Ole Wegger (ship)
.jpg) Ole Wegger
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The Norwegian whaling factory ship Ole Wegger was created in 1928 by converting the British tanker San Lorenzo . The factory ship was picked up in the Second World War on January 14, 1941 in the Southern Ocean by the German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin . At the request of the Naval Warfare Command (SKL), it was, like the other units of the captured Norwegian whaling fleet, sent with a prize crew to German-occupied France. On August 26, 1944, the ship was sunk as a block ship in the Seine near Rouen .
Building history
The ship was built as the third tanker of the San Fraterno class from 1913 at the Swan Hunter shipyard in Wallsend . It entered service on February 10, 1914 as the fourth of the ten ships in the class. They had 24 cargo tanks, which were divided with longitudinal and transverse bulkheads. The tanks could be heated with heating coils so that viscous oils could also be transported. The ships built for the Eagle Oil Transport Company were primarily intended to transport fuel oil from Mexico to Europe for the Royal Navy, which was in the process of converting from coal to oil .
During the First World War , she served as a fleet tanker in bases of the Royal Navy. On June 3, 1917, she sailed with another tanker, secured by armed trawlers, unloaded northwest of the Irish coast. The zigzag running tankers were attacked by the German submarine U 54 , which could fire a torpedo and hit the leading San Lorenzo . The tanker broke down, but was not listed despite considerable damage. The submarine watched the broken tanker and the trawlers supporting it. When another attack came up that morning, the San Lorenzo was gone. The commander then assumed that he had sunk the tanker, but it reached an Irish port on its own and could be repaired.
After the end of the war, the San Lorenzo was used like her surviving sister ships for the Royal Dutch Shell .
Conversion to a whaling factory
In July 1928 the San Lorenzo was bought by the whaling company "Ørnen" under Søren L. Christensen in order to convert it into a whaling factory ship. Since she was only handed over to the new owners in September, a complete conversion was not possible until the beginning of the fishing season and she went on her first voyage to the Southern Ocean under the new name Ole Wegger as an auxiliary ship. Only after the end of the season did the complete conversion to a factory ship take place in the summer of 1929. In contrast to the previously converted sister ship CA Larsen , the Ole Wegger has not yet been towed to pull the whales hunted by their fishing boats on board and so make processing easier on board.
The winter of 1931/1932, when the entire Norwegian whaling fleet was docked, was used to install a tow in the stern. The conversion took place at Framnæs Mekaniske Værksted in Sandefjord and changed the appearance of the ship with two relatively short chimneys on the sides of the stern lift. At the same time, new and additional equipment for cutting and processing the whales was installed. With these facilities, the ship became one of the most modern factory ships.
Mission history
In her first season as a fully equipped factory ship in 1929/1930, the Ole Wegger produced 81,627 barrels of whale oil. The following season was initially very successful and had already produced 114,500 barrels of whale oil when on January 10, 1931, one propeller blade tore off completely and another partially tore off in the ice. Accompanied by her five fishing boats, she set out on the march back to Cape Town . Since the oil-buying company wanted to get it as quickly as possible, the Ole Wegger steamed from Cape Town towards home on March 23, after the emergency repairs had been carried out, when the other factory ships were just ending their fishing season in the Southern Ocean.
The following winter of 1931/1932, in which the fleet was in operation, was used to install a rear lift. In the following season, the Ole Wegger was used with six fishing boats, while the second factory ship of the company "Ørnen", the Falk (1891, 4503 GRT, 6,400 tdw), was still not used. With over 120,000 barrels of whale oil, Ole Wegger again achieved a better result. It was in use every season until 1940. From 1935, the shipping company A / S Thor Dahl coordinated the use of the ship, the factory ships Thorshammer (1914, 12,215 GRT, ex tanker San Nazaro ), Solglimt (1900, 12,246 GRT, ex passenger steamer Potsdam ) and the American ones flag propelled Frango (1917, 6,400 GRT tanker ex Golea ) Fleet operated. The protection periods for whales shortened the fishing season in the following years and it was not until 1937/1938 that the Ole Wegger managed to exceed its previous record of 126,076 barrels of whale oil.
In autumn 1939, the Norwegian whalers left for Antarctica despite the outbreak of war, and an agreement was even reached that gave the United Kingdom and the German Reich a fixed share of the expected whale oil yield. The German attack on Norway shortly before the end of the whaling season reversed this and most of the Norwegian factory ships unloaded their cargo in the US. Even the Ole Wegger was ordered the march to the United States. The ship, which left Cape Town on March 24, 1940 , reached New York via Trinidad on May 3 , where it remained for a month and discharged part of the cargo. The rest of the ship was disembarked in the ports of New Orleans and Mobile , which were then called.
War effort
The since August 1, 1940 in Halifax (Nova Scotia) lying Ole Wegger was fitted there for a new fishing season, yet the Norwegian factory ships to the next to her Thorshammer and Pelagos and sailing under the British flag Svend Foyn and Southern Empress should be used. The Ole Wegger left Halifax on October 10th and sailed via Curacao to Rio de Janeiro , which was left for the Southern Ocean on November 8th. On January 14, 1941 she was surprised by the German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin when she met the Solglimt, who was used as a supplier, and captured both ships and four fishing boats ( Pol VIII , Pol IX , Pol X , Torlyn ). Three fishing boats managed to escape. The Pol VII escaped, although she was alongside the Ole Wegger at the time the auxiliary cruiser appeared . Globe VIII was on the way back to Ole Wegger with two whales killed when the captain became suspicious of the mother ship's radio and then discovered the penguin himself . He withdrew and faked an accident over the radio in order to lure Thorarinn , who was also still hunting, to him. Both boats then escaped to the Thorshammer further west , to which the Pol VII also fled. The German auxiliary cruiser refrained from pursuing it, hoping to surprise the Pelagos to the east , which it succeeded.
The Penguin commander then intended to send the Solglimt and the Pelagos to occupied France, as he did not have enough staff for a safe return for all ships and boats. However, the SKL ordered him to send the Ole Wegger and the whalers as well. He should take over sufficient supplies and prize crews from the utility Nordmark in the grid square Andalusia .
In mid-February, the auxiliary cruiser took over the necessary personnel gathered on the Nordmark and supplies from the Prize Duquesa . The prize was then sunk. The supply ship Alstertor , which had arrived from Germany , was sent to the Kerguelen with the whaler Pol IX , where the penguin wanted to meet the auxiliary cruiser Komet . The Pinguin still supplied the Ole Wegger and the ten other fishing boats for the transfer to France and followed the Alstertor after meeting the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and the auxiliary cruiser Kormoran .
The Ole Wegger was released to France after February 18 with ten of the whalers and reached Bordeaux on March 20, 1941 with eight boats, including Pol VIII , Pol X and Torlyn .
Final fate
The ship was equipped as a floating base by the Navy and used in Cherbourg and later in Rouen . In the summer of 1944 it was then sunk in the Seine as a block ship.
It was lifted in October 1944 and then towed to Falmouth via Le Havre in December. The ship was classified as not worth repairing and sold for demolition. In May 1946 the Ole Wegger was towed to Gothenburg , where it was demolished until 1947.
literature
- Joh. N. Tønnessen, Arne Odd Johnsen: The History of Modern Whaling , University of California Press (1982), ISBN 0-520-03973-4
- Ian B. Hart: Whaling in the Falkland Islands Dependencies 1904-1931: A History of Shore and Bay-based Whaling in the Antarctic . Pequena, 2006, ISBN 0955292409 .
- RK Headland: Chronological List of Antarctic Expeditions and Related Historical Events , Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-15868-0
Web links
- Attack on San Lorenzo (English)
- Website about Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson (English)
- San Lorenzo Helder line
- Ole Wegger Lardex.net
- Ole Wegger during the world war
- The Pol fishing boats at war
Individual evidence
- ↑ Named after Ole Wegger , the long-time director of the Framnæs Mekaniske Værksted shipyard in Sandefjord.
- ↑ Jordan, Merchant Fleets, pp. 302, 387: Thorshammer "Bryde & Dahl's Hvalfisk A / S", Solglimt "A / S Odd" and Frango "American Whaling Co."
- ^ Whaler Pol VII , 1936 Nylands, 338 GRT
- ↑ Whaler Globe VIII , 1936 Moss, 251 GRT
- ↑ Whaler Thorarinn , 1929 Akers, 249 GRT
- ↑ There was no more fuel available for the coal-powered refrigerated ship. The prize, jokingly referred to as the Wilhelmshaven-Süd Provision Office , had already been hauled for a month from the Nordmark and only operated the cooling systems with their own machines, in which everything combustible on board was burned. The award crew then served to cast the penguin awards.
- ^ Whaler Pol IX , then adjutant , 1937 Smiths Dock, 354 GRT
- ^ Whalers Pol VIII , 1936 Moss, 298 GRT
- ^ Whalers Pol X, 1937 Smith's Dock, 354 GRT .
- ↑ The whaler Torlyn , 1929 Akers, 247 GRT