Additional Information and Stories

The ship yard Harland & Wolff Ltd., Belfast, Northern Ireland received on November 5, 1912 from the shipping company EAC, East Asiatic Company, Copenhagen, Denmark (Acties Det Østasiatiske Kompanie, København) the order to construct one of the first motor ships of the world. One year before, in 1911 Harland & Wolff purchased various shipyards in Govan, Glasgow, therefore the order was allocated to the Irvine Shipyard of Mackie & Thomson Ltd., Govan, Glasgow, hull number 451(I), the "I" denotes Irvine. On February 28, 1913 the keel was laid for the M/V FALSTRIA, a 6,690 DWT general cargo ship with passenger cabins for 22 travellers and on March 12, 1914 the launching took place. The first sea trial was on March 18, 1915.

The delivery to her owners was on March 31, 1915. The M/V FALSTRIA sailed on June 6, 1915 from Glasgow, bound for New York, then through the Panama Canal to Honolulu, Dalny (today Dalian, China) and Nikolajewsk. On her return voyage to Copenhagen, she called in San Francisco and then it was planned to go back through the Panama. However the water level in the Canal was too low, and after having waited in Balboa from November 2 until November 8, 1915, she sailed again, heading for the Straits of Magellan to return via Hull to Copenhagen. The next three voyages went to East Asia, mainly Bangkok in Siam (today Thailand).

The vessel attracted attention by the missing funnel and the three masts, but also with her two oil engines and two propellers, giving a combined output of 2'250 IHP (1,650 BHP). The appearance of this type of ship was also commented with the saying: "Three sticks no puff puff". The main engines were two 6-cylinder, 4 stroke, single acting cross head engines, designed by Burmeister & Wain, type: 6150, 558 mm bore and 760 mm stroke, built under license by Barclay, Curle & Co Ltd., Glasgow. The average speed was 10 knots. For the operation of the vessel 35 men were required (13 on deck, 13 in the engine room and 9 in the catering service). The cargo gear consisted of 10 derricks. Call sign NTDL, later OZWB.

On her third return voyage the ship had to sail via Cape Town, Freetown, Bergen, Lerwick, London, Sunderland, Lerwick and Bergen back to Copenhagen.

On December 31, 1917 the FALSTRIA left Copenhagen and was then trading outside the war conflict zone.

On September 1919 she sailed again from Copenhagen with destination Bangkok. She was operating on this line until 1932, except for one voyage to South America.

In 1932 she left Copenhagen for the West coast of the USA and Canada, undertaking transpacific voyages to the Far East.

In 1934 the local office of EAC in Bangkok took over the management of the vessel. Her new trading area was now East Asia. On September 16, 1934 the Danish crew was replaced by a Chinese crew. On July 3, 1936 the ship sailed for her last time for EAC back to Copenhagen.

On September 18, 1936 the sale of the FALSTRIA was announced and ship deleted from the Danish registry. Her new owner was A/S Olymp, Panama (management: Einar Lange, Oslo) and the ship's new name was OLYMP. With the registration under the flag of Panama her call sign changed to HPGI.

In 1938 the vessel changed again ownership to Yngvar Hvistendahl, Tønsberg, Norway, which continued to operate the ship under Panama flag, but now her name was MATROS.

A further sale took place in 1940 to Norseland Steamship Co. Inc. Panama (Management: Odd Godager, Oslo). Now the ship changed name to NORSELAND.

Apparently in summer 1941 the Swiss Federation, represented by the KTA, Kriegs Transport Amt (war transport office), Bern commenced to negotiate with the Norwegian owners, probably through the brokers Honegger & Ascott, London to purchase their ship NORSELAND.

In summer 1941 the NORSELAND was in Australia and on July 31, 1941 she sailed for Noumea, New Caledonia (South Pacific) to take over a cargo of ore. In this time the purchase contract was signed with the condition, that the NORSELAND must be delivered to her buyers latest by end of October in a port of the East Coast of the USA.

On August 26, 1941 the NORSELAND sailed from Noumea for the long passage across the South Pacific to Balboa on the Panama Canal, where she arrived only after 48 long days at sea, on October 13, 1941. After this long trip the old main engines and probably also the auxiliary engines needed urgent repairs, which took several weeks. Sellers and buyers agreed on a new delivery date, to be in Philadelphia on December 11, 1941.

Finally the ship was delivered to her buyers KTA, Bern in the port of New York on December 12, 1941. She was registered as vessel No. 7 in the Swiss registry of deep sea vessels. Her new name was SAENTIS (a mountain in the East of Switzerland) and her call sign HBDK.

Again extensive repairs on the engine plant were necessary and it was not until April 1942, when the SAENTIS sailed for her first voyage on behalf of Switzerland. During the next voyages it became apparent, that the auxiliary engines, driving the dynamos and compressors were giving increased and serious problems. The KTA ordered from Sulzer Brothers Ltd. of Winterthur, Switzerland a set of new auxiliary diesel engines. At a later stage two new main engines were added to the order (see also the report from the "Sulzer Technical Review" ). The main engines were in a very bad condition, first a complete overhaul was intended, but calculations revealed to install two new main engines as the more cost effective solution. Sulzer was now building also two new main engines, type, 6TS48 (2 x 1'200 BHP), as well as three auxiliary engines, type, 3DDH 22 with an output of 220 BHP each, plus one small auxiliary engine, type 2ZG9 and two compressors. These engines were collected by the SAENTIS in the port of Genoa on May 22, 1943 and brought to Lisbon for installation in the ship yard Companhia Uniao Fabril. Unfortunately these installation works were seriously delayed due to an eight months strike of the ship yard workers. Only on February 10, 1944 the ship could leave Lisbon with her new engine plant for a voyage to the River Plate and up to Rosario, Argentina. In Port of Spain, Trinidad, at the time an important bunker place, the ship took full bunkers of diesel oil (diesel engines used to burn exclusively diesel oil as fuel).

After the war the KTA sold the vessel on February 12, 1947 for a sum of 1,500'000.- CHF to the private company Nautilus S. A., Glarus, Switzerland. With her new engine plant the sales price was considered as adequate. Nautilus S.A., Glarus operated the vessel under the same name and continued to fly the Swiss flag. The running of the ship was supervised from their office in Lugano.

As from 1953 Keller Shipping AG, Basel took over the management of the vessel, as Nautilus S. A., Glarus ran into financial difficulties.

In 1954 the ship was eventually sold to Keller Shipping A. G., Basel, who continued to employ the ship in the liner service to West Africa.

In autumn 1962 the freighter made her last voyage to West Africa and in November 1962 the SAENTIS was laid up in the harbour of Genoa. On September 30, 1963 Keller Shipping sold the ship for demolition in Italy. The SAENTIS arrived in Vado di Ligure (between Genoa and Savona) on December 20, 1963 and scrapping began already on December 23, 1963.

Additional Informations and Stories:

Sister Vessels of the SAENTIS

The SAENTIS belonged to a series of 5 combined cargo and passenger vessels, ordered from the East Asiatic Company in Copenhagen for their liner service to Bangkok, Thailand. These were the first large motor vessels for an overseas service. Direct reason for the order was, that with lighter motor ships the cargo capacity could be increased to about 7'000 tons to cross the bar of Bangkok, as opposed to 5'000 tons with heavier steam ships.

The first large motor vessel of the world was the SELANDIA, which came into service on February 17, 1912 in Copenhagen. The ship was designed and constructed by Burmeister & Wain Shipyard, Copenhagen, who built also the two 8-cylinder, 4-stroke cross head diesel engines.

The following ships were ordered and built in Denmark and in Great Britain:

The main engines of the FALSTRIA and LALANDIA were built under licence by Barclay, Curle & Co Ltd., Glasgow, these were 6-cylinder engines and had a smaller output. It was reported, that the ship yard had big problems with the metric drawings from Copenhagen and Danish engineers had to assist the Scotts to construct the engines.

Due to the first World War, the LALANDIA was taken over by the British authorities and therefore was never delivered to EAC.

A similar engine as on the SAENTIS you can find today in the garden of the Maritime Museum in Gdansk, Poland. This engine was installed in the ANNAM, delivered 1914 by Burmeister & Wain to EAC and later became the ROMUALD TRAUGUTT under Polish flag. This 8-cyl. cross head engine is 13,6 m long, 4,45 m wide and 7,55 m high, the power output was a mere 1540 BHP. Very interesting to compare its dimensions and power with today's engines.

To save the honour of Sulzer Brothers, Winterthur, Switzerland we have to mention, that already in 1910 the small Italian coastal freighter M/V ROMAGNA (GRT: 678) came into service. She was equipped with two Sulzer diesel engines and had two propellers. Unfortunately this vessel already capsized and sank on 24.11.1911 off Rovigno in the Adriatic Sea (Peninsula of Istria, now Croatia), while underway with general cargo from Ravenna to Trieste. Therefore it can be said, that both companies, Sulzer Brothers and Burmeister & Wain have built the "first" motor ship.

Rescue Operation in the North Atlantic

From a report of former Swiss seamen (received from Captain Domingo Bücheler) the SAENTIS rescued on June 3, 1942 on a voyage to the USA the 20 men crew of the small Swedish steamer ANNA, which was sank the day before off the East Coast of North America by the German submarine U-404. A radio message from the SAENTIS said:

3 JUNE 1942  =   LEFT BERMUDA TUESDAY, PICKED UP 20 MEN FROM SWEDISH STEAMER,  SAENTIS

The Swedish freighter ANNA, built 1924 (1345 BRT as from "Lloyd's War Losses", 1574 BRT as from  Swedish informations), sailed on May 31, 1942 from Norfolk VA bound for St. Georges, Bermuda. The cargo was coal and two motor boats of the US-Navy on deck.

On the evening of June 2, 1942 a submarine (U-404) was discovered on port side. At this time it was dark already and only a weak new moon was shining. The ship sailed without light, however after the submarine was sighted, all lights were turned on and the crew of the submarine must have been able to see the Swedish flag and the other nationality markings. Another reason to put the lights on was to lower the life boats and to abandon ship, as the Germans opened the fire immediately with their board cannon. The life boats with the entire crew came clear of the ship before it sank. After a long night in the open boats in the Atlantic, the seafarers were picked up the next day by the SAENTIS and landed on shore in Brooklyn on June 5, 1942. Three men had to be hospitalized.

One of the oilers on board the ANNA was a Swiss, Otto Luem, called "Otto the Seafarer". Shortly before, he signed off in a US-port with four colleagues from the Swiss flag vessel CALANDA, his main reason to leave the ship was the "appalling conditions on board Swiss ships". For the farewell the five invited the sparky of their ship to a spaghetti dinner on shore and probably after a few glasses of Chianti Otto declared solemnly "I will never again set foot on the deck of a Swiss ship".

Otto was able to sign on the "good" Swedish vessel ANNA, but his luck lasted only for a few days. When finally the life boats were found, he noted to his dismay, that "SWITZERLAND" was painted on the ship's side. We assume, despite this, Otto was perhaps quite happy to set his foot again on the deck of a Swiss ship.

One day before arrival in New York, the SAENTIS picked-up another 18 survivors from a life boat of the American steamer WEST NOTUS. The other 18 men in the second life boat were already rescued two days earlier from the Greek cargo vessel CONTANTINOS H. The WEST NOTUS was also sunk by U-404, using her board cannon and explosive charges attached to the ship's side.

Main Engine Breakdown (written by Sämi Christen)

We were underway with the M/V SAENTIS, the oldest motor ship of the world, off the coast of West Africa and we knew, it was the last voyage of this brave ship. Regardless of the last voyage or not, we carried on with our jobs and the engine crew (at this time all Swiss) kept the engines going and the engine room was clean and tidy.

It happened sometimes in September 1962 (exact date not known anymore) after midnight, probably around one o'clock. At midnight, the 4th engineer Däschler and myself, the motorman, we handed over the watch to our colleagues of the 00/04 watch (dog's watch), Walter Brand 3rd. engineer and his motorman. On the SAENTIS the sailors, wipers and motormen had their bunks on the poop. After a beer I went aft to have a well deserved kip.

I was just about to go under my blanket, when a horrible noise and loud banging was heard from the engine room. Again up and into the trousers and back to the engine room. Running towards midships, I observed already heavy smoke emanating from the skylight and the ventilator cowls. A few Italian seamen, mostly from the steward's gang, whose cabins were midships, were chased out of their bunks by the terrible noise and were running around on deck, screaming: "Fuoco in macchina, fuoco in macchina!" (fire in the engine room).

Meanwhile W. Brand sent his motorman upstairs to call the chief engineer. Naturally this was unnecessary, as the chief already came running along the alleyway and asked what is all about. The motorman stammered "the pistons are hanging out from the top". Mr. Schütz, still drowsy repeated his question and again the motorman repeated patiently "the pistons are hanging out from the top".

From the top of the engine room, one noted through the dense smoke, that the watch engineer W. Brand was busy with the port main engine. As in the meantime the noise disappeared, it could be assumed, that the situation now was under control. Through the smoke we climbed down into the engine room. The SAENTIS had two main engines, and I noted that the port engine was stopped now, whereas the starboard engine was running normally.

Slowly the smoke cleared and the whole engine crew was now on the spot to assist to repair the damages, if necessary. The watch engineer ordered us to come up to the cylinder station, pointed to cylinder No. 3 of the port main engine and explained "the two holding down studs of the fuel injector have broken". The fuel injector was ejected by great force from its seat in the cylinder head and was dangling on the injection and cooling oil pipes. The fuel injector continued to spray fuel over the cylinder heads, part of this spray was sucked into the cylinder through the open injector bore and pressed out again, creating each time an eerie flash into the engine room. Although the engine was stopped immediately, several more flashes occurred until the engine came to a complete stop.

The repairs were commenced immediately, the broken studs had to be drilled out, new studs and a spare fuel injector were fitted. After about one hour, the ship could continue her journey at normal speed.

This was a small, but instructive intermezzo during the last voyage of our 47 year old motor ship SAENTIS. On November 5th the vessel arrived in Genoa and after the discharge of all cargo, she was laid up for later demolition.

As the last crew member on board, I was responsible to keep the diesel generators running, while the yard workers prepared the ship for lay-up. To replace the SAENTIS, Keller Shipping acquired the old Liberty steamer S/S NEVADA, where I had to sign on immediately. This meant another challenge and a lot of new, interesting work.

We did not know anything else, this was the way in Keller Shipping. Old ships, hard work, but good money. Oh, beautiful and nostalgic time at sea.

SwissShips-ST-HPS-SC-MB, April 2012

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