Haakon VII (ship)
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The Haakon VII was a passenger ship put into service in 1907 by the Norwegian shipping company Det Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab (NFDS), which operated between Norway and England . On October 6, 1929, the Haakon VII sank south of Florø in a severe storm . 18 of the 74 people on board were killed.
The ship
The 1,347 GRT steamship Haakon VII was built at the Trondheim Mekaniske Verksted (TMV) shipyard in Trondheim for Det Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab, who is also based in Trondheim. The shipyard , founded in 1872 , was one of the most important in the city. The construction cost 750,000 Norwegian kroner in terms of monetary value at the time . Consisting of steel -built hull was 76.3 meters long, 10.1 meters wide and had a maximum draft of 6.6 meters. The ship was powered by a triple expansion steam engine that ran on a single propeller and allowed a speed of 14.5 knots.
The Haakon VII , named after Haakon VII , King of Norway from 1905 to 1957, was used for her shipping company's England service and traveled the route from Trondheim via Bergen and Stavanger to Newcastle . She was licensed to carry 150 passengers on long journeys, 532 passengers on short journeys and 918 passengers on journeys in coastal waters. When she entered service in 1907, the Haakon VII was one of the largest and fastest ships in Norway. It was not until 1925 that the Dronning Maud replaced her as the largest ship. On May 7, 1907, she ran for the first time in Trondheim for Oslo and on May 23, her first crossing to England began. In 1912 the promenade deck was extended by the Ørens Mekaniske Verksted from Trondheim.
After the outbreak of World War I in the summer of 1914, service in England was initially suspended, but soon resumed. On April 10, 1916, the Haakon VII was torpedoed by a German submarine , but not hit. The steamer was launched in 1917 and 1918 . Only after the armistice in November 1918 was the Haakon VII put back on the England route. After the First World War, Det Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab had to struggle with economic problems and had to restrict its shipping operations. In October 1921 the passenger traffic to Great Britain was set and the Haakon VII was launched again. In the years 1922 and 1923 the ship was used for further trips in the summer season.
After the loss of the steamer Haakon Jarl , which sank on June 17, 1924 after a ship collision in the Vestfjord , a replacement was needed so that the Haakon VII was fully operational again. In November 1924 she came to the aid of the Rana , which had run aground off Sør-Trøndelag , and took her in tow to Trondheim. In March 1925 she collided with another steamship that was on the quay in Molde .
Downfall
On the evening of October 6, 1929, the Haakon VII was on a southern course from Bergen to Florø, the westernmost city in Norway. There were 74 passengers and crew on board . It was a night of heavy rain and strong winds from the south-southeast. The master and two pilots were on the bridge at the time ; nevertheless the ship went off course in the storm.
At 10.30 p.m. while sailing at full speed on the coast of Sogn og Fjordane, grounding occurred . The bow of the ship turned towards the country and the Haakon VII took a heavy list to starboard at. The stern was quickly submerged as the ship lay more and more on its side. 56 people initially escaped to the forecastle and spent the night on a small island until they were found on the morning of October 7th and brought to Florø.
Nine passengers and nine crew members were killed in the sinking of the Haakon VII . The surviving boatswain Anders Andersen was awarded the Medaljen for edel dåd (award for noble / heroic deed) for his services in rescuing the passengers. The wreck of the Haakon VII was left lying on the archipelago for the winter and was lifted on April 6, 1930 using pontoons and towed to Bergen. Ten days later it was towed to Bergen Mekaniske Verksted in Solheimsviken, where it was inspected. In August 1930 it was sold to Stavanger Skibs-Ophugnings Co. AS in Stavanger for demolition and scrapped that same year.
Others
A super tanker owned by the Norwegian shipping company Hilmar Reksten (built 1969, scrapped 12/1983) was named Kong Haakon VII .
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 30, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
