UNIDENTIFIED SHIPS

Greek Liberty ship s/s Ioannis K, aground at Cape St. Jacques, 1970

The above mystery ship has been solved by Mr. Peter Hogg and his old friend Mr. David Nixon, who shared a great interest in Liberty ships for over forty years. The detailed query below is the proof of their deep interest. I thank them very much for the wonderful research and the kindness of sharing it with us!.

 Launched as 'Samsoaring', yard no 2361.

Built Lend Lease May 1944 - Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards Inc, Baltimore, Maryland. Engine Builder - General Machinery Corp, Hamilton, Ohio. Managed - P & O Steam Nav Co, London.

4.47 - sold to British Empire Steam Nav Co Ltd - renamed 'Fraser River' (Houlder Bros & Co Ltd, London). 1952 - 'North Princess' - Belmonte Cia Nav SA, Panama RP - Panamanian flag (Freighters & Tankers Agency Corp, New York). 1959 - 'Georgios A' - Ermis Maritime Corp - Panamanian flag (George Andreadis, New York).

29.11.59 - aground at Cranberry Head, Nova Scotia - refloated next day with heavy damage.

1960 - 'Ioannis K' - St Ioannis Shipping Corp - Greek flag (Ceres Shipping Co Ltd, London then N & J Vlassopulos Ltd, London from 1961). 1962 - also managed Palmco Shipping Inc, New York. 1966 - managed Palmco Shipping Inc, New York - name retained.

3.1.68 - aground off Vung Tau, Vietnam in position 10.14N 107.05E after steering gear trouble bound Saigon to Singapore in ballast - abandoned by crew - vessel became tidal and total loss.

10.68 - sold to Tosung Enterprise Co, Korea - resold 12.68 to Viet-Hang Trading Co, Korea - sold 8.73 to Kiagawa Sangyo KK, Vietnam and scrapped.


S/T Oswego Unity, 1967.

This forthy year old mystery had been solved by Mr. Jesper Brix from Denmark. I thank him very much for his attention and for taking his time to share the following information with us :

 " ... This tanker is of the American company, Marine Transport Lines, in New York. The company was also known as Interocean Shipping Corp., Oswego Marine Corp. and Oswego Petroleum Carriers. The name of the tanker is " Oswego Unity ", port of registry is Monrovia, Liberia. This tanker ( 41.245 dwt. ) was built in 1959 and named " Federal Monarch ". In 1965 she was renamed " Oswego Unity ". She was broken up in May 1976 at Santander, Spain, after having been towed from Port of Spain, Trinidad where she had been laid up since December 1974. ... An old issue ( No. 7, July 1976 ) of Marine News - The Journal of the World Ship Society has a small black - and white photo of " Oswego Unity " off Santander... "
E- Mail Dated :17/12/2007.


Ore tanker bound for Cape Town, 1967.

This bulker has been identified thanks to Mr. Jesper Brix as : M/V HOLTEFJELL .
Please click the link to see the details.

M/V Christianna Pikuritz. Dated 1971.

The following information has been provided by Mr. Manfred Müller from Hamburg, who was invited to advise by Mr. Jesper Brix from Denmark. I thank them both for this wonderful international cooperation and solving the puzzle below :
" ... She is "CHRISTIANNA PIKURITZ", built 1954 by Werft Nobiskrug GmbH, Rendsburg, yard no. 562, for Atlanta Schiffahrts GmbH, Berlin/Hamburg, managed by H.M. Gehrkens, Hamburg, 1956 managed by Hugo Stinnes. From the beginning until 15. May 1971 she was in Hapag-Lloyd charter. Sold 19. May 1971 to Tetimar SpA di Navigazione, Cagliari, Italy, renamed "Carmela Vittirioso", 1973 sold to Tarsis Cia. Navigation SA, Panama, renamed "Alba Sesta", broken up in Karachi 8. August 1973. GT 2.677, 4.500 tdw, 104,10 x 15,07 x 6,60 m, one 2-stroke 6cyl Borsig engine, 3.600 bhp, 34 crew, 4 passengers, IMO 5071834. ..."



Istanbul Strait, circa 1958

This 1958 photo has been recognised as " s/s Flying Enterprise II " by Mr. Jesper Brix. Please click to see the details.




Circa 1958

Thanking Mr. Jesper Brix for solving the above picture and providing the following information.

"... The name of this ship is either " Turkia ", " Hollandia ", " Hellas " or " Athinai ". They were four similar ships built in 1956 by Iino - Maizaru Shipyard in Japan for Hellenic Lines Ltd in Greece. Tonnage: Ca. 4.300 dwt. and general cargo ships with reefer capacity. http://shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=203675 ( Athinai ). .."

At Savannah GA, 1971. Ship's name unkown.

At Savannah GA, 1971. Ship's name unkown.

M/V Master Daskalos, Location : U.S. East Coast, Date : 1967-1968

The above ship has been identified by Mr. C.E.A. van Boeckel from Netherlands as : " ... MASTER DASKALOS, Type built by 3 Maj yard - Rijeka, most probably Phocean Shipping Agency (London Greek)..." I thank Mr.C.E.A. van Boeckel very much for enlightening us and would like to take this occasion to remind the readers his magnificent VB Pictures site where his excellent drawings and paintings of old Dutch ships can be contemplated.

Miramar ship index gives the following data for MASTER DASKALOS:

Year Built: 1959
Country of build: YUG
Location of yard: Rijeka
Flag: GRC
Speed(kn): 1D.14?
GTons: 9163 / DWT: 13320
Length overall: 152.5
Beam: 18.9
Speed(kn): 1D.14

History :
79 HOPEWELL -
80 KAPITAN KALMARI -
81 JADE RIVER
BU Kaohsiung 24.11.82

The above picture dating from 1967 has been the second mystery solved by Mr. C.E.A. van Boeckel. I thank him again for all the valuable info and for taking his time! She has been identified as :

" .. Flota Mercante Grancolombiana : One of the sisters CIUDAD DE CUENCA; CIUDAD DE NEIVA; CIUDAD DE POPAYAN; CIUDAD DE SANTA MARTA (built 1954-1955 by Stulcken Werft, Germany). "

As in the s/t Oswega Unity above, this half-century old mystery has been solved thanks to Mr. Jesper Brix's deep expertise.
Here is part of his mail with links to related sites. :
" ... I`m very much sure that this is a ship of the Dutch company N. V. Verenigde Nederlandsche Scheepvaartmaatschappij - the predecessor to the well known Nedlloyd company which - a couple of years ago - was aquired by A. P. Møller - Mærsk in Copenhagen, Denmark. This Dutch V. N. S. company had an extensive fleet. The unknown ship, however, can be narrowed down to be one of three similar ships: " Oostkerk ", " Oldekerk " and " Ouwerkerk ". A forth ship, " Ommenkerk ", almost alike, can be excluded due to some details on the mid ship accomodation building.

Oostkerk http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=47125
Oldekerk http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=47120
Ouwerkerk http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=47132
Ommenkerk http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=47121

You can access the photos of all the ships, of this company, and their subsequent history on this web site :
http://www.vns-voe.nl/geschvan00.html ..."




The above mystery ship has been solved by Mr. Peter Hogg. She has been recognised as " M/V GOLDEN BRIDGE". We thank Mr. Hogg very much for his excellent research and his time. Please click here to see the details.


M/V Kyungju seen at Istanbul, Spring 1976.

The below finding is not a mere coincidence but is the well merited result of another dedicated research of Mr. Jesper Brix.
We simply thank him for all his past and present findings!

" ... I just wanted to draw your attention to a photo which has just appeared on the shipsnostalgia site - of a Korean bulk carrier named " Han Yang " . http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/107555 This bulk carrier, I think, has a lot of resemblance with your mystery ship entitled, Istanbul 1976, Name Unknow. Therefore, I would suggest that this unknown ship could be either " Han Yang " or her sister ship " Kyungju " built at the Ansaldo Ship Yard, Genoa, Italy in 1968. By 1976 both ships were still operating for this Korean company. I hope the link and this photo can be of use to you. ..
Jesper Brix
March 10,2008. "

Same scene from a slightly different angle. This anchorage off Galataport is no more used and the port has been dedicated to passenger ships only.


If you can identify any of these ships please click to send an e-mail to Web Master. Thank you !


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