To Honningsvaag on the "Ships starting with H" page.
Pictures are available on this external website.
Another picture, showing her as Thorunn (see Post War details below) is available on this external page - click in it to make it larger.
Built by Alabama Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co., Mobile, Alabama (333), delivered in Apr.-1945. Controlled by WSA during war, 1 of 5 ships transferred to Nortraship from U.S.A. in 1945. Honningsvaag was taken over in Mobile on April 11. The other ships were: T/T Finnmark, D/S Lektor Garbo, D/S Carl Oftedal, and T/T Hammerfest, all included on this website (see the Master Ship Index).
Like several other Norwegian ships, Honningsvaag had Canadian, female radio operators. From Apr.-1945 until May-1946 Margaret Spence was on board, while Elizabeth Prescott served from Apr.-1945 till Sept. that same year (after the war, she served on Harald Torsvik). My page about M/S Mosdale has the names of many others, along with the names of their ships.
A Guestbook message from the son of Rufus Donald Symons, who served on this ship (as well as Høegh Hood and Norden). He's interested in getting in touch with someone who served with his dad. His E-mail address can be obtained by contacting me (address at the bottom of this page).
As already mentioned above, Honningsvaag was taken over in Mobile on Apr. 11-1945. She proceeded to Port Arthur, arriving Apr. 16, then on to New York, where she arrived Apr. 23. Together with the Norwegian California Express, Ida Bakke, Kirkenes and Martin Bakke, she now joined the fast New York-U.K. Convoy CU 67, which left New York on Apr. 24 and arrived Liverpool on May 5. A few days later, Kirkenes and Honningsvaag joined the westbound Convoy UC 67A, departing Liverpool on May 9, arriving New York on the 19th; according to Arnold Hague, Honningsvaag was detached from this convoy on May 17, and judging from the information found on Page 1 of the archive documents she was bound for Curacao, but her arrival there is not given. This convoy will be added to an individual page in my Convoys section; in the meantime, the ships sailing in it are named on the page listing ships in all UC convoys.
See the archive documents that I've linked to above for details on the rest of her voyages (up to, and including, most of June-1946).
Sold to Norway in 1947 and renamed Thorunn for Tønnevold & Co., Grimstad, on a 10 years charter to Standard Oil Co. (Captains were Olaf T. Larssen and Petter Birkeland, previously of M/T Thelma and M/T Thorhild). Collided with a tanker near Maracaibo in 1957 which caused an explosion on board, killing 1 crew member and causing considerable damages. Temporarily repaired at Maracaibo, then towed to Savannah for final repairs. Sold and renamed St. Christopher in 1961, Olga Konow Inc., New York. Converted to a bulk carrier at Grand Quevilly, France in 1962. Renamed Globe Traveler in 1964, Overseas Traveller in 1968, still in service in 1977. (Info received from R. W. Jordan). The last external site that I've linked to below agrees on the whole with this information, but adds that she had the name Traveler for Ogden Traveler Transport, Inc. (Ogden Marine, Inc.), New York in 1978 and that she was broken up at Alang in 1983 by Haryana Steel. (Tønnevold & Co. later had another Thorunn built at St. Nazaire in 1962 - a shelter decker - sold to Cyprus in 1972. Yet another Thorunn was delivered in the fall of 1973). See also this external page.
The T2 Tanker page - Honningsvaag is listed under "Alabama Drydock".
Back to Honningsvaag on the "Ships starting with H" page.