Polskarob

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Polskarob
legal form Corporation
founding November 16, 1927
resolution August 31, 1972
Reason for dissolution Cessation of business activity
Seat Gdynia , Poland
management Alfred Falter
Branch shipping

The Polskarob ( Polsko-Skandynawskie Towarzystwo Transportowe , German: "Polish-Scandinavian Transport Company") was a Polish shipping company that existed from 1927 to 1972. The main field of activity was the transport of Polish coal to Scandinavia, with which it became the second largest shipping company in the country and the largest non-state shipping company in Poland in terms of cargo volume in the 1930s.

history

Prehistory and foundation

Alfred Falter in 1937

With the beginning of the German-Polish customs war , Polish coal mining in Upper Silesia lost its largest customer from 1925 due to the German import ban and had to build new sales markets. At the same time, the Polish government promoted the settlement of companies in the new port of Gdynia through tax breaks.

The largest coal trading group in Upper Silesia, Robur , and its president, majority shareholder and later owner Alfred Falter relied on the export of coal to Scandinavia and the establishment of their own shipping company. After the shipping company Żegluga Polska founded in 1926 , Alfred Falter founded Polskarob on November 16, 1927 as the country's second large shipping company with the support of the Polish state and Swedish and German investors . The company, based in Gdynia, remained under the control of Robur as a subsidiary , but was run as a separate limited company. The main task was the transport of Polish coal to Scandinavian countries, at the same time a bunker service was set up in Gdynia to supply ships lying in the port with coal.

The administration building in Gdynia built by Polskarob

The Polish state, and especially Minister Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski , promoted the development of the shipping company by signing a contract with Alfred Falter on 9 May 1927 for the use of the port facilities in Gdynia: Falter leased the facilities for 35 years and in return undertook to include ships to acquire a total capacity of 10,000 tons, to handle 100,000 tons of coal per month and to provide a bunker service at their own expense. In the additional contract dated April 28, 1928, the total capacity of the ships was increased to 15,000 tons, and that of the coal to be handled per month to 125,000 tons. The company received additional port areas for this purpose.

The coal fleet in the shipping company development

The Robur III coal transporter around 1935

The importance of the shipping company became evident after the first few years of operation, as it developed into one of the leading shipping companies in the country. It quickly exceeded its competitor Żegluga Wisła-Bałtyk, operating from the port of Tczew on the Vistula , in terms of cargo volume.

With the expansion of the fleet, the annual volume of the transported cargo volume increased from 11,501 tons in 1927, to 251,456 tons in 1930 and 471,816 tons in 1934. According to the figures available for 1937, Polskarob transported 673,449 tons that year. Since the ships only occasionally found cargo on their return voyages - mostly iron ore from Sweden - they often drove back to Poland in ballast and achieved the cargo volumes mainly through exporting coal. Initially ports in Scandinavia were approached, followed by Western European ports. In the order of the buyer countries, Sweden was at the top in 1934 (311,503 tons), followed by Norway (70,191 tons), Belgium (46,174 tons), Denmark (25,811 tons), the Netherlands (15,378 tons) and Ireland (2,760 tons).

Only the state-owned Polish shipping company Żegluga Polska (973,478 tons) transported more freight than Polskarob . Other shipping companies such as Polbryt (115,274 tons) or the Gdynia America Line did not achieve this cargo volume by a long way.

To start operations, Polskarob bought used coal freighters, which were given the name of the parent company Robur and a consecutive number in Roman numerals. The home port of the ships was Gdynia. The shipping company bought its first ship in March 1927 from the Swedish Robur subsidiary Robur-Rederi A / B from Stockholm , the Robur I , which was built in 1879 . In September 1927, the second ship, Robur II, followed , which in the same month carried out the first coal transport from Gdynia to Gävle in Sweden. Both ships initially sailed under the Swedish flag and the shipping company used them primarily on routes to Scandinavia. In November 1928, the next ship from Great Britain, Robur III, arrived in Gdynia, which, in addition to routes to Scandinavia, now also carried coal to Western European ports. A few weeks later, on November 18, 1928, the shipping company suffered its first loss: On the voyage in ballast from Skutenhamn to Danzig, Robur II ran into a shoal due to a navigation error during a snow storm in the Gulf of Bothnia and sank the next day.

Polskarob commissioned the first own new buildings from Lindholmens Varv in Gothenburg , which they took over as Robur IV and Robur V in July and August 1930. Both ships were also used in the tramping trip to Scandinavia and Western Europe. In the same year, the shipping company sold the oldest ship, the Robur I , because it was in poor technical condition, to Sweden, where it should have continued to sail. According to other information, the ship is said to have been scrapped in the same year. Robur VI was again a used ship from Great Britain that had already been put into service in August 1929. The new Robur VIII from 1938 became the flagship of the shipping company and was used beyond Scandinavia.

Bunker services in Gdynia

Model of the bunker ship Robur VII

For his and bunker services in Gdynia, Polskarob acquired a small fleet of tugs and coal barges . It took over the "Hamburg model", in which ships were supplied with coal from the sea while they were berthed at the pier. For this purpose, the shipping company acquired the three small tugs Hala , Nida and Vega and the eight coal lighters Basia (built in unknown, 166 GRT, 30.4 × 7.5 meters), Buba (built in 1875, 163 BRT, 26.0 × 7 , 7 meters), Ewa (built in 1909, 122 BRT, 25.9 × 6.0 meters), Ira (built in 1919, 164 BRT, 26.7 × 2.8 meters), Jola (built in 1898, 155 BRT, 24.5 × 7.0 meters), Krysia (built in 1908, 199 BRT, 33.9 × 7.7 meters), Mariolka (built in 1912, 247 BRT) and Tricza (built in 1917, 158 BRT, 31.2 × 6.2 meters). Little is known about these barges.

1937 a new and specially built for the shipping company came bunkering vessel used: The Robur VII was on the Dutch shipyard NV Gusto in Schiedam been built and represented a model that had already been delivered, the yard several times: The ship had a cargo capacity of 1,000 tons, had a large conveyor belt at the bow and could move 400 tons per hour. Due to the high performance of Robur VII , the shipping company needed significantly fewer tugs and barges - it kept the tugs Hala and Nida and three barges.

Second World War

At the beginning of the Second World War , the fleet of coal transporters of the shipping company consisted of the ships Robur III to Robur VIII , of which only the bunker Robur VII was in Poland. Of these six ships, only two survived the war. The bunker ship Robur VII , located in Gdynia , was sunk there in September 1939 to block the entrance to the port. Alfred Falter managed to escape to Great Britain, where he registered the remaining ships in his name. In doing so, he tried to counter possible legal claims by the German shareholders to ships that were initially in neutral ports and to transfer these ships to British ports. At the same time he registered the coal freighter untern new names he after characters from the trilogy by Henryk Sienkiewicz named: From Robur III was Kmicic from Robur IV the Częstochowa from Robur V now Kordecki from Robur VI was Zbaraż and from VIII Robur was finally Zagłoba . This ended the shipping company's operational business under the name Polskarob .

Alfred Falter leased the ships to the Ministry of War Transport . During the war, the Zbaraż first sank on July 15, 1940 when German aircraft were bombed on the east coast of Great Britain, on August 20, 1941 the Częstochowa after a torpedo attack by the German speedboat S 48 also sank on the east coast of Great Britain, and most recently in February 1943 the Zagłoba , which was sunk by a submarine in a convoy to Great Britain.

Post-war period until dissolution

After the Second World War, the last two ships remained in the possession of Alfred Falter, who did not return to Poland. He re-flagged the ships and launched them under the flag of Panama as Chopin (ex Kmicic , ex Robur III ) and Copernicus (ex Kordecki , ex Robur V ). He operated the two freighters until 1949, when he finally sold them. In July 1949 he put the new Alfa under the Liberian flag into service, but sold it as the last ship of the shipping company in 1952. The Polskarob company meanwhile remained in Poland: the authorities had nationalized the assets, but had to sell them after a court ruling return the previous owners. The company only managed the remaining property until Polskarob was liquidated from 1966, which lasted until 1972.

Ships of the shipping company

Surname Construction year shipyard measurement period of service Notes, whereabouts
Robur 1879 Hall, Russell & Company , Aberdeen 974 BRT, 573 NRT 1927-1930 ex Robur , Ragni , Käte Forster , Ballogie ; Bought in 1927 by the Robur subsidiary Robur-Rederi A / B from Stockholm, sold to Sweden in 1930 due to its poor condition and used there as Rewa ; According to other sources, it was scrapped in 1930.
Robur II 1910 SP Austin & Sons , Bishop's Wearmouth / Sunderland 1371 BRT, 798 NRT 1927-1928 ex British Devereux (1910–1920) and Corbrook (1920–1927), bought in 1927, struck a rock during a storm on November 19, 1928 while sailing from northern Sweden to Gdansk in the Gulf of Bothnia and sank.
Robur III 1923 Robert Thompson and Sons , Sunderland 1894 BRT, 1138 NRT 1928-1940 ex British Akenside , bought in 1928, registered as Kmicic on A. Falter in 1940 , participation in Atlantic convoys and invasion of Normandy; 1946 registered by A. Falter as Chopin in Panama, 1948 sold as Esperanza to Italy, 1955 there Daniela T .; Whereabouts unknown.
Robur IV 1930 Lindholmens Varv , Gothenburg 1971 BRT, 1067 NRT 1930-1940 First ship built for Polskarob in 1930, registered as Częstochowa on A. Falter in 1940, sank on the east coast of Great Britain on August 20, 1941 after a torpedo attack by the German speedboat S 48 .
Robur V 1930 Lindholmens Varv , Gothenburg 1975 BRT, 1073 NRT 1930-1940 Built in 1930 as the sister ship of Robur IV for Polskarob; Registered as Kordecki on A. Falter in 1940 , took part in the Normandy invasion; Registered in 1946 by A. Falter as Copernicus in Panama, sold to Belgium in 1949 ( Suzon ), 1955 to Germany ( Bernhard Blumenfeld and Saxonia ), 1960 as Classis in Italy, date of scrapping unknown.
Robur VI 1922 Jonker & Stans , Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht 2088 BRT, 1252 NRT 1929-1940 ex ndl. Straat Soenda , ex. British Pendennis ; Bought in 1929, registered in 1940 as Zbaraż on A. Falter, bombed by German aircraft on the east coast of Great Britain on July 15, 1940, then sunk.
Robur VII October 4, 1937 NV Gusto , Schiedam 879 GRT, 443 NRT 1937-1939 Bunkering vessel , sunk on September 6, 1939 in Gdynia himself, lifted by Germans in 1942 for the Navy to lift ship Richard rebuilt in 1946 as Khosta of Soviet Union in 1947 to Poland and back to 1990 Smok into service.
Robur VIII April 30, 1938 Burntisland Shipbuilding Company , Burntisland 2864 BRT, 1611 NRT 1938-1943 1939 at the beginning of the war with a load of planes for the Polish Air Force in Great Britain, chartered to Ministry of War Transport in 1940 , registered with Alfred Falter and renamed Zagłoba , on February 6, 1943 in convoy SC 118 on the journey from New York to Manchester from U 262 sunk.
Hala 1922 Janssen & Schmilinsky , Hamburg 31 GRT, 17 NRT 1935-1939 Tug , ex Harburg of the Heymann shipping company in Hamburg, purchased in 1935 for use with coal lighter in the bunker service in Gdynia, 1939 German. Loot, used in the Kriegsmarine as Neufähr , returned in 1945, used as Wilga , 1960 as Witek , whereabouts unclear.
Nida 1905 Wichhorst shipyard , Hamburg 25 GRT, 10 NRT 1931-1939 Tractor, purchased in 1931 for use with coal lighter in the bunker service in Gdynia, 1939 German. Loot, used in the Kriegsmarine as a hayloft , returned in 1945 and served as Danielka , Maciek , Franus , whereabouts unclear.
Vega 1901 Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstad , Gothenburg 26 GRT, 6 NRT 1934-1939 Tug, purchased in 1934 for use with coal lighters in the bunker service in Gdynia, further details unclear.
Alfa 1949 William Pickersgill , Sunderland 2808 BRT, 1345 NRT 1949-1952 Built in 1949 to order from Alfred Falter, sailed under the Liberian flag until it was sold in 1952, then Norw. Normundo , 1956 Willmar , 1963 Bodin , 1966 after fire Greek Good Hope , 1973 panam. Pangri , 1976 Cyprus. Agni , scrapped in 1977.

literature

  • Jan Piwowoński: Flota spod biało-czerwonej [Fleet under white and red] , Nasza Księgarnia Publishing House, Warsaw 1989, ISBN 83-10-08902-3 .
  • Jerzy Swieszkowski / Bohdan Huras: Polskarob , In: Ships in Focus . Record 13, London 2000, ISBN 1-901703-10-X , pp. 37-47.
  • Jan Andrzej Hempel: The economic foundations for the development of the national merchant shipping in Poland , Hans Christian's printing and publishing house, Hamburg 1937 ( limited preview in the Google book search )
  • Peter Jordan, Alexander Janta: Seafaring Poland , London 1944 ( online version )
  • Erich Gröner , Dieter Jung, Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945, Volume 6: Port operations vehicles (II: excavators, recovery and diving vehicles, icebreakers, tugs, transport vehicles), yachts and Avisos, landing associations (I) , Bernard & Graefe Verlag , Koblenz 1989, ISBN 3-7637-4805-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Piwowonski, p. 35
  2. ↑ Hempel, p. 81
  3. ↑ Pomorskie Forum Eksploracyjne, there reference to Polish Government Archives at forum.eksploracja.pl
  4. ↑ Swieszkowski, p. 37
  5. ↑ a b c Założenie i działalność firmy "Polskarob" Polsko-Skandynawskiego Towarzystwa Transportowego Spółki Akcyjnej w Gdyni, [in:] Jednodniówka Oddziału związku Legjonistów Polskih w Gdyni z okazji XI Zjazdu Legjonistów nad polskiem morzem 11.VIII.1932 (report creation and operation of the company "Polskarob" from August 11, 1932) at rocznikgdynski.pl
  6. ↑ a b c Hempel, p. 84
  7. ↑ Waldemar Balda: Alfred Falter. Polski król węgla i potentat żeglugi (Alfred Falter. Polish king of coal and ship mogul ) at nowahistoria.interia.pl
  8. ↑ Jordan, p. 27
  9. ↑ Piwowonski, p 36
  10. ↑ a b c Piwowonski, p. 38
  11. ↑ a b Robur VIII at clydeships.co.uk
  12. ↑ a b Swieszkowski, p. 40
  13. ^ Piotr Mierzejewski: Jola - Krypa bunkrowa - Port Gdynia - Polskarob
  14. ↑ Polish Merchant Ships (28)
  15. ↑ a b BNR 722: Robur VII (1937) at werf-gusto.com
  16. ↑ a b Piwowonski, p. 40
  17. ↑ Swieszkowski, p. 41
  18. ↑ Swieszkowski, p. 43
  19. ↑ "Ballogie" at Aberdeen built ships
  20. ↑ a b Swieszkowski, p. 44
  21. ↑ Swieszkowski, p. 45
  22. ↑ Swieszkowski, p. 46
  23. ↑ Piwowonski, p 37
  24. ↑ Straat Soenda - ID 6281 in Stichting Maritiem-Historical Data Bank
  25. ↑ Reinhart Schmelzkopf: Foreign Ships in German Hands 1939–1945. Strandgut-Verlag, Cuxhaven 2004, DNB 972151001 , p. 209
  26. ↑ Gröner, Volume 6, pp. 55f.
  27. ↑ Erich Gröner, Dieter Jung, Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945, Volume 8/2: Outpost boats, auxiliary minesweepers, coastal protection associations (Part 2), small combat associations, dinghies , Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1993, ISBN 3-7637-4807 -5 , p. 497
  28. ↑ Dzielny s / s Smok at portalmarynarski.pl
  29. ↑ a b Swieszkowski, p. 47
  30. ↑ a b Gröner, Volume 6, p. 145
  31. ↑ a b c Swieszkowski, p. 38