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A coal-fired steamer, originally built as P.N. DAMM in the shipyard of Helsingør Jernskibs & Maskinbyggeri A/S, Helsingør, Denmark for A/S Dampskipsselskabet Vendila, København (Management: Svendsen & Christensen, København). In January 1930 delivered to her owners. The Steamer was registered under the Danish flag in the port of Copenhagen (Call sign: OXSE).
After the outbreak of World War II, Denmark was considered as a "non-neutral" country by the United States and all Danish vessels were arrested. Even the occupation of Denmark by the German army in April 1940 did not change this perception. In March 1941 the United States War Shipping Administration took over, or should we say, impounded the steamer and registered her under the flag of Panama, new name SPOKANE (call sign: HPWP). The management was allocated to Isbrandtsen Steamship Company, a US-shipping company, founded by Hans Isbrandtsen, incidentally a cousin of A.P. Möller (Maersk).

Already End of 1943 the Foundation for the Organization of Red Cross Transports, Basel, Switzerland
applied for the right to fly the Swiss flag on a vessel to be named CARITAS II. At the time the American Red Cross offered the old steamer COCKREL, built in 1904. End of December 1943 they announced to offer the much younger vessel SPOKANE. The sales agreement as kept in the federal archive in Bern, mentioned the American Red Cross as the sole vendor and the Foundation for the Organization of Red Cross Transports, Basel, as the sole buyer. This assignment agreement, sometimes also called a réméré contract was concluded on 02.03.1944 and guaranteed the Americans the return of the vessel after termination of the war. The purchase price was 550'000.- USD, due within six months after termination of the war, as well as a monthly sum of 5'461.50 USD, therefore no mortgages had to be entered in the ships registry. What the foundation received as freight from the Americans, we do not know. Also it is not known, which agreements were made between the War Shipping Administration and the American Red Cross.

On 17.03.1944 the ship was taken over in Baltimore, renamed CARITAS II and put under the Swiss flag (call sign: HBDP). The change of flag was administered by the Swiss consulate-general in New York, led by Dr. Victor Nef, consul-general. As agent acted the Swiss company Rohner, Gehrig & Co. Inc. Steamship Agents, New York, a subsidiary of Schweizerische Reederei A.G. Basel (Swiss Shipping Company ltd.), which represented also the Swiss War Transport Office in Bern. The ship's management was allocated to Schweizerische Reederei A.G. Basel. The CARITAS II conducted five voyages from Philadelphia to the European ports of Lisbon, Barcelona, Marseille and Toulon. As a neutral vessel, she carried mainly parcels for prisoners of war and other supplies. The crew of 33 men under the command of a Dutch master consisted mainly of Portuguese citizens, the radio officer, two engineers, the chief steward and the cook were from Switzerland.

The main engine was a double-expansion steam reciprocating engine with two high pressure and two  low pressure cylinders, controlled by a Lentz valve system. Already the take-over was delayed, as these valves had to be urgently overhauled. Further, in the twin deck of cargo hold 3 bulkheads and 2 bunker hatches on each side had to be built to obtain space for an additional 100 tons of bunker coal. About the boilers nothing is known, therefore we assume, they did not give too much trouble.

On the first return trip from Lisbon to Philadelphia the ship returned after one day back to the River Tagus. The steam inlet T-piece leading the steam to the two HP-cylinders was once again leaking. With the help of a repair gang from shore the steam pipe was rewelded, taking about one day. After this repair, the voyage was continued, one day later the engine had to be stopped again, the packings of the steam inlet had to be replaced. Shortly before arrival in Amerika the piston rings gave some problems, but apparently this could be dealt with after the ship's arrival in Philadelphia.

After the hostilities were terminated at begin of May 1945, the CARITAS II was returned to the American Red Cross on 05.06.1945 in the port of Baltimore, as evidenced from a letter from the Schweizerische Reederei. It appears, the Red Cross returned the vessel two days later to the United States War Shipping Administration in Philadelphia. The W.S.A. then registered the ship in Puerto Cortez, Honduras, using her old name SPOKANE.

As a small detail it may be told, the three Swiss flags of the CARITAS II, of which two were damaged, were in the custody of the Swiss consulate in Philadelphia. The Swiss Maritime Navigation Office wrote a letter to the shipping company to ask for instructions. The consul finally brought them on board one of the next Swiss ships calling in the port, with instructions to the master to hand them over to the  representative of the Swiss Shipping Company in Lisbon. Today they most probably would be thrown away carelessly or would just disappear, but in the old days, style still prevailed in shipping.

In 1946 the W.S.A. returned the steamer to the original owners A/S Dampskipsselskabet Vendila in Copenhagen. The freighter again got her old name P.N. DAMM and sailed again under the Danish flag, same call sign: OXSE.
In 1954 sold to Compañia Naviera Haverbeck & Skalweit S.A., Valparaiso, Chile. Under Chilean flag with home port Valparaiso she sailed now as the CARLOS HAVERBECK. On 22.05.1960 one of the strongest earthquakes of the century destroyed the town of Valdivia, about 700 km south of Santiago de Chile. This earthquake also sealed the fate of the steamer, laying in the entrance to the Rio Valdiva, between Corral and Niebla. The following tidal wave (today called Tsunami) threw the CARLOS HAVERBECK on the rocky seabed and smashed the vessel, were she remained as a half sunk wreck.

Sources:

 

SwissShips, HPS, MB, June 2017

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