Torrens

MS Torrens was a Norwegian cargo motor ship built in 1939 by Kockums Mek.Verksted AB., Malmö, Sweden, for Wilhelm Wilhelmsen, Tønsberg, Norway. In 1940, after the German invasion of Norway, the ship operated for the Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship) in London. Voyages in early 1940 involved U.S. Atlantic ports and the Philippines, China and Japan. By mid 1940 the operations tended to be out of U.S. Pacific coast ports, with occasional visits to the Atlantic, to the same destinations. The same pattern repeated in 1941. With entry of the United States into the war Torrens was transferred to the U.S. War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 23 January 1942. The ship was allocated to Army requirements until 22 January 1946. The ship first operated as a cargo ship but was converted into a troop ship with a capacity for 1,702 passengers. Until June 1945 Torrens operated in the Southwest Pacific theater. After June 1945 the ship operated to Europe until January 1946 when released from troop transport service and returned to Nortraship on 22 January 1946. After return to owners the ship was eventually sold in 1966 to a firm in Piraeus, Greece and renamed Georgios M. The ship was sold to Chinese breakers in 1970 and scrapped in April of that year.