# S.S. Solidarity - foundered 4 March 1951



## Sparky's Nephew (Jul 27, 2014)

Hi.

I'm completely new to this forum; and although I have always had an interest in ships it is actually my family history research that brings me here.

My great uncle died earlier this year (I didn't actually know he was still alive until he wasn't, if you see what I mean) - as a result of which I learned, for the first time, that he was a merchant seaman.

Further, it seems that he was "sparky" on the S.S. Solidarity, when she foundered off Norway on 4 March 1951. A transcript of the evidence which he gave at the subsequent enquiry was read out at his funeral.

I've been trying to find out more about this ship; but internet searches for "S.S. Solidarity" yield a large number of unhelpful hits with a Nazi theme ... so I thought I'd come to the experts.

I have a copy of the report of the Court (No. 7975) held to enquire into the loss - and this tells me quite a lot. For instance:

The S.S. Solidarity was built in 1943 by the Leathem D Smith Shipbuilding Company of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in 1943. 

She was originally named Ashbel Hubbard, and was one of a class of single screw, single deck cargo steamships known as "Baltic coasters".

She was acquired by F. T. Everard & Sons Limited of Greenhithe, Kent in January 1949, and this was presumably the occasion of her renaming. She was converted to oil burning between August and December 1949 at Greenhithe.

Her dimensions were 250.4 feet / 42.15 feet / 18.4 feet. I presume these are quoted in the order length - breadth - draft but should be grateful for clarification / confirmation.

Her tonnages were: 

Under deck 1,485.96
Gross 1,793.31
Register 995.08

I have never been entirely sure what these mean ... grateful for any clarification which can be offered here.

Her engines were made in 1942 by the Ajax Ironworks, Corry, Pennsylvania.

Her boiler was ex HMS Honeysuckle, a "Flower" class corvette made in 1940 by J. G. Kincald & Company Limited, of Gourock. Auxiliary steam was supplied by a donkey boiler ex tug "Tid 5", built in 1943 by the Stockton Chemical Engineers and Ruley Boilers Limited, Stockton-On-Tees.

She had a top speed of 11.5 knots.

On the occasion of her loss she had sailed from Hommelvik, Norway for London at 3.15pm on 2 March 1951 with a cargo of 2,300 tons of wet mechanical wood pulp in bales (340 tons of which was carried on deck at shipper's risk) - and I am assuming that this was destined to become newsprint, had it arrived. However, if anyone who knows about such matters can confirm or correct this assumption, I'd be most grateful. She was under the command of her master Albert Price, and she had a crew of 24 all told.

She foundered in heavy seas as a result of the hatch locking bars not being in position on the No. 1 cargo bay hatch. As a result the hatch cover was washed away (as well as all the deck cargo), and the ship took on water too fast for the pumps to deal with it. A working party was unable to secure the hatch: the foredeck was mostly awash and the hatch boards were washed out as soon as they were put in position.

The entire crew was saved by the life ship "Larvick" from Ona, which rescued 8 of the crew from the sea and towed the other 16 in one of the Solidarity's lifeboats back to Ona. The motor vessel "Ran", which was also on the scene, assisted in the operation by letting out oil which calmed the sea and made the towing operation easier; and embarked the crew at Ona and took them to Alesund.


In short - the report of the Court tells me quite a lot about the ship and the cir***stances of its loss; but I should be very interested in learning any more about any of the following:

- the SS Solidarity
- "Baltic coasters"
- the Norwegian life-saving ship "Larvick"
- the MV "Ran"
- the shipowners F T Everard & Sons Ltd
- the master Albert Price

If anyone knows anything which they would be happy to share about any of these, I should be very interested.


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## A.D.FROST (Sep 1, 2008)

Baltic Coaster is so called because they were based on Scandinavian timber carriers.WWII built were nicknamed 'Jeeps'(GP)


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