Arctic Viking
{{Short description|Trawler from Yorkshire, England}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
|infobox caption= |display title= Arctic Viking }} {{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship image size= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship name=Arctic Viking |Ship owner=Boyds Line (Hull) |Ship operator= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Cochrane Shipbuilders |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number=1177 |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=1937 |Ship completed= |Ship christened=Arctic Pioneer |Ship acquired= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship identification= |Ship fate=*Sunk May 1942 (refloated)
|Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship type= |Ship tonnage=501 (1937) |Ship displacement= |Ship length={{convert|166.7|ft}} |Ship beam={{convert|27.6|ft}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship draft= |Ship depth={{convert|14.2|ft}} |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship sail plan= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion= |Ship speed= |Ship capacity= |Ship crew= |Ship notes= }} |
The Arctic Viking (H452) was a British trawler ship that sailed from the Port of Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Whilst the vessel was originally a commercial fishery ship, she also served as an anti-submarine vessel during the Second World War where she was sunk by enemy action. She was later involved in the Cod Wars, being actually targeted by a vessel from the Icelandic Navy. Besides her wartime service, she had two other accidents; one a collision in 1956 and another where she sank with the loss of five of her crew, {{convert|16|mi}} off Flamborough Head in October 1961.
History
The Arctic Viking was launched in January 1937 and was fitted out whilst afloat on the River Ouse in Selby.{{cite news |title=New Trawler for Hull Owners |work=Hull Daily Mail |date=15 January 1937 |page=8|issn=1741-3419}}
During the Second World War, she was requisitioned into military service in October 1939{{cite ship register|register=LR|id=165649|shipname=Arctic Pioneer|access-date=15 October 2019}} and named as HMT Arctic Pioneer, with pennant number of FY164.{{cite web |title=Allied Warships of WWII - ASW Trawler HMS Arctic Pioneer - uboat.net |url=https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/6299.html |website=uboat.net |accessdate=20 September 2019}} She patrolled the waters around Dunkirk during the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), but there is no record of her actually carrying stranded British service personnel back to Britain. She was converted into an anti-submarine ship and was sunk by enemy aircraft outside Portsmouth Harbour on 27 May 1942.{{cite web |title=Trawlers – World War 2 {{!}} Harwich & Dovercourt {{!}} History, Facts & Photos of Harwich |url=http://www.harwichanddovercourt.co.uk/warships/trawlers/ |website=harwichanddovercourt.co.uk |accessdate=15 October 2019}} 17 men were lost during the sinking, but she was later re-floated, largely due to the fact that the wreck was blocking one of the entrances into the harbour.{{cite news |title=Boat that became grave for five men is found |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/latest-news/boat-that-became-grave-for-five-men-is-found-1-2358296 |accessdate=14 September 2019 |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=3 July 2009}} The trawler had a refit at Hartlepool in 1947 and re-entered the North Sea fishing fleet operating out of Hull.{{cite news |title=Looking Back |work=Hull Daily Mail |date=16 October 2016 |page=6|issn=1741-3419}}
On 27 May 1956, the Arctic Viking was in a collision with another British owned trawler (the St Celestin{{#tag:ref|Some sources state St Celstin.{{cite web |title=C DBTH THOMAS HAMLING AND CO. LTD. TRAWLER OWNERS, ST. ANDREWS DOCK, HULL |url=http://catalogue.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/files/c-dbth.pdf |website=catalogue.hullhistorycentre.org.uk |publisher=Hull History Centre |accessdate=15 October 2019 |page=30 |format=PDF}}|name=Name|group=note}}) off the east coast of Iceland. The chief engineer of the St Celestin later stated that the Arctic Viking practically sliced the other ship in two and that the water was waist deep within a matter of seconds. All 19 of the crew were rescued by the Arctic Viking.{{cite journal |editor1-last=Oliver |editor1-first=E F |title=Rescue by Lifecraft |journal=The Proceedings of the Merchant Marine Council |date=August 1956 |volume=13 |issue=8 |page=141 |publisher=United States Coast Guard |oclc=647465569}}
During the first Cod War, the ship was rammed and shelled by Icelandic trawlers and the Icelandic Navy respectively.{{cite web |title=Trawler "Arctic Viking" (Shelling) - Hansard |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1959-05-13/debates/904f6d78-2860-43a3-86dc-8c97a8d838d2/TrawlerArcticViking(Shelling) |website=hansard.parliament.uk |accessdate=15 September 2019}} On 30 April 1959, the Icelandic boat, Thor, attempted to detain the Arctic Viking after she was observed fishing in Icelandic territorial waters, something that the Icelandic Government viewed as Illegal. Thor tried to detain the Arctic Viking, and when the trawler refused to stop, warning shots were fired.{{cite journal |last1=Whiteman |first1=Marjorie Millace |title=Digest of International law Volume 4 |journal=Digest of International Law |date=April 1965 |volume=4 |page=1,168 |publisher=US Department of State |location=Washington |oclc=79506168}} This turn of events resulted in the destroyer HMS Contest firing on Thor to prevent this from happening.{{cite book |last1=Poulantzas |first1=Nicholas |title=The right of hot pursuit in international law |date=2002 |publisher=M. Nijhoff Publishers |location=The Netherlands |isbn=90-411-1786-5 |page=189 |edition=2}} Thor had first fired warning shots at the Arctic Viking, then later aimed shots were fired to disable her mast and communications equipment. When HMS Contest fired star shells on Thor, she retreated.{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=John |title=Safeguarding the nation : the story of the modern Royal Navy |date=2009 |publisher=Seaforth |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-1-84832-043-7 |page=23}}
The ship was operating out of Hull for the Boyd line at the time of its sinking in October 1961, under the pennant number H452.{{cite news |title=Archbishop joins tribute to lost trawlermen |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&t=&sort=_rank_%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22Arctic%20Viking%22&docref=news/125D5DA4E48C3B50 |accessdate=15 October 2019 |work=infoweb.newsbank.com |date=19 January 2009|url-access=subscription}} After a twenty-two day trip to the White Sea, the Arctic Viking was returning to her home port when she encountered {{convert|50|mph|adj=on}} winds and "mountainous seas".{{cite book |last1=Godfrey |first1=Arthur |title=Yorkshire fishing fleets : the story of Yorkshire's oldest and most dangerous industry |date=1974 |publisher=Dalesman |location=Clapham |isbn=0-85206-245-1 |page=57}} As she neared the Yorkshire Coast, she kept rolling to one side, something that the skipper, Phillip Garner, took immediate action to try and remedy. However, she kept on listing and around 8:30 am on 18 October 1961,{{cite news |title=Hull remembers lost crews |url=https://www.intrafish.com/fisheries/759435/hull-remembers-lost-crews |accessdate=19 October 2019 |work=IntraFish |date=22 January 2009|url-access=subscription}} she rolled over so much that her mast and funnel were in the waterline and the vessel was abandoned by her crew.{{cite news |title=Looking Back |work=Hull Daily Mail |date=12 October 2013 |page=3|issn=1741-3419}}
The first reports of her fate were radioed in from other ships in the area, with one stating that she was on her side at 10:30 am, and another just 38 minutes later stating that she had sunk completely. The men who had survived managed to get into one of the two lifeboats on board the ship. One lifeboat was secured to the port side and the other to the starboard side, as the port side was under water, the fourteen survivors scrambled up to the starboard lifeboat and were rescued by the Polish lugger Derkacz.{{cite book |last1=Godfrey |first1=Arthur |last2=Lassey |first2=Peter J |title=Shipwrecks of the Yorkshire coast |date=1974 |publisher=Dalesman |location=Clapham |isbn=0-85206-227-3 |page=100}} Five men perished in the sinking, with the storm delaying entry into the port of Hull for the Derkacz until two days after the loss of the Arctic Viking.{{cite news |title=Looking Back |work=Hull Daily Mail |date=16 October 2016 |page=7|issn=1741-3419}}
The wreck of the Arctic Viking was discovered in 2009, some {{convert| 20|mi}} off Flamborough Head and over {{convert|70|m|order=flip}} down on the seabed. A dive team recovered the ships' wheelhouse telegraph which indicated the ship was set at full steam ahead when she went down.{{cite news |last1=Spereall |first1=David |title=Delight for grandson of lost trawlerman as ship's wreckage found |url=https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/delight-grandson-lost-trawlerman-sunken-308147 |accessdate=14 September 2019 |work=Hull Daily Mail |date=10 August 2017}}
See also
Notes
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References
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External links
- [https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?134816 Listing at Wrecksite]
- [https://www.shipsnostalgia.com/media/artic-viking-h-452.11550/ Image of the ship on Ship Nostalgia]
{{1961 shipwrecks}}
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Category:Fishing vessels of the United Kingdom
Category:Maritime incidents in 1961
Category:1961 in the United Kingdom
Category:Maritime incidents in May 1942