Alan-A-Dale

Last updated

StateLibQld 1 173151 Nordvest (ship).jpg
Nordvest under way
History
Name
  • 1938: Nordvest
  • 1941: Alan-A-Dale
Owner
Operator
Port of registry
BuilderNakskov Skibsværft A/S, Nakskov
Yard number85
CompletedJune 1938
Identification
FateSunk December 23, 1944
General characteristics
Type Cargo ship
Tonnage4,702  GRT, 2,774  NRT
Length122.3 m (401.4 ft)
Beam17.5 m (57.3 ft)
Depth7.6 m (24.9 ft)
Decks1 + shelter deck
Installed power2,300 bhp (1,715 kW), 808 NHP
Propulsion
Speed13 knots (24 km/h)
Complement65
Sensors and
processing systems		wireless direction finding

Alan-A-Dale was a cargo motor ship that was built in Denmark in 1938 as Nordvest (lit.: Northwest). In the Second World War the United States requisitioned her in 1941 and renamed her Alan-A-Dale. In 1944 she was sunk by enemy action off the coast of the Netherlands.

Contents

Building

Nakskov Skibsværft A/S built Nordvest at its yard in Nakskov for D/S Norden, completing her in June 1938. Her registered length was 401.4 ft (122.3 m), her beam was 57.3 ft (17.5 m), her depth 24.9 ft (7.6 m) and her tonnages were 4,702  GRT and 2,774  NRT. She had twin screws, each driven by a six-cylinder, single-acting, two-stroke diesel engine. Between them, her twin engines were rated at 808 NHP. [1]

A/S Norden registered Nordvest at Copenhagen. Her wireless telegraph call sign was OYWQ. [1]

Service

After World War II began,[ clarification needed ]Nordvest remained in port in the United States. She was one of 84 foreign ships that the US Maritime Commission requisitioned under the Ship Requisition Act, Executive Order No. 8771, signed on June 6, 1941. [2]

The Maritime Commission renamed her Alan-A-Dale, transferred her registration to Panama, and her call sign was changed to HPWV. Her name is sometimes referred to as Alan A. Dale, but Lloyd's Register records her as Alan-A-Dale. [3]

The Maritime Commission appointed the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand to manage the ship.[ citation needed ] She would have been defensively armed, as a contingent of the USN Armed Guard joined her complement. [4]

Alan-A-Dale sailed independently for Tocopilla, Chile, arriving there in October 1941, then returned via the Panama Canal to Baltimore in early December. On December 15, 1941, she sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Belfast as part of Convoy HX 165, returning to the United States as part of Convoy ON 59 in January 1942. After another Atlantic crossing, (Convoys HX 179 and ON 89), she sailed alone from Hampton Roads on June 1, 1942, to the Indian Ocean, calling at Cape Town, Abadan, Bahrain and Bombay, before returning via Durban, Trinidad and Guantánamo Bay, and arriving at New York City on November 2. [5]

Stern view of Nordvest StateLibQld 1 149571 Nordvest (ship).jpg
Stern view of Nordvest

Alan-A-Dale then took part in operations following Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, sailing between Hampton Roads and Oran three times between December 1942 and July 1943. The ship then returned to Atlantic crossings, making four more return voyages between the East Coast of the United States and ports in Britain between August 1943 and June 1944. [5]

In July 1944, after sailing from New York to Liverpool, she moved to the south coast of England, crossing the English Channel to the Baie de Seine after the Normandy landings, and returning to New York in September 1944. She sailed once more between New York and Liverpool and back in October – November 1944, before sailing from New York in October to the Solent. From there, on December 21, she sailed as part of Convoy TAM 26, bound for Antwerp. [5]

A German Biber midget submarine sank Alan-A-Dale in the Westerschelde off Terneuzen on December 23, 1944 at position 51°21′36″N03°47′18″E / 51.36000°N 3.78833°E / 51.36000; 3.78833 . [6] [7] All 65 men aboard survived the attack. [8]

The wreck was removed in June 2003 as part of an operation to improve shipping access to Antwerp.

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Cheshire</i> UK passenger liner, armed merchant cruiser, and troopship

HMS Cheshire was a passenger ship that was built in Scotland in 1927 and scrapped in Wales in 1957. She belonged to Bibby Line, which ran passenger and cargo services between Rangoon in Burma and various ports in Great Britain, via the Suez Canal and Gibraltar. The Admiralty requisitioned her in 1939 and had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC). She was converted into a troopship in 1943, and returned to civilian service in 1948.

SS <i>Akaroa</i> (1914) UK steam ocean liner

SS Akaroa was a UK steam ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1914 in Ireland as Euripides for Aberdeen Line. When new, she was the largest ship in the Aberdeen Line fleet.

MS <i>Aramis</i> Ocean liner that became a French armed merchant cruiser and Japanese troop ship

MS Aramis was a Messageries Maritimes ocean liner that was launched in France in 1931. She was a sister ship of Félix Roussel and Georges Philippar. The three sisters were highly unusual in having square funnels. Aramis' interior was an Art Deco interpretation of Minoan design.

SS <i>Donau</i> (1929) German cargo steamship sunk by Norwegian resistance in 1945

SS Donau was a Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) refrigerated cargo steamship that was built in Germany in 1929 and sunk in occupied Norway in 1945. In the 1930s she sailed mostly between Bremen and the West Coast of the United States via the Panama Canal.

Cameron-class steamship

The Cameron-class steamships were a class of UK cargo twin-screw steamships. They were designed for Clan Line and were also used by Scottish Shire Line and the Royal Navy.

SS <i>Empire Galahad</i> World War II merchant ship of the United Kingdom

SS Empire Galahad was a refrigerated cargo ship built in 1942 and scrapped in 1967. She was also called SS Celtic Star (1946), SS Murillo (1946–52), SS Bogliasco (1952–54), MV Bogliasco (1954–63) and MV Ocean Peace (1963–67). She was built as a steamship, but in 1954 she was converted into a motor ship. She was scrapped in Taiwan in 1967.

SS <i>Somersby</i> British cargo steamship sunk during World War II

SS Somersby was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1930, sailed in a number of convoys in the Second World War and was sunk by a U-boat in 1941.

SS <i>Scoresby</i>

SS Scoresby was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1923, sailed in a number of transatlantic convoys in 1940, and was sunk by a U-boat that October.

SS <i>Sarpedon</i> (1923)

SS Sarpedon was a UK steam turbine passenger and refrigerated cargo liner launched in 1923. She was the fourth of six ships to bear the name.

SS <i>Empire Bittern</i> World War II merchant ship of the United Kingdom

Empire Bittern was a steamship, built as a livestock-carrying cargo ship in 1902 at Belfast, Ireland as Iowa for the White Diamond Steamship Company Ltd of Liverpool. The ship was sold to the Hamburg America Line and renamed Bohemia in 1913.

HMS <i>Hilary</i> (1940) Amphibious warfare ship of the Royal Navy

SS Hilary was a British steam passenger liner that was built in 1931 and scrapped in 1959. She spent much of her career on a scheduled service between Liverpool in England and Manaus in Brazil.

MV Domala was a British cargo liner that was launched in 1920 as Magvana, but completed in 1921 as Domala. She was the first major ocean-going passenger ship to be built in the United Kingdom as a motor ship.

SS Empire Bunting was a 6,318 GRT cargo ship which was built in 1919. She saw service between the wars under the US flag and was transferred to the UK Ministry of War Transport in the Second World War. She made a number of cross-Atlantic voyages, often sailing in convoys. She ended her career by being sunk as a blockship on the Normandy coast, supporting the allied landings there in 1944.

Belgian Captain was a 7,041 GRT cargo ship which was built in 1942 as Empire Centaur for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). In 1943 she was passed to the Belgian Government and renamed Belgian Captain. Postwar, she was sold into merchant service and renamed Capitaine Lambe. In 1960 she was sold to Hong Kong and renamed Ardee, being renamed Alpha Trader in 1964. She served until 1967 when she was scrapped.

SS <i>Polar Chief</i> British merchant steamship

SS Polar Chief was a merchant steamship that was built in England in 1897 and scrapped in Scotland in 1952. In her 55-year career she had previously been called Montcalm, RFA Crenella, Crenella, Rey Alfonso, Anglo-Norse and Empire Chief. Early in the First World War she spent eight months pretending to be the battleship HMS Audacious.

SS Clan Macarthur was a British refrigerated cargo steamship. She was built for Cayzer, Irvine and Company's Clan Line Steamers Ltd as one of its Cameron-class steamships. She was launched in Greenock in 1936 and sunk in the Indian Ocean by enemy action in August 1943.

SS Nailsea Meadow was a UK cargo steamship. She was launched in 1936 in Sunderland, England, and sunk by a U-boat in the Indian Ocean in 1943.

MV <i>Missourian</i> (1921) Early American motor cargo ship

Missourian was an early American motor cargo ship which was built in 1921 in Chester, Pennsylvania, for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company. She was sold to the British Ministry of War Transport in 1940 and renamed Empire Swan. Transferred to the Belgian government in 1942, she was renamed Belgian Freighter. She was sold to the Compagnie Maritime Belge in 1946 and renamed Capitaine Potié.

SS Verdala was a cargo and passenger steamship that was built in Scotland in 1913. Several times she changed owners and was renamed: as Mongolian Prince in 1917, Istok in 1928 and finally Maycrest in 1940.

<i>Empire Mariner</i> German-built cargo steamship

Empire Mariner was a cargo steamship. She was built in Germany in 1922 for Hamburg America Line (HAPAG), who named her Schwarzwald. In 1935 H. Vogemann bought her and renamed her Rheingold. In October 1939 a Royal Navy cruiser captured her, and the United Kingdom government renamed her as the Empire ship Empire Mariner. She survived numerous transatlantic convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic. In 1946 South American Saint Line bought her and renamed her Saint Ina. In 1948 Bristol City Line bought her and renamed her Wells City. In 1951 the Pakistani-owned East & West Steamship Company bought her and renamed her Fausta. She was scrapped in Pakistan in 1964.

References

  1. 1 2 "Steamers & Motorships". Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. II. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1938. Retrieved 20 May 2022– via Southampton City Council.
  2. ↑ "Foreign Passenger and Cargo Ships Taken Over by U.S Maritime Commission during World War II". American Merchant Marine at War. 21 March 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  3. ↑ "Steamers & Motorships". Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. II. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1941. Retrieved 20 May 2022– via Southampton City Council.
  4. ↑ Bradshaw, Mitchell A (1 July 2002). "World War II Oral History Interview". New Jersey Military and Veterans Affairs. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 Hague, Arnold (22 July 2007). "Multi-Convoy Search". Convoy Web. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "MV Alan-A-Dale [+1944]". wrecksite.eu. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  7. ↑ Mozolak, John (2009). "New York Ships to Foreign Ports September 1939-August 1945 "A"". janda.org. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  8. ↑ Paterson, Lawrence (2006). Weapons of Desperation: German Frogmen and Midget Submarines of World War II . Chatham Publishing. p.  139. ISBN   978-1-86176-279-5.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.