THORSHAMMER whale factory vessel
Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 8:05 pm
Tristan da Cunha issued a set of stamps for the 50th Anniversary of the Norwegian Scientific Expedition to the island in 1937.
One of the largest sponsors of the expedition was Lars Christensen, the owner of the whale-factory vessel THORSHAMMER.
The expedition travel south in whale-factory vessels, and during their stay the expedition was able to describe rare species of fauna, and new species of plants and grasses with links to adjacent continents.
Five scientific volumes, several books, and numerous papers resulted from these studies.
After four months on the island, 12 members of the expedition were taken back to Norway in the whale-factory vessel THORSHAMMER.
Built as a tanker under yard No 459 by W.Doxford & Sons, Sunderland, U.K. for Eagle Oil Transport Co. Ltd., London.
09 June 1914 launched under the name SAN NAZARIO.
Tonnage 10.064 gross, dim. 525.5 x 66.5 x 41.4ft.
Triple expansion Doxford 4-cyl steam engine 795 nhp., speed 11 knots.
September 1914 delivered to owners.
At that time she was the largest tanker in the world.
23 July 1928 bought by A/S Bryde & Dahl’s Hvalfangerselkap (Lars Christensen) Sandefjord, Norway and converted in a whale factory vessel.
Tonnage 12.215 gross, 7.147 net, 16.050 dwt. Dim. 535.0 x 66.5 x 41.5ft
Renamed in THORSHAMMER.
1931/32 Further rebuilt in Rotterdam. Then managed by A/S Thor Dahl.
When in January 1941 the German surface raider PINGUIN (HK33) surprised the Norwegian whaling fleet in the Antarctic, only the THORSHAMMER under command of Capt. Einar Torp, and her seven chatchers escaped to Grytviken, South Georgia.
Whaling was later resumed but under guard of the British armed merchant cruiser QUEEN OF BERMUDA and CARNAVON CASTLE.
11 April 1941 she sailed to New Orleans to discharge her valuable whale oil.
Then she made an other whaling voyage to South America west coast off Peru in the fall of 1941, but when Japan entered the Second World War, whaling was suspended during the rest of the war.
The THORSHAMMER was the rest of the war used as a tanker.
After the war again refitted in a whale-factory vessel by Framnæs Mekaniske Verksted in 1948, and Harland & Wolff at Liverpool in 1949.
1952 Sold to Thor Dahls Hvalfanger A/S, Sandefjord, Norway.
1963 Bought by Cant. Nav. Santa Maria, La Spezia, Italy, she arriver there on 06 September 1962 for scrapping.
Tristan da Cunha 1987 50p sg437, scott 419,
Source: Register of Merchant Ships completed in1914. Watercraft Philately Vol. 35 page 16.
http://www.warsailors.com/freefleet/norfleett2.html Pesca, A History of the Pioneer Modern Whaling Company in the Antarctic by Ian B. Hart.
One of the largest sponsors of the expedition was Lars Christensen, the owner of the whale-factory vessel THORSHAMMER.
The expedition travel south in whale-factory vessels, and during their stay the expedition was able to describe rare species of fauna, and new species of plants and grasses with links to adjacent continents.
Five scientific volumes, several books, and numerous papers resulted from these studies.
After four months on the island, 12 members of the expedition were taken back to Norway in the whale-factory vessel THORSHAMMER.
Built as a tanker under yard No 459 by W.Doxford & Sons, Sunderland, U.K. for Eagle Oil Transport Co. Ltd., London.
09 June 1914 launched under the name SAN NAZARIO.
Tonnage 10.064 gross, dim. 525.5 x 66.5 x 41.4ft.
Triple expansion Doxford 4-cyl steam engine 795 nhp., speed 11 knots.
September 1914 delivered to owners.
At that time she was the largest tanker in the world.
23 July 1928 bought by A/S Bryde & Dahl’s Hvalfangerselkap (Lars Christensen) Sandefjord, Norway and converted in a whale factory vessel.
Tonnage 12.215 gross, 7.147 net, 16.050 dwt. Dim. 535.0 x 66.5 x 41.5ft
Renamed in THORSHAMMER.
1931/32 Further rebuilt in Rotterdam. Then managed by A/S Thor Dahl.
When in January 1941 the German surface raider PINGUIN (HK33) surprised the Norwegian whaling fleet in the Antarctic, only the THORSHAMMER under command of Capt. Einar Torp, and her seven chatchers escaped to Grytviken, South Georgia.
Whaling was later resumed but under guard of the British armed merchant cruiser QUEEN OF BERMUDA and CARNAVON CASTLE.
11 April 1941 she sailed to New Orleans to discharge her valuable whale oil.
Then she made an other whaling voyage to South America west coast off Peru in the fall of 1941, but when Japan entered the Second World War, whaling was suspended during the rest of the war.
The THORSHAMMER was the rest of the war used as a tanker.
After the war again refitted in a whale-factory vessel by Framnæs Mekaniske Verksted in 1948, and Harland & Wolff at Liverpool in 1949.
1952 Sold to Thor Dahls Hvalfanger A/S, Sandefjord, Norway.
1963 Bought by Cant. Nav. Santa Maria, La Spezia, Italy, she arriver there on 06 September 1962 for scrapping.
Tristan da Cunha 1987 50p sg437, scott 419,
Source: Register of Merchant Ships completed in1914. Watercraft Philately Vol. 35 page 16.
http://www.warsailors.com/freefleet/norfleett2.html Pesca, A History of the Pioneer Modern Whaling Company in the Antarctic by Ian B. Hart.