Stavangerfjord (ship, 1918)
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The Stavangerfjord (I) was a 1918 passenger ship of the Norwegian shipping company Den norske Amerikalinje , which operated as a transatlantic steamer between Norway and the USA. She was confiscated in Oslo in 1940 and served the German navy as a supply ship during World War II . After the war she was again in civil passenger traffic on the North Atlantic until she was scrapped in Hong Kong in 1964 .
Early years
The steamship Stavangerfjord was built for the Norwegian shipping company Den norske Amerikalinje A / S (NAL), known in the English-speaking world as Norwegian-America Line , at the Cammell, Laird & Company shipyard in the English port city of Birkenhead . It was launched on May 21, 1917. Their dimensions were 12,977 GRT, 7527 NRT and 9814 tons below deck. The steel built passenger ship was 162.3 meters long, 19.57 meters wide and had a maximum draft of 8.93 meters.
The Stavangerfjord was powered by two four-cylinder quadruple expansion steam engines, also manufactured by Cammell, Laird & Company, and delivering 1567 PSi . She had two funnels, two propellers and two masts and could reach a maximum speed of 16 knots. Eight single-end steam boilers with a total of 32 fireplaces were used to burn the coal . The steamer was equipped with electric lights, wireless radio and a false floor . The hull was equipped with ten bulkheads . The passenger capacities were 88 passengers in the first, 318 in the second and 830 in the third class.
On April 29, 1918, the Stavangerfjord cast off under the command of Captain Kjeld Stub Irgens in Birkenhead on her maiden voyage to New York . Irgens had previously commanded the Bergensfjord . After arriving in New York, the ship was laid up until it sailed back to Oslo on September 11, 1918 . On October 5, 1918, the Stavangerfjord ran for the first time on its planned route from Oslo via Kristiansand , Stavanger and Bergen to New York.
In 1924 there was a change from coal to oil combustion and in 1932 two Bauer-Wach steam turbines from AG Weser (Bremen) were retrofitted, increasing the output for each propeller to 2175 hp. The passenger accommodations were changed in such a way that only passengers of cabin class and third class were carried. In 1930 the capacities changed again, so that from then on a maximum of 147 passengers could be taken on board in the cabin class, 207 in the tourist class and 820 in the third class. The ship measurement increased to 13,156 GRT due to the modifications. In 1937 the Stavangerfjord was modernized again and its chimneys were shortened.
Second World War
On December 9, 1939, the ship left New York for its last voyage to Oslo, where it was subsequently laid up. On September 20, 1940, after the German occupation of Norway , it was confiscated by the navy and used as a barge until the end of World War II . In August 1945 the Stavangerfjord was used by the Allies as a troop transport for trips from Norway to New York.
Late years
In 1946 the Stavangerfjord returned to its shipping company and was completely overhauled. From then on, it could carry 122 passengers in first class, 222 in cabin class and 335 in tourist class. On May 31, 1946, she left Oslo for her first post-war voyage via Bergen to New York.
On December 9, 1953, in the middle of the North Atlantic in stormy weather, she lost her rudder and had to be accompanied to Bergen by the Lyngenfjord , a cargo ship from the same shipping company, and the British tug Turmoil . In 1956 the room volume increased to 14,015 GRT due to further renovations of the premises (66 first class, 184 cabin class, 402 tourist class). On November 18, 1963, the now 45-year-old Stavangerfjord left Oslo on its last voyage via Copenhagen and Stavanger to New York, where it left again on December 3 in the direction of Bergen and Oslo. In 1964 she was employed by the demolition company Patt Manfield & Co. Ltd. in Hong Kong . scrapped.