View source for Alan-A-Dale

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin |display title=ital}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image= StateLibQld 1 173151 Nordvest (ship).jpg
| Ship caption= ''Nordvest'' under way
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= 
|Ship flag= 
|Ship name= *1938: ''Nordvest''
*1941: ''Alan-A-Dale''<!-- This is how Lloyd's Register spells the name. -->
|Ship namesake=
|Ship owner= *1938: [[D/S Norden]]
*1941: [[United States Maritime Commission|US Maritime Commission]]
|Ship operator= *1938: [[D/S Norden|P Brown Jr, & Co]]
*1941: [[File:Union steamship co flag.svg|19px]] [[Union Company|Union SS Co of NZ]]
|Ship registry= *1938: {{flagicon|Denmark}} [[Port of Copenhagen|Copenhagan]]
*1941: {{flagicon|Panama}} [[Panama]]
|Ship route= 
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder= Nakskov Skibsværft A/S, [[Nakskov]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number= 85
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|Ship launched= 
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship completed= June 1938
|Ship acquired=
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|Ship out of service= 
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|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship identification= *1938: [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] OYWQ
*{{ICS|Oscar}}{{ICS|Yankee}}{{ICS|Whiskey}}{{ICS|Quebec}}
*1941: call sign HPWV
*{{ICS|Hotel}}{{ICS|Papa}}{{ICS|Whiskey}}{{ICS|Victor}}
|Ship nickname=
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|Ship fate= Sunk 23 December 1944
|Ship notes=
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}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class= 
|Ship type= [[Cargo ship]]
|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|4702}}, {{NRT|2774}}
|Ship displacement= 
|Ship length= {{cvt|401.4|ft|abbr=on|disp=flip}} 
|Ship beam= {{cvt|57.3|ft|abbr=on|disp=flip}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draft= 
|Ship depth= {{cvt|24.9|ft|abbr=on|disp=flip}}
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks= 1 + shelter deck
|Ship power= {{cvt|2300|bhp|0|abbr=on}}, 808 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]
|Ship propulsion=*2 × [[Propeller|screws]]
*2 × [[two-stroke diesel engine]]s
|Ship speed= {{convert|13|kn|km/h|lk=in}}
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|Ship complement= 65
|Ship sensors= wireless [[direction finding]]
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|}

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

==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 {{cvt|401.4|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|57.3|ft|abbr=on}}, her depth {{cvt|24.9|ft|abbr=on}} and her [[tonnage]]s were {{GRT|4702}} and {{NRT|2774}}. She had twin [[Propeller|screws]], each driven by a six-cylinder, single-acting, [[two-stroke diesel engine]]. Between them, her twin engines were rated at 808 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]].<ref name=LR38>{{cite book |year=1938 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] of Shipping |via=[[Southampton City Council]] |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/38/38b0646.pdf |access-date=20 May 2022}}</ref>

A/S Norden [[Ship registration|registered]] ''Nordvest'' at [[Port of Copenhagen|Copenhagen]]. Her [[Wireless telegraphy|wireless telegraph]] [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] was OYWQ.<ref name=LR38/>

==Service==
After World War II began,{{clarify|reason=After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, or after Germany invaded Denmark in April 1940?|date=May 2022}} ''Nordvest'' remained in port in the United States. She was one of 84 foreign ships that the [[United States Maritime Commission|US Maritime Commission]] requisitioned under the Ship Requisition Act, Executive Order No. 8771, signed on 6 June 1941.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usmm.org/foreign.html |title=Foreign Passenger and Cargo Ships Taken Over by U.S Maritime Commission during World War II |work=American Merchant Marine at War |date=21 March 2011 |accessdate=21 July 2012 |archive-date=16 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716224346/http://www.usmm.org/foreign.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

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''.<ref>{{cite book |year=1941 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] of Shipping |via=Southampton City Council |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/41/41b0630.pdf |access-date=20 May 2022}}</ref>

The Maritime Commission appointed the [[Union Company|Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand]] to manage the ship.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} She would have been [[Defensively equipped merchant ship#United States|defensively armed]], as a contingent of the [[United States Navy Armed Guard|USN Armed Guard]] joined her [[Ship's company|complement]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nj.gov/military/museum/summaries/wwii/bradshaw.html |title=World War II Oral History Interview |first=Mitchell A |last=Bradshaw |work=New Jersey Military and Veterans Affairs |date=1 July 2002 |accessdate=22 July 2012 |archive-date=12 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912013512/http://www.nj.gov/military/museum/summaries/wwii/bradshaw.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

''Alan-A-Dale'' sailed independently for [[Tocopilla]], [[Chile]], arriving there in October 1941, then returned via the [[Panama Canal]] to [[Port of Baltimore|Baltimore]] in early December. On 15 December 1941, she sailed from [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]] to [[Belfast Harbour|Belfast]] as part of [[HX convoys|Convoy HX]] 165, returning to the United States as part of [[ON convoys|Convoy ON]] 59 in January 1942. After another Atlantic crossing, (Convoys HX 179 and ON 89), she sailed alone from [[Hampton Roads]] on 1 June 1942, to the [[Indian Ocean]], calling at [[Port of Cape Town|Cape Town]], [[Abadan]], [[Bahrain]] and [[Mumbai Harbour|Bombay]], before returning via [[Port of Durban|Durban]], [[Trinidad]] and [[Guantánamo Bay]], and arriving at [[New York City]] on 2 November.<ref name=Hague>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/ |title=Multi-Convoy Search |first=Arnold |last=Hague |work=Convoy Web |date=22 July 2007 |accessdate=20 May 2022}}</ref>

[[File:StateLibQld 1 149571 Nordvest (ship).jpg|thumb|upright|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.<ref name=Hague/>

In July 1944, after sailing from New York to [[Port of Liverpool|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 21 December, she sailed as part of Convoy TAM 26, bound for [[Port of Antwerp|Antwerp]].<ref name=Hague/>

A German ''[[Biber (submarine)|Biber]]'' [[midget submarine]] sank ''Alan-A-Dale'' in the [[Westerschelde]] off [[Terneuzen]] on 23 December 1944 at position {{Coord|51|21|36|N|03|47|18|E|region:NL-ZE_type:landmark|display=inline, title}}.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?613 |title=MV Alan-A-Dale [+1944] |work=wrecksite.eu |date=5 September 2020 |accessdate=20 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.janda.org/ships/ |title=New York Ships to Foreign Ports September 1939-August 1945 "A" |first=John |last=Mozolak |work=janda.org |year=2009 |accessdate=21 July 2012 |archive-date=28 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328151412/http://janda.org/ships/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Warsailors.com :: Ship Forum :: Re: Alan-a-dale, sunk by Biber |url=http://www.warsailors.com/forum/archive/forum/read.php-1,51,53.html |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=www.warsailors.com}}</ref> All 65 men aboard survived the attack.<ref name=lp139>{{cite book |title=Weapons of Desperation: German Frogmen and Midget Submarines of World War II |url= https://archive.org/details/weaponsdesperati00pate_929 |url-access=limited |last=Paterson |first=Lawrence |year=2006 |publisher=Chatham Publishing |isbn= 978-1-86176-279-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/weaponsdesperati00pate_929/page/n85 139]}}</ref>

The wreck was removed in June 2003 as part of an operation to improve shipping access to Antwerp.{{fact|date=September 2024}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |url= http://uboat.net/ops/midget.htm |title=German Midget submarine operations |first=Dave |last=Hallas |work=uboat.net}}

{{December 1944 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alan-A-Dale}}
[[Category:1938 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in December 1944]]
[[Category:Ships built in Denmark]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in rivers]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Denmark]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Panama]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea]]