 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Norway | |
| Name | Themis |
| Namesake | Themis |
| Owner |
|
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | Tønsberg |
| Builder | William Doxford & Sons,Pallion |
| Cost | NOK 1,125,925.20 |
| Yard number | 419 |
| Launched | 30 March 1911 |
| Christened | Themis |
| Completed | 25 April 1911 |
| Commissioned | 28 April 1911 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sunk, 12 October 1917 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Cargo ship |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 445 ft 0 in (135.64 m) |
| Beam | 60 ft 0 in (18.29 m) |
| Depth | 29 ft 2 in (8.89 m) |
| Installed power | 412nhp[1] |
| Propulsion | William Doxford & Sons 3-cylindertriple expansion |
| Speed | 10knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Themis was a steam cargo ship built in 1911 by theWilliam Doxford & Sons ofPallion for the Wabanas Dampskibskompani, a subsidiary of Nova Scotia Steel & Coal Company and managed byWilhelm Wilhelmsen. She was named afterThemis, Titaness of divine law and order.
On 10 March 1911 it was reported that a new company "The Wabana Steamship Company" (Wabanas Dampskibskompani) with a capital of NOK 1,500,000 was registered inNøtterøy with the purpose of transporting ore between Newfoundland and Europe. The new company was a subsidiary of the Nova Scotia Steel Company and was managed by Wilhelm Wilhelmsen. Two ships were leased to conduct the operations (SSTellus and SSThemis) by the newly formed company for a period of 10 years.[2]
The ship waslaid down in 1910 at William Doxford & Sons shipyard in Pallion. The vessel waslaunched on 30 March 1911 (yard number 419),[3][4][5] thesea trials were held on 25 April 1911 (28 April according to Norwegian source[6]) with the ship being able to reach speed of 11.8 knots (13.6 mph; 21.9 km/h).[7] After completion of her sea trials, the ship was delivered to her owner on the same day.
As built, the ship was 445 feet 0 inches (135.64 m) longbetween perpendiculars and 60 feet 0 inches (18.29 m)abeam, ameandraft of 29 feet 2 inches (8.89 m).[1]Themis was assessed at 7,402 gross register tons (GRT), 4,134 net register tons (NRT) and 12,925 tonsdeadweight (DWT) which made her the largest ship inScandinavia at the time, slightly larger than her sister shipTellus.[1][6] The vessel had a steel hull, and a single 412-nominal horsepowertriple-expansion steam engine, with cylinders of27+1⁄2-inch (70 cm),45+1⁄2-inch (116 cm), and 76-inch (190 cm) diameter with a 51-inch (130 cm)stroke, that drove a single screw propeller, and moved the ship at up to 10knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[1]
On 21 March 1910Themis waschartered to Nova Scotia Steel & Coal Company for a period of nine consecutive navigation seasons (April through December) for a fee of £2,031.5 per calendar month starting in 1911. On 24 March 1910Themis was also chartered to Gans Steamship Company for nine consecutive winter seasons for a fee £1,562.10 per calendar month, starting in 1911 as well.[8]
After completionThemis proceeded directly to North America and arrived atWabana on 11 May 1911.[9] During her maiden trip in May 1911 the ship brought 12,500 tons of ore from Wabana toPhiladelphia.Themis continued operating on Wabana-Philadelphia route for the remainder of 1911. For example, in August 1911 she managed to make three trips from Wabana, bringing a total of 37,560 tons of iron ore to Port Richmond.[10]
After the close of navigationThemis was chartered by The Spanish-American Iron Company, a subsidiary ofPennsylvania Steel Company, to transport iron ore from Felton in Cuba to Philadelphia andBaltimore throughout December 1911 and early spring of 1912.[11] The ship departed for her first trip on 26 November 1911 and finished her charter on 24 April 1912. During this service the ship brought in over 100,000 tons of ore in 10 trips.[11] For example, on 19 December 1911 the ship unloaded 11,000 tons of ore at Sparrow's Point in record time.[12] In a similar fashion the ship brought and unloaded 10,900 tons of Cuban ore at Sparrow's Point on 12 April 1912.[13] On 25 April 1912 the ship sailed for Wabana to resume her summertime ore carrying to Philadelphia which continued until the end of navigation season in early November.
On 7 November 1912Themis departed Philadelphia forTampa arriving there on 13 November. There she loaded 3,073 tons of phosphates for transportation toAntwerp before continuing toNew Orleans.[14] After loading cargo, the vessel left New Orleans on 26 November, but ran aground next day damaging her forepeak. Nevertheless,Themis pressed on with her journey and arrived in Antwerp on 20 December with a leaking forepeak and some damage about her deck caused by storms she encountered during her trip.[15] The ship left Antwerp on 5 January 1913 toSavannah via Cardiff arriving there on 7 February. 16,000 bales of cotton were loaded onto the ship in Savannah and she sailed out on 14 February for Bremen.[16] After unloading, the ship then proceeded back to Wabana via Newcastle to resume ore transportation to Philadelphia until October 1913. On 10 October 1913Themis left Wabana forRotterdam and continued serving this route for the remainder of 1913.[17][18]
On 10 January 1914Themis departed New York City forMarseille, arriving there on 30 January.[19] After her return to the US, the ship loaded 1,652 tons of phosphate pebble at Tampa on 10 March and 5,500 tons more at Boca Grande on 14 March,[20] then proceeding toGalveston and Savannah, where 13,450 bales of cotton were loaded on 24 March.[21]Themis departed fromPensacola to Bremen on 25 March, and arrived in Germany on 16 April.[22][23] After unloading atBremen, the vessel sailed on to Wabana and resumed her ore shipments to Rotterdam through mid-August 1914. After arrival in Wabana on 27 August, the vessel loaded ore and proceeded to Philadelphia arriving there on 3 September, and from there continuing toNorfolk in ballast.
After the start ofWorld War IThemis could no longer be involved in her transatlantic ore trade, as the main consumer of her cargo was Germany. She became atramp ship and was chartered for any cargo that she could carry. She was chartered to carry coal and departed Norfolk on 10 September toPiraeus, arriving there on 1 October. The ship then was chartered for one more trip, leaving New York on 26 December 1914 and arriving atCopenhagen on 18 January 1915. On 31 March 1915Themis together with several other Wilhelm Wilhelmsen's ships was sub-chartered by Nova Scotia Steel & Coal Company to Barber Line for a period of eight months for a fee of £7,680 per calendar month.[8] The vessel was handed over to Barber Line on 28 April 1915, and departed shortly thereafter for South America, visiting ports ofBuenos Aires andMontevideo, returning to Boston on 12 August 1915.[24]
On 12 September 1915Themis departed New York forWellington,Sydney,Melbourne and other Australian ports carrying 11,000 tons of cargo, the majority of which was case oil (including 24,000 cases for New Zealand) consigned for theVacuum Oil Company. The ship reached thePanama Canal on 21 September, by which time the slides occurred on the canal and delayed her until 4 October, at which point the Canal was closed indefinitely.[25]Themis was ordered to proceed to Australia via the Cape route, arriving atDurban on 8 November. After re-coaling, the ship continued on to her destination reaching Wellington on 13 December.[26]Themis then proceeded to Australia and visited several ports until her departure on 23 February 1916 fromNewcastle for South America. The vessel arrived at Montevideo on 3 April, continued on to Buenos Aires two days later where she loaded among other things 8,341 bags ofdried blood for New York.[27] The ship arrived in New York on 5 May 1916 and after unloading was immediately chartered for cargo delivery to China. About 10,500 tons of cargo was loaded onto the vessel, including 200,000 cases of oil and 500 bales of cotton.[28] The ship left New York on 21 June, passed through the Panama Canal on 2 July, arriving atHankow on 25 August 1916. From there the ship continued on toShanghai, and then to Philippines where she loaded 11,250 tons of sugar for delivery to New York.
On 21 November 1916Themis on a passage fromIloilo for New York City grounded on the outer end of the West Breakwater inBahía Limon right after leaving thePanama Canal for sea. The ship laid with her bow aground until the afternoon of 25 November while the divers patched the holes in her hull and bulkheads. She was then pulled off and towed stern first into port ofCristóbal to discharge the remaining cargo, before being put into drydock atBalboa for repairs on 10 December. About 2,000 tons of sugar were lost in the accident.[29] The repair work was finalized on 22 December and the vessel proceeded through the Canal on 24 December to reload her cargo.Themis finally departed the Canal area on 1 January 1917 after reloading was completed.[30]
On 14 February 1917Themis left Baltimore with a load of acid phosphate bound for Rotterdam. From there the ship sailed to India where she loaded wheat cargo for transportation to Marseilles.
Themis sailed fromKarachi early in the morning on 7 September 1917 carrying 11,000 tons of wheat, 260 tons ofSt John's bread and some other general cargo for Marseilles via the Suez Canal. The ship was under command of Captain Erling Jacobsen and had a crew of 36 men. Approximately at 01:00 of 11 October 1917, the vessel departedMalta escorted out of harbor by 4 British patrol boats. At around 07:30 on 12 October 1917 in an approximate position37°23′N11°05′E / 37.383°N 11.083°E /37.383; 11.083, about 20 nautical miles (37 km) north offCape Bon the ship was suddenly hit by a torpedo on her starboard side, around the No.3 hold. The ship started listing on her starboard side almost immediately and Captain Jacobsen ordered the crew to stop the engines and abandon ship. The lifeboats were lowered, and the crew left the ship in an orderly fashion. Shortly, two British escort vessels appeared,HMT Portsmouth among them, and started assisting the crew. All 37 men boardedPortsmouth who took them toBizerta where they arrived around 22:30 on the same day. The crew later was transferred to French warshipSaint Louis where they were provided with temporary accommodations.Themis sank stern first around 12:15 in an approximate position37°20′N11°04′E / 37.333°N 11.067°E /37.333; 11.067. It was later discovered that the torpedo was launched by German submarineUB-51.[31]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in October 1917 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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