A WW2 story from the Merchants side.

[SS Norholm]

Hi folks hope you're well.

I thought i'd share my Grandfathers experiences he wrote about his time in the Merchant Navy during WW2.
He had started to write about his early life just before he passed away in 2001.

When i first joined the forum a few months back i mentioned my forum name was the first ship he was aboard the (D/T) SS Norholm, i believe this might be a picture of it:


From what i can gather from his story, his first convoy was probably ON 236.
Later on in the war he moved to another ship the Havprins:

And I'm pretty sure his first voyage on her was convoy HX 328.

Anyway here is what he wrote. Please bear with it, as its quite long but very interesting, and just how he spoke bless him.
'Straight from the horses mouth' so to speak.
I Apologize in advance if it takes up to much room, i'm not sure how to 'hide/link it' however i put spoiler tags around it?

Lest we forget.

John.

 

The winter of 1942/43 was very severe. Our village was cut off by deep snowdrifts,
no one could get to work and the only way to the village 3 miles away was over the fields. This is where we had to walk to get bread and milk etc, often pulling a sledge with the provisions on. We had very little money and had to live on bare rations.
I was eager to get away, either into the Army or the Navy, most of my
friends had either left the village for the cities or had fiddled their age and
joined the Services. As I was still under 16 the services would not accept me.
However I had heard about a Merchant Navy Training School which was at
Sharpness in Gloucestershire. I wrote asking if I could join telling them I was
sixteen years old and was duly accepted.

Mother did not want me to go but said “if that is what you want I will not stand in your way”.
Dad was quite surprised but made little comment, probably glad
he had not got me to feed any longer. I had to report at 9.Oam on the Monday morning which meant travelling on the Sunday from home. I had my belongings which were not much, in a small case which I carried through the snow 5 miles to Codsall to catch a bus into Wolverhampton, from there I went by train to Gloucester and then by bus to Sharpness. I arrived at 830pm and it was a very cold night.

There were several more lads arrived at the same time and we were
billeted in an old Nissan hut, with a small stove but we were that cold we sat
around the stove chatting all night wondering what we had let ourselves in for.
The following morning we were taken across a large dock which was on the
Gloucestershire canal and taken aboard a very large and old sailing ship
named the “Vindicatrix. It was of all wooden construction, with three decks and
had obviously been moored there for some considerable time.

We went on board, and were met by the “Boson” who promptly told us to muster on the
QuarterDeck. What’s the QuarterDeck? Where you will be quartered if you do
not get a move on. No messing with him. We were duly kitted out, dungarees,
woolen jersey, scarf which doubled as a hat, shoes which fit where they
touched and gym kit, shorts plimsoles and pumps. We were shown where the
mess deck was and the bed deck. There were a total of 300 youths sleeping on that bed deck. What a place. We were given a tin plate, knife fork and spoon and a tin mug, which we had to guard with our life. The washrooms and toilets were on the 9’fl4 side, very primitive.

The first day was taken up by being kitted out and being shown around the
various decks. The Officers seemed very strict and carried a cane under their
arm, which they very often used to make a point. The bed deck, the lower deck had rows of double bunks and small gangways between. We each had a very small locker to keep everything in, a mattress and two blankets plus a pillow which I am sure was made of straw. I low they ever got away without a fire or other incident on board I will never know. There were 250-300 sleeping on that deck.
We all had to be in bed by 930pm. We were allowed to visit a small Nafli
on the dock between 7pm and 9.Opm. There you could buy a cup of tea and
stamps etc. That was quite a risky journey in the dark as we had to walk a very narrow plank across the large canal lock.

We found out that the “Vindicatrix” before being taken over by the
Government as a Merchant Seaman’s training ship, had previously been a
Borstal training centre and a lot of the officers had been appointed from their
past experience of youth training. Obviously there were Naval instructors as well,
but they were also very strict. After our first night on the bed deck, amongst
snoring, talking in their sleep, breaking wind and some crying because they
were homesick, we were wakened at 6.Oam, mustered on the upper deck, in
training shorts and plimsoles and taken on a 2 mile run along the towpath and alongside the river Severn before breakfast at 715am. Breakfast consisted of cornflakes and a fishcake and one mug of tea.

Training started at 8.3Oam sharp. There was no break until l2.00 noon when we assembled for dinner. The food was terrible, dinner consisted of 2 potatoes steamed in the jackets, a small portion of steamed undercooked cabbage, a small piece of meat, no one could tell what it was and this was usually followed by dried prunes and custard. It was a case of eating it or doing without.
There was the usual mug of tea. We were back training again at 10pm until 5.Opm when we washed and had tea at 6.Opm. This was two slices of bread and jam, no butter and a small scone. By the way whenever we had soup, our tea mug was again the only thing we drank from. There was a mug of cocoa at 813pm again in the tin mug.

I felt very homesick and depressed, it was a strange world to me. There were
some nice lads amongst us and some very rough boys from the dockland areas of Liverpool and Manchester. In our first week, there were 16 from our intake of 32 who ran off, never to be seen again. The training was interesting but the written part was very kid. Navigation was new to me and very heavy going.
I really enjoyed the seamanship and the practical sailing of the lifeboats up and down the river Severn. We all had to pass a practical test of sailing the lifeboats before we could have a weekends leave. The course was 12 weeks and consisted of all deck work and cargo loading, mooring ropes and lines of all descriptions.
There were many times when I thought of going home, but then I
thought what would they think of me if I ran away. The living conditions were
terrible. If you got out of your bunk at night to go to the toilet, you could hear the cockroaches crunch under your feet as you walked along the deck. They would then be swept up in the morning. Many a lad was bitten by cockroaches, but as I slept on the upper bunk, they did not seem to climb that far.

After 4 weeks, having passed by boat handling test, I was allowed a weekend pass.
I will always remember it was March and very cold with lots of snow and a large number of minor roads were blocked by snow. I was just 16 years old and eager to get home to see my parents and to let them know how I was getting on.
I arrived at Wolverhampton on the Friday evening by train, then I had to get the bus to Codsall and from Codsall I had to walk the 5 miles home to Bishops wood.
It was a terrible journey, there were large sections of the road blocked by drifts of snow and lots of places I had to walk on the fields where the snow had been blown away. Eventually I arrived home very tired, there were no lights to be seen any where, as all the houses were blacked out, owing to the restrictions of war time.
I did not see a single person during that 5 mile walk and I was beginning to
wonder whether I had made the right decision to come home and wondering if I would get back for 8.Oam Monday morning. However my parents were glad to see me and I enjoyed the best meal I had had for the four weeks. On the Saturday I offered to walk to Brewood, 3 miles each way, to get groceries as everything at home was in short supply.

My parents had told me what a terrible time they had trying to feed the animals and get water during the past three weeks. Dad had been working for the Council, clearing the blocked roads, otherwise he would have had no wages, owing to the fact that he and everyone from the village were unable to get to work.
The short time I had at home was taken up by helping out with the chores.
However we all had a good chat and I told them about the training ship and
the food (or the lack of it). Mother was very concerned and was obviously
worried about my welfare. The weekend passed quickly and Sunday afternoon I had to prepare to return.

However I felt much better after having some good home made food and
enjoyed Sunday breakfast of home cured bacon and fresh egg. We always kept
pigs at home and during the war you were allowed to kill and cure one for
human consumption. This meant that the household had to forego the meat
ration book, but I can still taste that home cured bacon. I do not know how they would have survived without it. Mother packed me a few sandwiches for the return journey and I left about 4.Opm. Having again walked to Codsall I caught a bus into Wolverhampton and then the train for Gloucester. It was a very cold journey and [eventually got back to the ship at 9.Opm. It crossed my mind several times whether to go back home or go aboard. It was a terrible place to come back to.

Monday morning saw afresh intake of recruits. They obviously did
not know what was before them. By Wednesday quite a few had run away. By the time I had made up my mind to stick it out, I was enjoying the practical training.
During break times and meal times, quite a few fights broke out
amongst the lads. Whenever this happened the P.T. Instructor would take names and you were ordered to settle your differences in the boxing ring down in the gym on Tuesday evenings. This was always a good night’s entertainment and I saw many a lad get a good hiding. I was in that ring on quite a few occasions.
Some times I lost and sometimes I won. I remember the first occasion when a youth from Manchester took my scarf and said it was his. This resulted in an argument and our names were taken for the boxing ring.

He thought as I was from the country he was going to give me a good hiding.
What he did not know was that I had been brought up with boxing gloves from the age of 12.
That one I won to a lot of cheering. I did get some nasty knocks on other occasions but it
certainly taught me to look after myself. Another 4 weeks passed nothing was
getting any better and I decided I would stick it out without going home for the
weekend, until I had completed the 12 weeks, It was the longest 4 weeks of my
life. At the end of the course, we were given 4 days leave and told to report to
the Pool Office in Manchester. This was like a Labour Exchange for Seamen.
There were about 8 of us all armed with our completed Seamen’s Certificate
who arrived to sign on in Manchester. A clerk would give you a card and stamp
the date then you were told to report sometimes in 2 days time or at the end of
the next week. It was mostly 2 day & This was so you could not go home. We
were billeted in a Merchant Navy hostel. There were only young seamen in this
hostel. We all had separate rooms and a nice games room. Most of the days
were spent around the docks or in the City. Friday morning we were paid
pocket money about £2.15.O in old money, it didn’t go far. We were only there
for a few days. The following week four of us were sent to Liverpool as we
thought, to get a ship, but after a couple of days we were sent to Cardiff for a 3
weeks gunnery course. On arrival we were sent to another Seamen’s hostel,
much the same as the one in Manchester. The following morning we were
transported out to a large area of coastal land, which also included a landing
ground for aircraft.

There were a few hanger and workshops also some Nissan huts, a very bleak
place open to the elements. The first week after being told that we had been
sent there to train as machine gunners for equipped Merchant Ships, 1 began to
wonder if I would have been better off as a gunner on land, quite an eye
opener for a 16 year old. We were taken out to a large open space over looking
the sea. The instructor took us to what appeared to be a Lewis Machine Gun on
a tripod. This turned out to be nothing more than a 12 bore shotgun with which
we all in turn fired at. A clay target thrown from a trap. This was just an
introduction to a bang and a kick from the gun. This was no problem to me as
the two clays I fired at shattered. The instructor commented you have shot
before lad, and so ended that lesson.

We were then taken to a firing range where we were taught how to use the
difficult machine guns, some were very old types of marlin and hotchkin gas
operated. There were also Bren Guns and Lewis guns. I enjoyed myself and did
quite well. We then spent two weeks in the training school, stripping cleaning
and reassembling every type of machine gun that existed and it was very
interesting. We also had to study all the different types of enemy aircraft and
were shown slides of all the different viewing angles and speeds of each
individual aircraft.
At the weekend we were given a test paper which we had to complete for the
following Monday morning. We didn’t have much time to ourselves on that
Course.

The second week was mostly revision of the previous week, including stripping
and assembling all the different makes in complete darkness. We were lucky to
be inside the building, it was still very cold, but better than outside. On the
Monday of the last week, myself and another lad were sent with another
Instructor to familiarise ourselves with a 20mm Orlikican machine gun, this was far
the largest machine gun I had seen. It was capable of firing 750 rounds per
minute, and the magazine was loaded on top of the gun. It was all I could do to
put the magazine in place. We had two days dismantling and assembling all the
parts until the Instructor was satisfied. The remainder of the week we were on the
firing range, out in all the elements, firing at different targets and under strict
supervision. The last day we were using the Orlikican machine gun firing at a
drogue pulled by an aeroplane, as the gun was loaded with tracer bullets. It
was easy to see the rounds passing through the drogue if you were on target. I
do not think I envied the pilots job. We all qualified at the end of the course and
were presented with certificates, these we had to keep and our pay book was
stamped, so that if we were sent to sail on a ship that was armed, we were
qualified to operate a machine gun.

A few days after the course it was back every morning to the pool office in
Cardiff. ‘Nothing today lad' was the usual answer and they would stamp our
attendance card. If this wasn’t stamped there would be no money at the end
of the week. We were all thinking we may get home for a weekend. However
on the Friday morning we went along to the pool office early, as we were
hoping we would get the usual reply and get away home for the weekend. We
all four strolled up to the desk and surprise, surprise, “You are to make your way
to Swansea” said the clerk and report to the Captain of the S.S./Norholm, a
Norwegian oil tanker sailing tonight. He duly gave us our travel warrant and
expenses which did not amount to much and away we went, feeling
disappointed that we could not get home.

We duly arrived at the dock gates, where we had to show our papers and we
were told where the ship was docked. This turned out to be a long walk, carrying
our possessions in a large kit bag and case. I shall never forget the moment I first
saw this tanker with the name “Norholm” and the Norwegian flag flying. To me it
was very large and being empty, it towered above the other ships in the dock.
The smell of petrol fumes was overpowering. I think we were all wondering what
we had let ourselves in for. We approached the gangway and were met by the
Mate who welcomed us aboard, checked our papers and showed us to our
cabins, which were aft on the starboard side.

I had only noticed the way he was taking us, and was amazed at the length from amidships to the stern where we
descended a stairway to a corridor, first past the washrooms and then to a
cabin with 3 bunks in. A single bunk against the starboard side, and a double
bunk against the inside of the corridor wall. The cabin was about nine feet
square and had three steel upright lockers and one small table. ‘Three of us
were allocated the cabin and our other friend went to another cabin next door.
My friend and I tossed a coin for position on the double bunk. I found myself on
the top bunk. The bunks were fixed fore and aft, which meant when we were at
sea we would roll from side to side, which necessitated fining side rails so we
didn’t roll out of the bunk. All this sorted out, we went up on deck and were
detailed to our duties.

All the Officers and most of the crew were from Norway. There were 8 Royal
Naval Gunners who manned the 5.5 surface gun at the stem of the ship and the
l2lb anti aircraft gun which was situated aft, on top of the galley. There were
also 6 twin Orlokon machine guns placed at different points around midships
and forward.

It was virtually an armed tanker with a total of 52 hands. The 33rd Officer was
responsible for all deck work and the Bosun was responsible to him. I was told to
report to the Bosun and my friend had to report to the Steward who was
responsible for all the catering. Yes you can guess. I got myself a job on the
deck and also spent a lot of my time in the rope and paint stores. The other lads
had various duties, one was detailed to work midships as cabin boy for the
officers and the others worked in the mess or cleaning cabins etc. We didn’t
have much time to get to know about everything as we sailed prompt at
6.Opm. This was all very exciting as the tugs arrived and we started to pull away
from the dock, it was then when I realized how big this tanker was. I was up at
the bow helping to stow the mooring ropes and anchor chains.

This was a 15.000-ton petroleum tanker and required quite a lot of maneuvering. Looking
back towards the stern I could see the bridge which was midships. This was
reached by a long metal walkway situated high above the well deck and
another walkway leading aft to the engine room and crews quarters. We could
only just make out the shore line as we left the dock. There were no lights
showing and only the navigation lights of the ship, and these were quite dim. We
were soon out of the harbour, where we slowed down as the pilot boat came
alongside to take oil the pilot.
We eventually ended up in the mess room for
supper. We were all introduced to one another and had one of the best suppers
I had eaten for months. After the meal, we had a walk up on deck to find our
way around, by this time we were well out at sea, and the ship was rocking
quite a bit.
The question was where were we going? We knew we were in the
Irish Sea and then we heard rumors, some false some true. It turned out that we
were on our own heading for Belfast to join up with a convoy. I remember it was
a very cold night, with a clear sky and bright stars. We had noticed the tanker
was much lower in the water than what it was when we boarded. This was due
to the fact that we had taken on seawater in the tanks as ballast.
By now we were in rough water and the tanker was rolling and pitching, we were all feeling
a bit queasy. As the time went by, we were discovering all the lay outs and the
location of lifeboats etc. Pacing the deck for fresh air and trying not to be the
first to be seasick. However all my mates that had joined the ship and myself
were all as sick as pigs.
My God I have never felt so ill, no bunk that night, no
breakfast next morning. The old hands greeting next morning, “did you have a
good night, you look a bit green lad”.
Next morning we dropped anchor outside Belfast. There were ships of all sizes mostly cargo ships and several tankers.
The rumor was we were joining a convoy heading for the States of America. I was
wondering how long I was going to be seasick. I was thinking of home and
whether they had any idea of where I was. Obviously they only knew I was at
Swansea. We hadn’t had time to write home. I had wrote a letter hoping to get
it posted but nobody was going ashore now. While we were at anchor we had
a visit from the Captain who welcomed us aboard. He was a huge man, with a
bright red face and a brighter nose. He smelt of drink, he was about 50-55 years
old, he had the Chief Officer with him and explained the rules of the crew and
the ship. I remember one of his comments to this day, he told us we were
allowed to smoke in our cabins and also on the aft deck when we were at sea,
but he had full authority to SHOOT any person found smoking along the
flybridge or any where near the well deck.

The Chief Officer was a tall man about 40 years old and very smart. He
introduced us to the pump man who was responsible for the loading of the
tanks and the pumping of the fuel or the ballast, quite a responsible job. The
Chief Steward told us the interesting bit about the pay, on top of our pay we
would receive £20 per month Danger money and no income tax, as we would be paid in Norwegian
money.
The Captain told us he would make an inspection of the ship and crews
quarters daily. It was a very clean ship and the toilets and washrooms had to be
kept immaculate, so much for the pep talk. As he and the Chief Officer left, we
were told that any mail we had could be given to the pilot who would take it
ashore and post it for us. We all set to and wrote a hasty letter home, just to tell
our families we were at sea the name of the ship and shipping line and had no
idea where we were bound. That night we all managed to get some sleep as
the ship was anchored. Next morning after breakfast, all the crew had lifeboat
drill and we were allocated to different lifeboats.

The lifeboats were metal boats and were permanently hung on the outside of the tanker, top deck. All the lifeboats were secured on the dowits with a stern and forward rope secured to a
bollard on the deck. A seaman was positioned on each bollard, when the order
was given to lower, the turns of each rope were removed from the bollards and
the lifeboats would be gradually lowered to the water. I was detailed to get into
the lifeboat with my mate who shared my cabin, and I had to replace the drain
plug in the boat and my friend had to put the tiller into the rudder. We were the
only two in the boat until it reached the water. The lifeboat was then hauled
back to the top deck by winch and secured, where the tiller was restored and
the drain plug removed. The Boson was in charge of our boat, which was aft on
the port side, all the lifeboats with the exception of the Captains, were rowed by
oars. The Captains lifeboat was a motor boat.

The Drill completed, the 3”' Mate took us to the machine gun turrets and told us
to study the layouts etc. I was detailed to the twin Orelickon gun, situated on the
port side of the bridge. The third mate was the gunnery officer and told us we
would have gunnery practice when at sea. The Royal Navy gunners who were
on board were known as Dems.Gunners, that stood for Defence Equipped
Merchant Ships. These guys operated the anti aircraft gun and the 5.5 surface
gun which was situated aft on the stem and above the galley. As the morning
went on more and more ships were forming up outside the harbour. There were
all types, small and large, and many different nationalities, mostly cargo ships.
We eventually moved out heading north.
We were well out at sea by evening and we would make out several lines of ships forming into a convoy.
Another long night, mostly spent on the deck being seasick We were seasick for 3 days
and nights and I really thought I was going to die [he Norwegians kept telling us
to eat dry biscuits and eventually the sickness wore off. When we had gained
our sea legs we all felt much better and we were able to concentrate on our
work, also able to eat a good meal. It was the fourth day at sea when the
rumour was confirmed, we were heading for America. The sea was really rough
and bitter cold weather. The tanker was pitching and rolling like a cork. We
were in a convoy of 113 ships, 13 columns with 2 destroyers as escorts and an
old converted aircraft carrier which had Swordfish aircraft for protection of the
convoy. When those planes took of from the ship they never knew if they would
make it back, as the carrier was an old converted tanker and must have looked
like a penny stamp from the air, plus it was pitching and rolling in the Atlantic
swell. The planes were used for spoiling submarines.

The speed of the convoy was restricted to the speed of the slowest ships,
whereas we could make 15-20 knots, we were only doing 9 or IC knots as the
slower ships could keep up. This was a dreadful trip, we were always altering
course, sometimes going right about to steer clear of submarines that had been
spoiled in the area. There were occasions when a ship would breakdown with
engine problems and have to drop back from the convoy. This must have been
hair raising for the crews, as they were sitting ducks for the submarines. The UBoats
were very active around the west coast of Ireland and occasionally the
destroyers would come between the lines of ships dropping depth charges.
These used to rattle the rivets in the tanker and hundreds of fish would rise onto
the surface of the sea because of the explosion.

We were very lucky on that trip, we only lost one ship a cargo boat and it took
us 19 days to reach America. When we were about 200 miles from New York
and the Hudson River, we received orders from the Commodores ship to
proceed at full speed for “Perth Hamboy” which was the oil terminal along the IHudson
River. This was to allow the faster ships to load their cargoes so that the
slower ships would not be held up in loading. We would be loaded and out of
the way. We were all looking forward to seeing the sight of land again, it
seemed an awful long time to be looking at nothing else only whaler and rolling
ships in bad weather.

We could see the lights of the American coast a long way out at sea and as we
neared the coast the brighter they became. It was early morning as we entered
the Hudson river, passing the Statue of Liberty on our port side, nearly all the
crew were on the deck sight seeing, there were numerous small boats and ships.
There didn’t seem any shortage of fuel as we could see numerous cars passing
over the Hudson River Bridge and all the bright lights still lighting up the buildings
and highways. What a contrast to the old blackout days of England. We made
steady progress along the river, past the large piers where the Cunard liners tied
up. There was one large liner in dock, one of the Cunard ships but we could not
see the name. On the side of the river there were huge shipyards and loading
cranes. Lots of people watching as we made our way past Hoboken another
large shipping terminal. Eventually we arrived at Perth Amboy a very large oil
terminal. We were tied up alongside a jetty with the assistance of tugs and once
tied up we were allowed to stand down and were told we would be allowed
shore leave for 24hrs. It was now about 4.Opm.

There was a skeleton crew left on board, engineers and the pump man etc. for the loading operation. You can well imagine how we felt about being allowed ashore into the bright lights. This
was magic, we were not long in getting changed. As we were only allowed
24hrs shorn leave, New York was quite a long way to travel and anyway we
were on the far side of the river nearer to New Jersey, so that seemed far more
inviting. We had been given money from our wages and were quite flush. The
usual thing when you arrive in port is that the crew are paid off and you have to
report to the Shipping Office which is like a labour exchange, but as the ship
was only in for 24hrs the Captain had the right to retain us and so avoided the
pay off. Before we could go ashore we had to see the Immigration Officers who
come aboard and issued us with American Visas.

Before I left home I said to my mother if ever I went to America I would try and visit my uncle Frank, my mothers favourite brother who she hadn’t seen for 35 years, but who kept in constant
touch with his letters. I remembered his address was Tennerfly Road, Jersey City,
New Jersey and thought here was an opportunity to try and find him. Now once
ashore I was amazed at the traffic and the size of the highways and the cars.
This was their rush hour and all very strange to me. Everywhere there were neon
lights, all the large buildings lit up.

However I made my way into New Jersey by
tramcar. Then I went to the main Post Office and made enquiries as to the
where abouts of Tennerfly Road. They were very helpful and eventually found
the name Johnstone and gave me house number and also told me that Mrs
Johnston used to work at the post office. Another tramcar ride and I found
myself there. I found the number on a large block of flats, with a list of names on
the wall and a call button. I pressed the button and a voice said “come in” well
I opened the door which led to a large hall with doors leading off and obviously
didn’t know where to go, so I pressed the button again and waited, eventually
a small grey haired man appeared and said what do you want. I said I am
looking for Mr Frank Johnstone, he said that’s me and broke down in tears, what
a welcome they gave me. I met my aunt who gave me a big supper and we
sat and talked until the early hours.

I must have been dead on my feet, as I don’t remember getting into bed and
obviously slept like a log.
After breakfast next morning, Uncle Frank announced that he wanted to
take me around and see the sights in New York. I explained that I had to be
back onboard ship by 6.Opm. However it appeared that he had telephoned his
works and told them he was taking the day off. He obviously wanted to do all
he could for me, in so short a time. I also found out that he worked as an
electrician on Pier 90 for the Cunard Lines, mostly on board the liners. As my
Auntie was unable to come sightseeing I said my goodbye, promising to see her
again if I returned to the States. I think my uncle thought I could do with some
smarter wearing apparel as the first stop was a big clothing store in New Jersey,
where he fitted me out with a Sports Jacket, shirts and trousers and a pair of
Yankee shoes. I always remember them brown with a flash of white leather
across the toes. They were very much appreciated, but I felt like a typical
Yankee Doodle.
The shops and stores were all packed with the goods we had
not seen in England since 1939 and the food was out of this world. No shortages
of anything; He had a large Buick car, like riding in a Rolls Royce. We headed
across Brooklyn Bridge into New York City where we parked. He said, “I will now
show you New York City”. We walked for miles, Times Square, Dempseys Bar,
Empire State Building, Woolworths building, Wall Street, where he told me he lost
a lot of his money in the early days in the Wall Street crash. It was obvious to me
that he was doing all he could to make my short stay welcome and interesting
and also creating an impression. I have never had such a memorable day, I was
getting worried I would not get hack to the ship on time. He assured me
however that we would make it O.K. and after having another big meal, we
headed back for “Hoboken” and the ship.
He was worried sick when he saw the size of the tanker and the cargo we were carrying. To think he said, young lads like you on a floating bomb, it is not right.

He pointed out the pier where he worked and said if you get here again, call at Pier 90 and ask for me. I thanked him for the wonderful day I had with him and assured him I would call and see
him again. We said our good byes and I was just in time to get aboard the
liberty boat to take us out to the tanker. I was almost dead on my feet.
I was tired out and just wanted to get my head down.
Once on board I had a bit of ribbing about my posh outfit and shoes. My mates looked as though they also had had a good time. I don’t think anyone had been to bed, (night clubbing
etc.) Once on board, there was a very strong smell of aviation fuel and the ship
was very low in the water, with only about two feel of the well deck above the
waterline. This was a sure sign we were well loaded.

During the evening we were pulled out by tugs into the Hudson river and dropped anchor not far from the Statue of Liberty, to await other ships and the tide. We were stood down, and
managed to get good nights sleep. Next morning we were still at anchor when
we noticed a massive ships bow heading towards us, it was none other than the
Queen Mary heading for Pier 90. What a sight, it looked massive and passed
only a short distance from us. We gathered she was going to embark troops for
some destination. Shortly afterwards we weighed anchor and headed out in the
ocean, everyone was wondering where we were bound.

The rumour was we were heading for Norfolk Virginia to await a convoy, no one
knew where we were bound from there, as the Captain had sealed orders until
joining the convoy. Rumors were rife, some said we were heading for Blighty and
others had different ideas. The following morning we were anchored off Norfolk,
Virginia surrounded by ships of all sizes. I noticed there were quite a few Liberty
ships amongst us. Liberty ships, were mainly cargo ships built in the States, in the
early years of the war, o help out our shortage of shipping and to bring much
needed food and supplies to Britain.
These ships were of all welded construction, not like the British ships, which were
all steel riveted, and consequently many of the Liberty ships broke up in severe
weather. On spotting these ships mustered for convoy, we thought there must
be a good chance we would head out for Blighty. Our hopes were dashed,
after 3 days at sea we were told we were heading for the Mediterranean and
Italy. This again turned out to be a very slow convoy, with destroyers, escorts,
and a cruiser accompanying us.
We were hit by several severe storms during this
trip and with the tanker being so low in the water, the well deck covering the
cargo was always awash with the big waves, at times the ship would sink into a
trough and the other ships would disappear from sight, the propeller would rise
above the waves as the bow went down and the ship would vibrate and rattle
and of course this would slow the convoy down. We noticed however that whilst
we were fully loaded, we did not roll so much as when we were just carrying
ballast. The gases and fumes from the petroleum which was aviation 100-octane
fuel were continually blowing out of the vents on the well deck. Apparently we
were assured that the tanker loaded with fuel was safer than when empty,
nobody could fool Frank.
I don’t suppose we would have known anything about
it had we received a direct hit. The ship was divided from stem down to the
engine room at the stem, into 16 tanks, 8 tanks each side below the water line.
Situated amidships along was the Bridge and officers quarters. A fly bridge
above the well deck ran from the bows to amidships, and a further fly bridge
went to the engine room and the crews quarters.

Our cabin was on the starboard side, to reach this we went down a stairway from the poop deck and
along a narrow passage which housed numerous switch boxes on the bulkhead
of the passage. These we were always hitting our heads on when the ship was
roiling badly, opposite our cabin the other side of the bulkhead was the engine
room, directly underneath our cabin was the ammunition magazine which held
the anti aircraft shells, surface gun shells and all the ammo for the machine
guns. Last but not least, the front bulkhead of our cabin was next to No. 8 fuel
tank. No wonder our cabin door was always wedged open. As our bunks were
positioned fore and aft we always had to have side rails in position to stop us
rolling out. We would roll from side to side all night, but eventually we got used
to it and managed to get some sleep.

During this trip we had all our usual chores to do and we stood down from
normal duties at 5.Opm each day. After supper we used to walk around the
poop deck at the stem of the ship, providing the weather was good. This was
the only exercise we could get, or have a walk along the flybridge up to
Amidships, where we were allowed to have a go at steering. There was not
much to this as all we had to do was follow the ship directly ahead.
We had several submarine warnings on this trip, whereby the whole convoy
would do a 90 degree turn and the destroyers would come between each
column of ships dropping depth charges, they would rattle the steel plates on
the tanker, and hundreds of dead fish would surface. Imagine being in a sub
with explosions like that around the full. During these warnings we were all
occupied with manning the machine guns and the Royal Navy men aboard
would be manning the Anti Aircraft gun and the large surface gun, The l2pound
anti aircraft gun was situated on top of the galley roof, astern. These alerts
would last for several hours, and on some occasions we would have another
alert within a few hours.

We had a lot of American ships in this convoy, and American corvettes
and several destroyers guarding the convoy. We managed to reach the
Mediterranean without incident. We had practice shoots every week. The
Commodore ship was American and they must have had plenty of ammunition
on board their ships to allow these practice shoots. They were always ready for
the worst. As we were approaching the Mcd, we could see the lights of
Morocco coast and it seemed funny to see everywhere lit up and Gibraltar in
complete darkness. We were now in very high temperatures and all our daylight
hours were spent hosing down the steel welldecks to keep the temperatures
down. Did I sweat. We only had shorts on and had difficulty in sleeping. I think
this trip took about 3 weeks before we arrived off Sicily where were anchored
overnight and next day formed a separate convoy to southern Italy and the
port of Bame. We were reduced to about 10 ships for this journey, several
tankers and ammunition ships plus a few cargo ships. We set sail and on the
second day we were attached by a single German bomber, apparently from
Albania, which was German occupied.

We were all on action stations, it was a lovely sunny morning. As we were
watching this plane, it suddenly dived and I actually saw the bombs fail from the
plane. He was far out of reach for our guns but one of his bombs hit the water
about l00yrds off our starboard bow. I thought this is it., where is the next one
going. There were explosions all round but fortunately we were not hit. By this
time an American Corvette had opened fire and the second salvo from the anti
aircraft guns blew this plane apart. A great cheer from the convoy went up. We
were very fortunate, as if this plane had got back we would not have been here
to tell the tale. That was the first action we had seen and I am sure I had skid
marks on my pants.

We eventually arrived in Bame port without further incident. I will always
remember the stench on approaching. We cold not enter the harbour as there
were funnels and masts of ships that had been sunk during a heavy German
raid on the town and the harbour. We eventually anchored outside the harbour
and tied up to a lighter” and discharged the cargo. On approaching we saw
several bodies floating in the water but we were not allowed to stop to retrieve
any. That night was very rough and there were no boats that could take us
ashore. As we had been granted shore leave, we were determined to get
ashore by hook or by crook. We were all dressed up. We lowered one of the
ships lifeboats, not the motor boat belonging to the Captain, but a rowboat. We
were all dressed up, ready for a night on the town and got down into the boat
and rowed through and between the sunken ships masts and funnels. There
were 13 sunken ships and thick oil and debris floating around. As it was very
rough in the harbour, when we were approaching the harbour wall, the only
way to secure the boat was by tying the boat to a ring in the harbour wall. I was
in the bow of the boat and made a grab at the ring as we approached. The
bow of the boat hit the wall, I missed grabbing the ring and had the choice of
falling back into the boat or falling in the dock. As I was stretched to the limit,
the heavier part of my body decided to go forward and into the dock I went. I
came up covered in oil and slime with a ring of oil around my neck. I was
hauled back in and with the help of two others made it back to the ship. You
can imagine the ribbing I got. I stripped off, tied all my clothes onto a line and
dipped them down in the cargo tanks, of 100 octane petrol, then hung them
out to dry. They washed as good as new.

However we did get ashore the next morning for a few hours. Barrie town was a
filthy place. Raw sewerage was running down the streets, no wonder we could
small it out at sea. The town was full of British Army personnel and naval ratings,
who were having a spot of leave.
One of my friends from South Wales who was walking along with us said, “
here is my Dad walking towards us”. We all thought he was joking but sure
enough it was his Dad who was in the Army and was on leave. You can imagine
we had our fair share of Vino and other Italian wines that morning. We went into
the Naffi for some refreshments and the ATS girl who served us was from
Hednesford, what a small world.

We didn’t have long ashore that morning as we were due to sail on the
afternoon tide. On arriving back on board, all the cargo had been pumped off
onto the lighter and the tanker was riding high in the water. There was a terrific
smell of petroleum gas coming from the well decks. As this is the most vulnerable
time for an explosion, we had to start work putting up the canvas vents which
reached well down into the cargo tanks, to allow the air to degas the tanks. This
is quire effective once the ship is under way. The pump man is responsible for
balasting the tanks, allowing salt water into the various tanks to stabilize the ship.
As there were 16 tanks in all, hose that did not have ballast water in had to be
cleaned out on the way back.
This meant we had to go down and clean all the lose rust from the tanks, as they
were degassed, not a very nice job. Before we sailed out of Barrie, fresh water
had to be taken on for domestic use. His was brought aboard with hose lines
from the docks. It was very hot weather and we headed down to Sicily with
three other cargo boats. We reached there without any incidents and formed
up with another convoy heading for the States once again.

We were all very busy hosing down the decks, changing windsocks from one
tank to another and general deckwork which included painting etc. We had
been at sea a few days when it was discovered that the Italians had filled our
fresh water tanks with salt water. We had no drinking water and were using ice
from the refrigerator. Our nearest port was Orane in North Africa, where we had
to leave the convoy and make for Oran. Fortunately we arrived there the same
evening. We could make better speed not being in convoy, plus the fact we
were only carrying half ballast.
On arrival I had developed a large cyst behind my ear and the steward
who acted as Doctor took me ashore to the American hospital. I had this lanced by an
American Doctor, which took about 10 minutes, covered with a plaster and made our way
back to the ship.

No time had been lost replacing fresh water. Every one was enjoying
a wash and shave without the scum on the water. We left Oran at night and
had been joined by several other ships by morning. On passing Gibraltar we
were joined by other cargo boats mostly American and one destroyer. We had
one or two alerts on the way back in the Atlantic, but fortunately no losses. We
had a good trip the weather was kind to us and after about 12 days we were off
the American coast. About 200 miles from New York the faster ships in the
convoy were given the go ahead to proceed at full speed. This was to allow the
faster ships to get loaded and make room at the docks for the slower ships that
were following. We headed into the Hudson River and made for Perth Amboy
which was the large petroleum loading dock. The ship never went alongside,
but tied to boys out in the river. This was to reduce the risk of sparks should the
ship contact the dock walls.

However change of plan, we than went to a Large dock at Hoboken where we
were given 48 hrs shore leave. We were having a few repairs carried out, we
were led to believe. There was no time lost in getting ashore once we had been
paid. We had our Norwegian money paid to us in US.Dollars. I remember there
were six of us going ashore, all English lads and hoping for a good time.
We went into New York, Times Square, Dempsys Bar and looked around all the
sites. We took a cab everywhere we went, we were all flush and intended
making the most of our time. That same evening we all finished up at a big ice
skating rink. As we were about to leave some American boys were calling us
“Limeys” which obviously there being six of us we took exception to and a fight
broke out You can imagine all hell broke lose.
There must have been around 200 involved.
We took quite a hammering but held our own.

We finished up being torn apart by the American Police and told to get back to the ship. We had no
intention of going back that night and continued sight seeing and boozing
around New York. It was like being in heaven. Everywhere was lit up and the
food was fantastic, did we have a good time.
We arrived back on board the following evening and we were all feeling worn out.
We had a good night’s sleep, no rocking of the ship.

Next morning we were surprised to see that a large
super structure of steel girders had been fastened to the Well deck, from the
bow to amidships and from amidships to the engine room at the stern. This we
heard was for a deck cargo of twin engine aircraft, P33 lightening aircraft. The
stevedores were swarming over the deck putting the finishing touches to the
steelwork.
Just before we were due to leave for the petroleum depot, I had quite a surprise
visit from my uncle who had seen the ship from where he worked, and came
over to visit me. He could see we had had a good time ashore. He told me he
had heard from my parents after he had told them he had met me on my
previous visit. Obviously they had no idea what I was doing hut were pleased
that I had visited him, as no one from our family had seen him for 40 years. After
a brief visit, he asked me to visit him again if we returned to the States. He told
me he was working on the Cunard Liners at Pier 90 as an electrician, and had
seen the Norholm coming up the river. We left the next morning and took on our
cargo of petroleum. The aircraft were loaded and secured to the upper
structure, all taped with black tape to protect them from the salt water. I had
never seen the tanker so low in the water, the well deck was only about 2 feet
above the water.

Late afternoon we left New York for Norfolk Virginia, again to join a
convoy. This turned out to be a large convoy, all the rumours were that we were
again bound for Italy. Apart from some rough weather in mid Atlantic, our
journey was uneventful, only the occasional submarine alarm, and the
destroyers patrolling between the columns of ships in the convoy, dropping their
depth charges. We passed by Gibraltar and again could see the lights shining
from the Moroccan coastline. Gib. Was in complete darkness, but one could
make out the Rock, which was covered with a material which allowed the
water to cascade down into large drinking water tanks at the base. As we
entered the Med., the temperature rose and again our main priority aboard was
the hosing down of the metal well deck to reduce the heat above the
petroleum tanks. We had a weekly lifeboat drill, and a practice shoot, to keep
everybody on their toes. A lot of the protective covering on the deck cargo of
aircraft had been washed off with the wind and salt water, but had not
affected the planes, which were twin fuselage P.38 Lightnings.

We arrived off Sicily when the convoy split up and the majority of ships
headed for the Persian Gulf and our tanker and ammunition ships headed for
southern Italy. We had slightly longer ashore in Italy on this trip as the unloading
of the aircraft took longer. This town of Bame was very dirty and smelly, with
sewerage running down the open streets. I would never wish to visit this town
again, but it may have improved as the years rolled by. Having taken on ballast,
and a few provisions, we headed back for the States, 10 ships in the convoy with
one escort destroyer.

On the way back I had a change of jobs. I had helped out previously in
the galley, making tea, coffee, peeling spuds etc and lighting the galley stove
first thing in the morning. The Second Cook who was a Norwegian scalded his
leg and foot whilst getting a bucket of water from the steam boiler in the galley.
This proved to be very serious and involved him being taken off the ship onto a
destroyer for medical attention. This was quite difficult in rough seas, however he
was eventually strapped into a stretcher and lowered over the side to a lifeboat.
However I was asked by the Chief Steward if I would take over his duties, with a
substantial pay rise. My pay would be £30 a month, this included £20 Danger
money and stand down time in the afternoons. Who could refuse such an offer?
It was a change from being on the deck in all weathers. Our Chief cook taught
me quite a lot about cooking, also how to make the break which was baked
fresh every day. We had very good food especially the fish menus. People from
Norway are well known for their cooking abilities. Our stores were taken on
board in the States, so there was no shortage of good food. Mostly all frozen,
kept in large fridges.

As we approached the American coast the weather was getting very cold, and
the winter woollies came out. This was December, approaching Christmas. We
were all looking forward to a few days in New York and Frank had a few dollars
to spend. On arrival we were told that we would all be paid off and to report to
the Shipping Office. The following day all our gear was packed into kit bags and
we were paid off The Norholm was going into dock for major repairs.
We trooped off to the Shipping Office to sign on, thinking we would have a
grand time, waiting for a ship, and spending Christmas in New York. It was my
intention to contact my Uncle again, hut that soon changed. The man at the
shipping office was looking for a crew to work on a fuelling tanker from Norway.
He explained that we could refuse but didn’t know what other ship he could
offer. There were six English lads and myself Looking at one another we decided
it would be nice to come home for a spell, and accepted the ship. What he did
not tell us until we signed the papers was that the ship was sailing tomorrow
morning, 23,d December. Oh dear too late to change our minds then. We went
down to the docks and located this fuelling tanker named the Havprins.

This ship was slightly smaller than the Norholm, nice clean looking tanker
with a complement of 40 crew. We were taken aboard where we met the
Captain and the 1st Officer and Boson. They delegated us to our respective
duties. My job was to clean the officer’s cabins each day and help out on deck
when we were refueling the destroyers. We were all kitted out with sea gear,
plenty of good warm clothes and waterproofs. We all got settled into our
cabins, which were located aft of the starboard side. There was a very different
small from the oil we were carrying on this ship. No petrol fumes which were
always there on the Norholm. We left New York at 3.pm on the 23”’ December
heading for England, everyone was looking forward to going home for leave.

I remember it was very cold and the sea was boiling with a heavy swell. This ship
didn’t ride as well as the Norholm and pitched a lot, but it was much faster. We
joined up with a convoy of liberty boats which were carrying war aid to England
and ammunition ships and tankers. The Escort consisted of 4 Corvettes, one
Canadian, one American destroyer and a British frigate. This journey was a long
cold one. We had terrible weather, day and night. We had been at sea about a
week, when we had our first experience of refueling at sea. All hands were on
deck to help lay out the six inch pipelines with the wire hawsers attached. These
went aft through the deck rails and floated out astern. Then the Escort would
pick up the pipe and take what fuel it required. This was a difficult task when the
weather was rough. I do not remember ever doing the job when the sea was
kind.
There was one occasion when we were in a gale The Boson at I0.Opm
asked if we would lend a hand to cover up the deck vents as the sea was
entering and flooding down below. This meant heavy sea gear being worn with
a line attached to us and a large canvas cover being fastened over the vents.
The waves were washing us across the metal decks as we struggled to cover the
vents. A very hairy business. However all was completed and I think the Boson
thought we had done a good job, as we all had a drink in his cabin which
warmed us up. We had very good food on this ship, all our stores had again
been acquired in the States. Every day the Captain would inspect the mess
rooms and cabins, looking for dust and having paint work patched up. We had
the occasional submarine alarm. Then we would be manning the “Orlikcan”
machine guns and the D.E.M.S.Gunners would be closed up on the heavy
surface gun. The Corvette would come between the Convoy lines dropping
depth charges.
These used to rattle the rivets in the ship and cause a lot of
vibration. The sea would then be covered with dead fish. I would not have liked
to be in the crew of a U-boat.
We pressed on, and we were somewhere off the
South Coast of Ireland, when at 8.Opm we were on deck to refuel a corvette.
We floated out the hawsers and deck rails were torn off from the tanker.
Everybody moved very quickly and we were very lucky no one was hurt. There
was no rail left around the stern or along the starboard quarter, nothing to stop
anyone going overboard. Obviously the Corvette could not proceed, but we
carried on with the rest of the convoy and watched as the corvette wallowed in
the sea, with 2 black balls flying at masthead, denoting it was not under way.
The corvette caught up with us on the second day, obviously they would have
had to send down divers to clear their propellers.

We had to be very careful from then on when we refueled the other craft.
We were getting nearer to England when at lunchtime the engines stopped,
and we were left way behind the convoy. Everybody was looking very worried
because between Ireland and Scotland there was always a presence of Uboats.
There was a serious problem in the engine room. We all went and looked
down into the engine room where the engineers had already withdrawn one of
the motor pistons, as the piston rings had broken resulting in the loss of power.
This was handing up in the engine room swinging about like a swing. The broken
rings were removed and a new ones fitted and after 15 hours we were on our
way again. The Engineers knew their jobs and the Captain was like a new man
again. The tanker was pressing on at top speed to catch up with the convoy.
When we eventually caught them up there was one cargo ship missing and a
lot of activity amongst the destroyer and corvettes. We heard later that a cargo
liberty boat had been sunk by a torpedo and the escorts were dropping depth
charges in the hope of getting the U-boat. We had to slow down to the speed
of the rest of the convoy, but were all happy to have a bit of protection once
again.

I think it was about the 8th. January when we arrived of Greenock; no we
had not had any celebrations for the New Year. I remember we had a small
celebration and a few drinks later and I won £40. playing cards in the mess
room, the most I had ever won. Now all I wanted to do was get ashore and go
home.

[HW3]

Excellent read! Glad you posted it!

[bracer]

Very interesting read!! Made my morning. Thanks!

[Jimbuna]

Great stuff, one or two similarities with some of the stories I heard from my late father regarding his real life experiences during the war.

I wonder what the odds are your grandfather and my father actually met during those times

[fumo30]

Good job SS Norholm.
We need more posts like this. Thanks!

[SS Norholm]

Cheers chaps. Jimbuna probably quite likely i guess, depending on what your father did, and where he was from.

My grandfather (Frank Brown) was very popular in the West Midlands area, after his time in the Merchant Navy he joined the Fire Service and served 30yrs, retiring in 1985 as the Chief officer at the main Fire Station in Wolverhampton.
He taught me how to fish and shoot from a young age, and i spent most of my weekends and holidays with him. I tell you what, he could of give George Digweed a run for his money with a shotgun! I don't think i ever saw him miss anything!! And many occasion i got a piece of his mind when i missed stuff

A stubborn old boy, and hard as nails, but an absolute legend!

John.