy ON 141*, which departed Liverpool on Oct. 24 and arrived New York Nov. 10 (Commodore in Samuel Bakke), then left New York again a little over a week later in Convoy HX 216. Salamis was bound for Stanlow with gasoline and sailed in station 74, arriving Stanlow on Dec. 5 (according to the Commodore's notes for this convoy, she had been detached on Dec. 1 to proceed independently). On Dec. 11, we find her in Convoy ON 153, in ballast for New York, station 32 (Bello was sunk; follow the link for more info).

From the U.S., Salamis now headed to Oran, in order to take part in the Torch operations, which had commenced in Nov.-1942 (my text under Athos has a list of other Norwegian ships involved). Convoy information for this time period is given in the table above.

It'll be noticed, when going back to Page 4, that she had long stay in Baltimore in the spring of 1943, before proceeding to Philadelphia, then on to New York. She had been scheduled for Convoy HX 235 to the U.K. on Apr. 18, but instead joined the next convoy on Apr. 24, HX 236, which arrived Liverpool on May 9; Salamis was again bound for Stanlow (according to the Commodore's notes for this convoy, she was detached on May 5). She went back to New York in Convoy ON 184*, departing Liverpool on May 15, arriving New York May 31 (Commodore in Samuel Bakke), and a week later she can be found in Convoy HX 243 from New York. Her destination is again given as Stanlow, and she had station 93 of the convoy. She subsequently joined Convoy ON 191* in order to go back to New York (from Liverpool July 1, to New York July 15), then made a voyage to Casablanca and back to New York (convoy info in table above). In Sept.-1943 we find her in station 93 of Convoy HX 256, bound for Avonmouth, where she arrived Sept. 23. Topdalsfjord had served as Commodore Ship for this convoy, while the Vice Commodore was in Brimanger. Salamis is again mentioned in the Commodore's notes, where he says she was among several ships detached to form a fast section on Sept. 20 (follow the link to HX 256 for more details). She returned to New York with Convoy ON 204*, which originated in Liverpool on Sept. 28 and arrived New York Oct. 15.

Her subsequent voyages are shown on Page 5 of the archive documents; again, convoy information for some of these can be found in the Voyage Record above.

Salamis was at Bari on that horrendous night of Dec. 2-1943, described on my page about Bollsta. Salamis was one of the lucky few that received only minor damages (later repaired at Suez, where the cook was admitted to a hospital for his injuries). The British Lars Kruse (ex Danish) was set on fire and lost 18 men, while the rest of the crew was injured and taken aboard a Norwegian ship, which according to "Nortrahips flåte" may have been Salamis. However, this Guestbook message says these seamen were taken aboard Norlom. My text for Bollsta includes a list of ships damaged or sunk and the names of the other Norwegian ships present, as well as several links to more info on the incident.

In Jan.-1944, Salamis travelled to Abadan, Aden, Suez and Alexandria, then made a voyage from Alexandria to Malta with Convoy MKS 39*, which had originated in Port Said on Jan. 30 and arrived Gibraltar on Febr. 11; Salamis, however, arrived Malta on Febr. 5, having sailed from Alexandria on Jan. 31. She's also listed in Convoy MKS 40*, voyage Malta to Bizerta - convoy originated in Port Said on Febr. 9 and arrived Gibraltar on the 21st; Salamis had left Malta on Febr. 15 and arrived Bizerta on the 17th. From Bizerta, she subsequently joined Convoy GUS 31 in order to sail to New York, where she arrived on March 18, remaining there for about a month (Page 5). She later joined Convoy UGS 40, which departed Hampton Roads on Apr. 23 and arrived Port Said on May 19; Salamis' destination was Augusta, where she arrived May 15. (The Norwegian M/S Fernbrook also took part, as did other Norwegian ships, but they were not present from the U.S. - ref. link provided in the table above). The convoy was followed by German aircraft from the time it passed Gibraltar on May 9, and in the evening of May 11, off Cape Bengut, they attacked in wave after wave, but had to pull back without having scored (many aircraft are said to have been lost - the external websites that I've linked to at the end of this page have more info on this attack). That summer Salamis, bound for Augusta from the U.S., was in Convoy UGS 46 (see the archive document and link in Voyage Record), which was also the victim of sporadic air attack (east of Oran), but again no damage resulted to any of the ships, and Salamis arrived her destination on July 16.

Skipping now to May-1945, when Arnold Hague has included her in Convoy HX 354*, which left New York on May 3 and arrived Liverpool on the 18th (Salamis arrived Downs May 20). In other words, VE Day was celebrated at sea. This convoy is not yet available among the HX convoys included on my website, but will be added. Salamis subsequently made a voyage to Antwerp and back, before joining Convoy ON 305* to the U.S. She arrived Philadelphia on June 11 - her voyages in this period are shown on Page 6. When she headed back to the U.K. just a few days later, no convoy was required.

From Page 7, we learn that she went home to Norway in Sept.-1945. The document shows voyages up to and including Apr.-1946.

* 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. As will be seen, they all had several Norwegian ships. The MKS convoys will also be added, see ships in all MKS convoys. Additionally, the entire HX series will be updated and completed (including the already existing convoys - some have already been udpated), but for now, please see ships in all HX convoys for the names of other ships sailing in HX 354.

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

According to this external page, she sailed as Pegasi for Maritime Tankers Ltd., Monrovia from 1952. Sold to Belgium for breaking up in 1959.

Related external links:
OB convoys - As can be seen, Salamis is mentioned in Convoy OB 246 (but did not sail).

Here's a chronological
list of OA and OB convoys 1940

The attack on Convoy UGS 40

Convoy UGS 40, including escorts. See also this description. A section of the Encyclopedia of WW 2 Naval Battles.

This page about the Coast Guard cutter Bibb has some details on the attack on Convoy UGS 46.

See also
This page where UGS 46 is mentioned several times.

Back to Salamis on the "Ships starting with S" page.

This company had previously had another Salamis which was sold to Finland in 1939.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "The Allied Convoy System", Arnold Hague and misc.