07 March 1940

Departed Methil at 1700 in company of ECLIPS, ESCORT, ELECTRA and ENCOUNTER as escort to convoy ON 18 consisting of 10 British, 13 Norwegian, 12 Swedish, 2 Danish, 4 Finnish and 2 Estonian ships

CONVOY ON 18 – U.K.-Norway

Left Methil on March 7-1940 and arrived Norway on the 10th.
Received from Don Kindell – His source: The late Arnold Hague’s research.

Stations are not known.
According to A. Hague, the following ships sailed in this convoy (in alphabetical order):

Swedish Agne
Finnish Airisto
Swedish Amsterdam
British Ashbury
Norwegian Bessheim
British Bradburn
Swedish C. A. Banck
British Dalveen
British Demeterton
Norwegian Edna
Finnish Ergo
Swedish Graculus
Swedish Gudrun
Panamanian Gunny
Norwegian Hjalmar Wesssel
Norwegian Iris
Norwegian Mari
Danish Maria Toft
Swedish Masilia
Swedish Mergus
Finnish Modesta
Swedish Mona
Norwegian Navarra
Swedish Omberg
British Pennington Court
Estonian Regulus
Swedish Rosenholm
Norwegian Røsten
British Rydal Force
Norwegian Sado
Norwegian Selbo
Norwegian Sigrid
Danish Skagen
Norwegian Snyg
British Strait Fisher
British Ulea
Swedish Utö
Norwegian Vestra
Finnish Vienti
Estonian Viiu
Swedish Visten
British Wentworth

A document listing all the ON convoys states that ON 18 had a total of 44 ships (incl. 10 joining from Kirkwall); 10 British, 13 Norwegian, 12 Swedish, 2 Danish, 4 Finnish, 2 Estonian, 1 Panamanian. 4 were detached for Scapa Flow, escorted by the destroyers Fameand Sikh.

The 10 ships joining from Kirkwall were attacked by 3 Heinkels at 13:15 on March 8-1940. No damage was done by the 2 bombs dropped. Fighter aircraft were sent to assist the escort (see also my page about Convoys attacked by aircraft).

A collision occurred between HMS Kelly (ON 18) and HMS Gurkha (HN 17). Both ships reached port.

For information on the Norwegian ships in this convoy, see the Master Ship Index.

Escorts:
See this document, listing escorts for all HN and ON convoys, as well as this external page(scroll down to text re Convoy ON 18 under March 7).
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1806-1816

This is the account of the first vessel named HMS Cossack, a title that would be passed on to five later ships and commemorated by the Royal Navy in the Cossack Building at HMS Raleigh.

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1854-1875

The second Cossack was originally ordered by Russia for the Black Sea Fleet in December 1852 at a cost of 290,000 silver roubles. However, when relations between Britain and Russia deteriorated, Russia sold the vessels to the Hamburg trading firm Henry Mersk & Co.

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1886-1905

This account covers the third vessel named HMS Cossack. Launched on 3 June 1886 and in service until 1905, she spent the majority of her career in the Far East, calling at India, Aden, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and other ports.

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1907-1919

The fourth HMS Cossack received the first Battle Honour for participating in operations along the Belgian coast from 17 October to 8 November 1914. This section contains copies of the original construction contract and detailed plans showing her launch, deck arrangements, and machinery.

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1938-1941

Credited with battle honours including Baltic 1855, Witu 1890, Dover Patrol 1914–1919, Narvik 1940, Norway 1940, Atlantic 1940–1941, the Bismarck Action 1941, and the Malta Convoys 1941, the HMS Cossack in service from 1938 to 1941 was a formidable presence.

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1944-1960

During Warship Week in February 1942, the town of Esher raised £1,192,211, contributing to the construction of the warship HMS Cossack. The funds were collected by the public depositing money into a rubber-type float in a pool. Remarkably, the surplus was enough to fund a submarine as well. The story continues.

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