SS Nyassa

Between 1903 and 1908 NDL took delivery of a class of 11 twin-screw passenger liners, of intermediate size and speed, from four different German shipbuilders. All were named after Prussian field marshals and generals of the 18th and early 19th century, so they were called the {{lang|de|Feldherren-Klasse}}, or in English the "General" class. Schichau-Werke in Danzig (now Gdańsk in Poland) built five of the class,{{sfn|Rothe|1986|pp=93, 111, 119}} including the lead ship, Zieten, which was launched in 1902 and completed in 1903. Joh. C. Tecklenborg in Bremerhaven built three: {{lang|de|Roon}} in 1903, {{SS|Scharnhorst|1904|2}} in 1904, and {{lang|de|Bülow}} in 1906.{{cite web |url= https://www.tecklenborg-werft.de/schiffsdatenbank |title=Roon |work=Schiffsdatenbank |lang=de |publisher=Historisches Museum Bremerhaven Tecklenborg-Werft |access-date=2 May 2024}}{{cite web |url= https://www.tecklenborg-werft.de/schiffsdatenbank |title=Scharnhorst |work=Schiffsdatenbank |lang=de |publisher=Historisches Museum Bremerhaven Tecklenborg-Werft |access-date=2 May 2024}}{{cite web |url= https://www.tecklenborg-werft.de/schiffsdatenbank |title=Bülow |work=Schiffsdatenbank |lang=de |publisher=Historisches Museum Bremerhaven Tecklenborg-Werft |access-date=2 May 2024}} AG Weser in Bremen built two,{{sfn|Rothe|1986|p=99}} and AG Vulcan in Stettin (now Szczecin in Poland) built one.{{sfn|Rothe|1986|p=94}}

File:Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bulow.jpg ]]

Tecklenborg built the ship as yard number 209. She was launched on 21 April 1906 as {{lang|de|Bülow}}, after Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow (1755–1816), a Prussian Army general who served in the Napoleonic Wars. She was completed and made her sea trials on 22 September.

Her registered length was {{cvt|462.4|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|57.6|ft|abbr=on}}, and her depth was {{cvt|36.0|ft|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1907|loc=BUK–BUL}} Her hull had a double bottom and nine watertight bulkheads. The watertight doors in the bulkheads could be closed hydraulically by remote control from her bridge, and she was designed to remain afloat with any two of her compartments flooded.{{cite news |title=A new liner |newspaper=The Evening Journal |place=Adelaide |page=2 |date=5 March 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/208608968 |access-date=2 May 2024}}

She had berths for 2,044 passengers: 108 in first class; 106 in second class; and 1,830 in steerage.{{sfn|Rothe|1986|p=112}} Her amenities included a passenger gymnasium{{cite news |title=G.M.S. Bulow |newspaper=The Evening Mail |place=Fremantle |page=3 |date=5 March 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/256576709 |access-date=2 May 2024}} with electric exercise machines. Some of her cargo holds were refrigerated. Her tonnages were {{GRT|8965}} and {{NRT|5034}}.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1907|loc=BUK–BUL}}

Each of her screws was driven by a quadruple-expansion engine. The combined power of her twin engines was rated at 760 NHP{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1907|loc=BUK–BUL}} or 6,500 ihp.{{sfn|Rothe|1986|p=112}} On her sea trials she averaged 5,980 ihp, and maintained {{convert|16|kn|km/h}}. Her normal cruising speed in service was {{convert|15|kn|km/h}}.{{sfn|Rothe|1986|p=112}}{{sfn|Hughes|Humphries|1977|p=23}}

File:Bulow 1906 NDL.jpg

NDL registered {{lang|de|Bülow}} in Bremen. Her code letters were QJFB.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1907|loc=BUK–BUL}} On 26 September 1906 she left Bremen on her maiden voyage, which was on NDL's route to the Far East via the Suez Canal.

After her maiden voyage, {{lang|de|Bülow}} made three trips to Australia. On the first she left Bremen on 23 January 1907, carrying passengers including a German grand opera company recruited by the theatre producer George Musgrove.{{cite news |title=German Opera Company |newspaper=The Daily News |place=Perth |page=6 |date=5 March 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/83316617 |access-date=2 May 2024}}{{cite news |title=Grand opera for Australia. |newspaper=The Express and Telegraph |place=Adelaide |page=4 |date=1 March 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/208903604 |access-date=2 May 2024}} She called at Antwerp, Southampton, Genoa, Naples, and Port Said; passed through the Suez Canal; and called at Aden and Colombo. On 4–5 March she called at Fremantle;{{cite news |title=Departures |newspaper=The Evening Mail |place=Fremantle |page=3 |date=5 March 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/256576710 |access-date=2 May 2024}} on 9 March she arrived off Adelaide; and on 12–13 March she called at Melbourne.{{cite news |title=Shipping intelligence. |newspaper=Bendigo Advertiser |place=Bendigo |page=4 |date=13 March 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/89598165 |access-date=2 May 2024}}{{cite news |title=Shipping intelligence. |newspaper=The Argus |place=Melbourne |page=6 |date=14 March 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10622235 |access-date=2 May 2024}} On 16 March she reached NDL's wharf at West Circular Quay in Sydney.{{cite news |title=Mail Steamers. |newspaper=Daily Commercial News and Shipping List |place=Sydney |page=4 |date=16 March 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/158814367 |access-date=2 May 2024}} With {{lang|de|Bülow}} and other ships of similar speed, NDL planned to reduce the journey time between Bremen and Sydney by five days.{{cite news |title=Arrival of the N.D.L. Bulow. |newspaper=The Evening News |place=Sydney |page=7 |date=16 March 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/115217803 |access-date=2 May 2024}} On her return voyage, {{lang|de|Bülow}} left Sydney on 23 March,{{cite news |title=Mail Steamers. |newspaper=Daily Commercial News and Shipping List |place=Sydney |page=4 |date=25 March 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/158816604 |access-date=2 May 2024}} called at Melbourne on 25 March,{{cite news |title=Shipping intelligence. |newspaper=The Argus |place=Melbourne |page=6 |date=26 March 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10624941 |access-date=2 May 2024}} Adelaide on 28 March,{{cite news |title=Shipping news. |newspaper=The Express and Telegraph |place=Adelaide |page=1 |date=1 March 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/208906367 |access-date=2 May 2024}} and Fremantle on 2 April,{{cite news |title=G.M.S. Bulow |newspaper=The Evening Mail |place=Fremantle |page=3 |date=3 April 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/256582621 |access-date=2 May 2024}} and reached Bremen on 8 May.{{cite news |title=Mail Steamers. |newspaper=Daily Commercial News and Shipping List |place=Sydney |page=4 |date=11 May 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/158817698 |access-date=2 May 2024}}

On her next voyage to Australia, {{lang|de|Bülow}} reached Sydney on 3 July with passengers including 112 agricultural labourers for the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, who were to change ships in Sydney and continue to Queensland. 104 of them were from Catalonia in Spain.{{cite news |title=Spaniards for Queensland. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=7 |date=4 July 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14844764 |access-date=2 May 2024}} The other eight were from Lincolnshire in England, where they had been earning nine shillings a week. Their contract with the sugar company increased their wage to 22 shillings and sixpence.{{cite news |title=Cane-fields labour. |newspaper=The Argus |place=Melbourne |page=7 |date=1 July 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10149708 |access-date=2 May 2024}}

On her final voyage to Australia, {{lang|de|Bülow}} reached Sydney on 23 October. Her passengers included four German scientists on their way to research in New Guinea. At Circular Quay they transferred to the NDL ship {{lang|de|Prinz Sigismund}} to complete their journey.{{cite news |title=German mail |newspaper=The Australian Star |place=Sydney |page=6 |date=25 October 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/229500235 |access-date=2 May 2024}} For her return voyage, {{lang|de|Bülow}} loaded 6,900 bales of wool.{{cite news |title=Big cargo steamers sailing |newspaper=The Australian Star |place=Sydney |page=1 |date=1 November 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/229509870 |access-date=2 May 2024}} She left Sydney on 2 November.{{cite news |title=Departures.—Nov 2. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=8 |date=4 November 1907 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14890885 |access-date=2 May 2024}}

In 1908 NDL {{lang|de|Bülow}} made at least three round trips on NDL's main North Atlantic route. She left Bremen on 11 January, on 23 January she arrived off New York,{{cite news |title=Shipping news. |newspaper=New-York Tribune |date=24 January 1908 |page=12 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1908-01-24/ed-1/seq-12/}} and on 28 January she left New York to return to Bremen.{{cite news |title=Outgoing steamships. |newspaper=The Sun |place=New York |date=27 January 1908 |page=11 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1908-01-27/ed-1/seq-11/}} She made another transatlantic crossing that summer. She left Bremen on 25 July, was due in New York on 5 August,{{cite news |title=Marine intelligence. |newspaper=New-York Tribune |date=5 August 1908 |page=12 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1908-08-05/ed-1/seq-12/}} and left New York on 13 August to return to Bremen.{{cite news |title=Outgoing steamers. |newspaper=New-York Tribune |date=13 August 1908 |page=12 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1908-08-13/ed-1/seq-12/}}{{cite news |title=Sailed. |newspaper=New-York Tribune |date=14 August 1908 |page=10 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1908-08-14/ed-1/seq-10/}} She left Bremen again on 12 September with 503 passengers, arrived off New York on 23 September,{{cite news |title=Shipping news. |newspaper=New-York Tribune |date=25 September 1908 |page=12 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1908-09-25/ed-1/seq-12/}} and on 1 October left New York to return to Bremen.{{cite news |title=Outgoing steamships. |newspaper=The Sun |place=New York |date=1 October 1908 |page=11 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1908-10-01/ed-1/seq-11/}}

By 1911 {{lang|de|Bülow}} was equipped with submarine signalling and wireless telegraphy.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1910|loc=BUL–BUR}} By 1913 her wireless call sign was DBW.{{sfn|The Marconi Press Agency Ltd|1913|p=234}}

In 1914 {{lang|de|Bülow}} was on NDL's route between Bremen and Yokohama. Her ports of call were Rotterdam, Antwerp, Southampton, Gibraltar, Algiers, Genoa, Naples, Port Said, Suez, Aden, Colombo, Penang, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tsingtau (now Qingdao), and Kobe. On return voyages she called at Nagasaki instead of Tsingtau.{{cite web |url= https://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/ndl.htm |last=Larsson |first=Björn |title=North German Lloyd |work=marine timetable images |date=23 June 2019 |access-date=2 May 2024}}

On 2 May {{lang|de|Bülow}} left Yokohama on a return voyage to Bremen via Suez. On 18 June she ran aground in fog on the west side of the Isle of Portland in the English Channel. Tugs rescued her 300 passengers and their baggage, and landed them at Weymouth.{{cite news |title=Liner Buelow fast on rocks |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=19 June 1914 |page=1 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/06/19/100322466.html?pageNumber=1}}{{cite news |title=Steamer Buelow ashore. |newspaper=The Evening Star |place=Washington, DC |date=18 June 1914 |page=1 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1914-06-18/ed-1/seq-1/}} {{lang|de|Bülow}} was only slightly damaged, and was the next day she was refloated and anchored in Portland Harbour to re-embark her passengers.{{cite news |title=Vessels ashore get off. |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=20 June 1914 |page=5 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/06/20/101755421.html?pageNumber=5}}{{cite news |title=Liner and yacht floated |newspaper=New-York Tribune |date=20 June 1914 |page=4 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1914-06-20/ed-1/seq-4/}}

File:Postal com o Paquete Traz-os-Montes nos T.M.E (cerca de 1916).jpg

In July 1914 {{lang|de|Bülow}} left Bremen on her next voyage. When the First World War began on 3 August, she took refuge in Lisbon.{{sfn|Rothe|1986|p=112}} On 23 February 1916, the commander of the Portuguese Navy division in Lisbon seized 36 German and Austro-Hungarian ships in the port, including {{lang|de|Bülow}}.{{cite news |title=Portuguese Naval Commander Seizes 36 Teuton Ships, All Austria and Germany Had in the Tagus River |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=24 February 1916 |page=1 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/02/24/104666487.html?pageNumber=1}} On each ship a Portuguese crew was put aboard,{{cite news |title=Portugal to explain seizure of vessels |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=24 February 1916 |page=3 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/02/25/100193104.html?pageNumber=3}} the flag of the German Empire was lowered, and the flag of Portugal was raised. An explosive device was discovered in {{lang|de|Bülow}}{{'}}s boiler room, which was designed to detonate if the ship were moved. The Portuguese prevented it from being detonated, but her machinery was damaged.{{cite news |title=Ship plots in Portugal |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=27 February 1916 |page=3 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/02/27/100193650.html?pageNumber=3}}

File:Transportes Marítimos do Estado - Anuncio na Folha de S.Paulo (1922).jpg and Lisbon in June 1922]]

The Portuguese Government assumed ownership of all the German and Austro-Hungarian ships, and founded a state-owned enterprise, Transportes Marítimos do Estado (TME), to manage them. {{lang|de|Bülow}} was renamed {{lang|pt|Trás-os-Montes}}, after the region of the same name in northeastern Portugal. She was registered in Lisbon.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1917|loc=TRA–TRE}} Her code letters were HTOM.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1921|loc=TRA}}

After the First World War, TME tried to start several scheduled liner routes. {{lang|pt|Trás-os-Montes}} was one of the ship that it put on a route between Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro via Funchal, Recife, and Salvador (see advertisement). However, TME ceased trading, and from 1922 {{lang|pt|Trás-os-Montes}} was laid up in Lisbon.

In 1924 Companhia Nacional de Navegação (CNN) bought {{lang|pt|Trás-os-Montes}} and renamed her Nyassa, after Niassa Province in northern Moçambique. CNN put her on its route between Lisbon and Moçambique, serving various Portuguese islands and African territories of the Portuguese Empire en route. By January 1938 her ports of call were Funchal, São Tomé, Pointe-Noire, Luanda, Porto Amboim, Lobito, Moçâmedes, Cape Town, Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), Beira, and the Island of Mozambique.{{cite web |url= https://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/cnn.htm |last=Larsson |first=Björn |title=Companhia Nacional de Navegação |work=marine timetable images |access-date=2 May 2024}}

By 1932 the combined power of her twin engines had been reassessed as 1,170 NHP.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1931|loc=[https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/31/31b0892.pdf NUR–NYH]}} By 1934 the refrigerated capacity in her holds was {{cvt|13014|cuft|0}}.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1934|loc=[https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b1006.pdf Supplementary list of vessels fitted with refrigerating appliances]}} Also by 1934, her wireless call sign was CSBJ, and this had superseded her code letters.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1934|loc=[https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0620.pdf NUM–NYH]}} By June 1938 she was equipped with an echo sounding device.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1938|loc=[https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/38/38b0653.pdf NUM–NYH]}}

File:Franz Loewy - Portrait Oscar Straus, 1929 (ohne Rahmen).jpg ]]

Portugal remained neutral in the Second World War, and at first Nyassa remained on her scheduled route. However, in November 1940 she was diverted to take refugees from Europe to the United States. She left Lisbon on 23 November carrying 458 passengers, many of them refugees from German-occupied Europe, and some of whom had been held in insanitary internment camps in France. They included the electrical engineer and inventor Georges Lakhovsky, composer Oscar Straus, the son-in-law and daughter of the former President of Lithuania Antanas Smetona, and 27 Thais on a long and indirect journey home to Thailand. On 2 December her steering gear from her bridge froze in sub-zero temperatures. From then on she was steered from the emergency steering wheel on her poop, guided by telephone from her bridge. On 4 December she reached the quarantine station at Hoffman Island, New York, flying the signal flags for "I am out of control".{{cite news |title=Arrived Yesterday |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=5 December 1940 |page=51 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/12/05/91589898.html?pageNumber=51}}{{cite news |title=Portuguese Ship Brings 458 Here From War-Stricken Countries |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=5 December 1940 |page=16 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/12/05/91589714.html?pageNumber=16}}

On the evening of 17 March 1941, {{GS|U-106|1940|2}} made a torpedo attack on Convoy SL 68 off the coast of French West Africa, sinking two cargo ships. They included Ellerman & Papayanni Lines' Andalusian, which sank at position {{coord|15|50|N|20|42|W}}. There were no fatalities, and the 42 crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats. Her Master commanded the starboard lifeboat, carrying 23 men; while her Chief Officer commanded her port lifeboat, carrying 18 men. Overnight the two lifeboats became separated. The Chief Officer's boat headed for Cape Verde, and landed on Boa Vista on 20 March.{{cite web |url= https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/825.html |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |title=Andalusian |work=uboat.net |access-date=2 May 2024}}

File:Paquete "Lima" ex. Westerwald (cropped).jpg

The Master's boat set sail for Bathurst (now Banjul) in Gambia. On 20 March Nyassa sighted the boat and rescued its occupants. Nyassa was en route to Lisbon via Funchal and Casablanca, where she was to disembark 400 Frenchmen who had refused to serve with the Free French forces. Andalusian{{'}}s survivors feared being captured in Vichy-ruled Morocco, so they disambarked in Funchal. A few days later they continued their voyage aboard {{SS|Lima||2}}, which reached Lisbon on 29 March.{{cite web |url= https://www.portugal1939-1945.org/en/the-nyassa-picked-up-23-survivors-from-the-british-andaluzian/ |title=The "Nyassa" picked up 23 survivors from the British "Andaluzian" (sic) |work=Portugal 1939–1945 |date=21 February 2019 |access-date=2 May 2024}}

Two dormitories were created in Nyassa{{'}}s cargo holds, one forward and the other aft, to carry an additional 400 steerage passengers. On 16 April she left Lisbon carrying 816 passengers. Fares ranged from $160 for a berth in one of the dormitories, to $480 for a berth in a first class cabin. Passengers included the historian Julius Brutzkus, art dealer Herman Rothschild, and the 83-year-old father of shipping entrepreneur Arnold Bernstein. Passengers in the dormitories complained of a lack of light, ventilation, and space. One passenger said conditions were "abominable", and led to "several clashes between the passengers". Nyassa reached New York on 25 April.{{cite news |title=Arrived Yesterday |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=26 April 1941 |page=31 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/04/26/issue.html}}{{cite news |title=Tiny liner brings 816 from Europe |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=26 April 1941 |page=16 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/04/26/88724265.html?pageNumber=7}}{{cite news |title=Dr. Brutzkus, OSE Head, Arrives Here |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=27 April 1941 |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://www.jta.org/archive/dr-brutzkus-ose-head-arrives-here}}

Nyassa next left Lisbon carrying refugees on 25 May,{{cite web |title=Liste Nr.228: Dampfer "Nyassa" |lang=de |date=25 May 1941 |via=JDC Archives |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://search.archives.jdc.org/multimedia/Documents/Names%20Databank/Nyassa/Nyassa_May1941/Additional%20Links/Complete_Nyassa_May41.pdf}} and reached New York before 16 June.{{cite news |title=Tiny Bundles From Germany |newspaper=The Waterbury Democrat |place=Waterbury, CT |date=16 June 1941 |page=11 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014085/1941-06-16/ed-1/seq-11/}}

In July 1941 Nyassa left Lisbon carrying passengers including 400 refugees. She called at Casablanca, where the passengers she embarked included another 200 refugees.{{cite news |title=600 More Refugees Saved by JDC Reach New York |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=11 August 1941 |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://www.jta.org/archive/600-more-refugees-saved-by-jdc-reach-new-york}} She arrived in New York on 9 August carrying a total of 690 passengers. Among them was Hedwig Ehrlich, who was the widow of scientist Paul Ehrlich and sister of industrialist Max Pinkus. As Nyassa steamed up the East River to her pier, the New York pilot in charge of her miscalculated the state of the tide. The top {{convert|10|ft|0}} of her foremast hit the Brooklyn Bridge, and was bent over at 90 degrees.{{cite news |title=Ship Snaps Her Mast on Brooklyn Bridge; Steel Section Bent as Nyassa Brings 690 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=10 August 1941 |page=134 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/08/10/87654112.html?pageNumber=134}}

On 9 September 1941 Nyassa left Lisbon carrying 540 refugees.{{cite web |title=SS. "Nyassa" September 9th, 1941 |date=25 October 1941 |via=JDC Archives |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://search.archives.jdc.org/multimedia/Documents/Names%20Databank/Nyassa/Nyassa_Sep1941/Additional%20Links/Complete_Nyassa_Sep41.pdf}} On 22 September she called at Havana, Cuba, where 318 of them disembarked. The remainder continued to New York.{{cite news |title=Refugee Ship at Havana |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=23 September 1941 |page=5 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/09/23/87672420.html?pageNumber=5}}

File:Hotel de Inmigrantes c. 1912 - Google Arts & Culture.jpg, Buenos Aires]]

On 12 November 1941 Nyassa left Lisbon carrying more than 600 refugees, most of whom were elderly.{{cite web |title=S/S "Nyassa" Sailing November 9th, 1941 |date=13 November 1941 |via=JDC Archives |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://search.archives.jdc.org/multimedia/Documents/Names%20Databank/Nyassa/Nyassa_Nov1941/Additional%20Links/Complete_Nyassa_Nov41.pdf}} She disembarked 400 of them in Brazil, and then took more than 200 to Buenos Aires, where she arrived on 7 or 8 December. Argentinian immigration officers let 185 of them disembark on arrival,{{cite news |title=Over 200 Jewish Refugees Arrive in Argentina; Most Permitted to Land Immediately |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=8 December 1941 |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://www.jta.org/archive/over-200-jewish-refugees-arrive-in-argentina-most-permitted-to-land-immediately}} but 31 were at first denied permission to disembark. Most were in transit to either Colombia or Paraguay, and were allowed to disembark by 16 December. Three were detained in the Hotel de Inmigrantes, and one married couple was sent back to Europe because the wife was suffering from trachoma.{{cite news |title=26 Jewish Refugees Allowed to Land in Argentina En Route to Chile, Colombia |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=16 December 1941 |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://www.jta.org/archive/26-jewish-refugees-allowed-to-land-in-argentina-en-route-to-chile-colombia}}

Nyassa left Lisbon in January 1942, and sailed via Casablanca to North America.{{cite web |title=Lista de pasajeros en el vapor "Nyassa" |date=January 1942 |via=JDC Archives |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://search.archives.jdc.org/multimedia/Documents/Names%20Databank/Nyassa/Nyassa_Jan1942/Additional%20Links/Complete_Nyassa_Jan42.pdf}} On 3 March she reached Veracruz in Mexico, where disembarked 48 Spanish Republican refugees and a number of Jewish refugees.{{cite news |title=Refugees reach Mexico |newspaper=The Evening Star |place=Washington, DC |date=3 March 1942 |page=A–5 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-03-03/ed-1/seq-7/}} She also disembarked Jewish refugees at Newport News, Virginia on 17 March, and at Ciudad Trujillo (now Santo Domingo) in the Dominican Republic on 20 March. Her passengers on this voyage also included Jewish refugees destined for Cuba.

On 3 June 1942 Nyassa reached New York with 64 passengers after another voyage from Lisbon via Casablanca and Veracruz. At Veracruz she disembarked 865 Spanish Republicans. In New York she embarked 180 or 200 German nationals for repatriation to Europe,{{cite news |title=Large sums taken from refugee band |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=4 June 1942 |page=21 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1942/06/04/104315200.html?pageNumber=21}}{{cite news |title=180 Germans to sail on Portuguese liner |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=13 June 1942 |page=6 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1942/06/13/87706533.html?pageNumber=6}} and left on 13 June.{{cite news |title=Wife and Parents Of Saboteurs Among 14 Seized by FBI |newspaper=The Evening Star |place=Washington, DC |date=13 July 1942 |page=A–5 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-07-13/ed-1/seq-7/}}

On 10 July 1942 Nyassa left Lisbon, and a few days later she called at Casablanca to embark refugees who had arrived there from Marseille. On 21 July she arrived in Bermuda,{{cite news |title=Jewish Refugees Who Were Stranded in Portugal and Spain Arrive in Baltimore |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=31 July 1942 |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://www.jta.org/archive/jewish-refugees-who-were-stranded-in-portugal-and-spain-arrive-in-baltimore}} where the United Kingdom authorities held her for five days.{{cite news |title=Checkup Is Started Of 800 in Baltimore Aboard Refugee Ship |newspaper=The Evening Star |place=Washington, DC |date=31 July 1942 |page=2–X |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-07-31/ed-1/seq-3/}} On 30 July she arrived in Baltimore carrying nearly 800 refugees, of whom 350 were Jewish and 198 were children.{{cite news |title=800 Refugees Reach Baltimore on Nyassa |newspaper=The Evening Star |place=Washington, DC |date=30 July 1942 |page=A–8 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-07-30/ed-1/seq-10/}} On arrival, two sick passengers were removed from the ship on stretchers. One, Bertha Klein, was taken by ambulance to the Marine Hospital in Baltimore, where she was declared dead on arrival. US authorities held the remainder aboard the ship, while US Navy intelligence, US Army intelligence, the FBI, and Baltimore Police Department checked each passenger. By the next day, nearly 200 passengers had been detained at Fort Howard.

The United States Customs Service seized jewellery from one refugee aboard Nyassa who had failed to declare them. At first it was reported that he had concealed diamonds, emeralds, rings and brooches worth a total of $50,000.{{cite news |title=$50,000 in Jewels Found In Refugee's Baggage |newspaper=The Evening Star |place=Washington, DC |date=3 August 1942 |page=1 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-08-03/ed-1/seq-1/}} On 11 September 1942 he pleaded guilty to smuggling uncut diamonds worth $9,000. US District Court judge William Calvin Chesnut fined him $1,000 and sentenced him to 30 days' imprisonment, after which both the defendant and his wife were to be deported from the US.{{cite news |title=Refugee Is Sentenced For Gem Smuggling |newspaper=The Evening Star |place=Washington, DC |date=11 September 1942 |page=A–6 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-09-11/ed-1/seq-8/}}

Nyassa left Lisbon in April 1943.{{cite web |title=Passengers on the SS Nyassa, 1941-1944 |work=Early Remittance Lists |publisher=JDC Archives |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://archives.jdc.org/our-collections/names-index/lists-in-the-names-index/}} By 7 May she had arrived in the US, carrying refugees including Oliver Freud, one of the sons of psychologist Sigmund Freud.{{cite news |title=Refugee Is Sentenced For Gem Smuggling |newspaper=The Southern Jewish Weekly |place=Jacksonville, FL |date=7 May 1943 |page=1 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn78000090/1943-05-07/ed-1/seq-1/}} On 24 June she left Lisbon with another party of refugees travelling to the US.{{cite web |title=Liste des passagers partis sur S/S"Nyassa" le 19 Juin 1943 |date=24 June 1943 |via=JDC Archives |lang=fr |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://search.archives.jdc.org/multimedia/Documents/Names%20Databank/Nyassa/Nyassa_Jun1943/Additional%20Links/Complete_Nyassa_Jun43.pdf}}

File:THE PORTUGUESE SHIP "NYASSA" BRINGING NEW EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS VIA LISBON TO HAIFA PORT. עולים חדשים מגיעים באונייה פורטוגזית לנמל חיפה.D820-040.jpg, Palestine, 1 February 1944]]

Nyassa left Lisbon on 25 January 1944{{cite web |title=Passengers ex Lisbon |date=January 25, 1944 |via=JDC Archives |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://search.archives.jdc.org/multimedia/Documents/Names%20Databank/Nyassa/Nyassa_Jan1944/Additional%20Links/Complete_Nyassa_Jan44.pdf}} carrying 172 Jewish refugees, some of whom had been in Portugal since 1933. She then called at Cádiz, where she embarked another 570 refugees.{{cite news |title=Singing, Dancing Marks Departure of Refugee Ship Bound from Lisbon to Palestine |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=25 January 1944 |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://www.jta.org/archive/singing-dancing-marks-departure-of-refugee-ship-bound-from-lisbon-to-palestine}}{{cite news |title=First Transport of 742 Jewish Refugees from Portugal and Spain Lands in Palestine |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=3 February 1944 |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://www.jta.org/archive/first-transport-of-742-jewish-refugees-from-portugal-and-spain-lands-in-palestine}}[https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/this-month/february/1944.html The “Nyassa”, carrying refugees from Europe, reaching Haifa, February 1944], on yad Vashem website{{cite news |title=754 Jews in exile land in Palestine |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2 February 1944 |page=4 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1944/02/02/87433584.html?pageNumber=4}} She was then to continue through the Suez Canal to Portuguese India and return via Moçambique to Portugal, repatriating civil servants who were long overdue home leave because of the war.{{cite news |title=Refugee Jews Leave Portugal for Palestine |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=24 January 1944 |page=5 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1944/01/24/87432023.html?pageNumber=5}} The voyage made Nyassa the first merchant ship to make a commercial voyage through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal since Italy joined the Second World War in June 1940.{{cite news |title=600 Jewish Refugees En Route from Lisbon to Palestine |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=5 January 1944 |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://www.jta.org/archive/600-jewish-refugees-en-route-from-lisbon-to-palestine}}

In June 1944 Nyassa left Lisbon carrying 75 refugees and 25 US citizens. On 8 July she reached Philadelphia after a 17-day crossing.{{cite news |title=25 Americans Among 100 Arriving on Refugee Ship |newspaper=The Evening Star |place=Washington, DC |date=9 July 1944 |page=A–2 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Library of Congress |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1944-07-09/ed-1/seq-2/}} On 18 September she left Lisbon with 118 passengers, including 95 refugees.{{cite news |title=Refugees Sail for U. S. |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=18 September 1944 |page=21 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1944/09/18/87469170.html?pageNumber=21}} On 1 October she reached Philadelphia. 13 of her refugees were to join relatives already living in the US. The remainder were to travel onward to Canada.{{cite news |title=New Group of Jewish Refugees Arrives from Lisbon; Most Will Settle in Canada |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=2 October 1944 |access-date=2 May 2024 |url= https://www.jta.org/archive/new-group-of-jewish-refugees-arrives-from-lisbon-most-will-settle-in-canada}}

After the Second World War, Nyassa returned to her scheduled route between Lisbon and Moçambique. More than four decades after she was built, her machinery was still capable of {{convert|14|kn|km/h}}.{{sfn|Hughes|Humphries|1977|p=23}} From January 1950 she was laid up in Lisbon. In 1951 she was scrapped in Blyth, England.{{sfn|Rothe|1986|p=112}}

• {{SS|Lourenço Marques}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Hughes |first1=David |last2=Humphries |first2=Peter |year=1977 |title=In South African Waters Passenger Liners Since 1930 |place=Cape Town |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-570120-8}}
• {{cite book |year=1907 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1907}} |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1908ST/page/n184/mode/1up}}
• {{cite book |year=1910 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1910}} |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1911ST/page/n195/mode/1up}}
• {{cite book |year=1917 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1917}} |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1918ST/page/n1041/mode/1up}}
• {{cite book |year=1921 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1921}} |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1922ST/page/n1274/mode/1up}}
• {{cite book |year=1924 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers & Motorships |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1924}} |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1925ST/page/n1450/mode/1up}}
• {{cite book |year=1931 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Southampton City Council |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1931}} }}
• {{cite book |year=1934 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Southampton City Council |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1934}} }}
• {{cite book |year=1938 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Southampton City Council |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1938}} }}
• {{cite book |author=The Marconi Press Agency Ltd |author-link=Marconi Company |year=1913 |title=The Year Book of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony |place=London |publisher=The St Katherine Press}}
• {{cite book |last=Rothe |first=Klaus |year=1986 |title=Deutsche Ozean-Passagierschiffe 1896 bis 1918 |series=Bibliothek der Schiffstypen |lang=de |place=Berlin |publisher=VEB Verlag für Verkehrswesen |isbn=3-344-00059-4}}

• {{cite web |title=Passengers on the SS Nyassa, 1941-1944 |work=Early Remittance Lists |publisher=JDC Archives |url= https://archives.jdc.org/our-collections/names-index/lists-in-the-names-index/}} – passenger lists of ten of Nyassa{{'}}s refugee voyages, from April 1941 to September 1944
• {{cite web |title=Nyassa |publisher=Sousa Mendes Foundation |url= https://sousamendesfoundation.org/ships/nyassa}} – list of Nyassa passengers issued visas by Portuguese consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes
• {{cite web |title=Ships – Escaping The Holocaust as a Child On Board the Nyassa |publisher=Steamship Historical Society of America |via=YouTube |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfB1O3-5KzI}}

{{Norddeutscher Lloyd ships}}

{{January–July 1914 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyassa, SS}}

Category:1906 ships

Category:Captured ships

Category:Maritime incidents in June 1914

Category:Passenger ships of Germany

Category:Passenger ships of Portugal

Category:Ships built in Bremen (state)

Category:Steamships of Germany

Category:Steamships of Portugal

Category:World War I merchant ships of Germany

Category:World War I merchant ships of Portugal