MS Selandia

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"Selandia" redirects here. For the Danish ferry, see Princess Selandia.

MS Selandia
History
NameMS Selandia
Namesake
Sjælland
Owner
East Asiatic Company
Routebetween
Genoa, Italy, and Bangkok
, Thailand
BuilderBurmeister & Wain, Copenhagen
Yard number276[1]
Launched4 November 1911
CompletedFebruary 1912
FateWrecked
Omaisaki, Japan 26 January 1942[1]
General characteristics
Tonnage6,800 dwt; 4,964
GRT
Length370 ft (112.8 m)
Beam53 ft (16.2 m)
Installed power2 x eight-cylinder, four-cycle, 1,250 hp diesel engines
Propulsiontwin-screw
Speed12 knots[1]
MS Selandia

Selandia (after the Latin name for the Danish island of

East Asiatic Company, the best known of which, the first MS Selandia of 1912, was the most advanced ocean-going diesel
motor ship of her time.

Construction

Selandia and sister ship Fionia were results of negotiations between the Danish East Asiatic Company's president, Hans Niels Andersen, and Burmeister & Wain shipyards, Copenhagen, Denmark which had been introduced to the concept of marine diesel engines by engineer Ivar Knudsen, who led the ship's development.[2][3][4] Negotiations were also underway for the Scottish firm of Barclay, Curle & Company to build Diesel motors on the Danish system and a third ship, to be a counterpart of Selandia and Fionia, named Jutlandia.[2]

She was built at Burmeister & Wain in Copenhagen, and launched on 4 November 1911 before embarking on her maiden journey from Copenhagen to Bangkok on 22 February 1912. Selandia did not have a funnel; instead exhaust from her engines escaped through exhaust ports in the aft mast.[3]

Built for cargo and passenger services between

Genoa, Italy, and Bangkok, Thailand, Selandia had "very ample and rather luxurious" cabins for 20 first class passengers, single-berth cabins of "exceptional size, with toilet and bath for every two cabins, and an extra feature is the servants' rooms, arranged in connection with private cabins."[5]

She is frequently referred to as "the world's first large ocean-going diesel-powered ship", an "experiment," as previous powered vessels were driven by steam.[6] The new motorships were described as "smokeless" and caused some to describe them as "phantom ships" with an incident during the trials for Selandia in which a captain of another ship ignored warnings and ran across her bows because he "saw no smoke."[2] Some onlookers in London, perturbed by this new system, called it "the Devil Ship."[7] The ship attracted curious crowds from London to San Francisco that were often skeptical of a deep ocean ship not powered by the commonly used triple expansion steam engine; yet within ten years there were over 2,000,000 deadweight capacity tons in commerce powered by diesel engines and British experts calculated the motorship had a 40% advantage in fuel costs, with fewer crew and steadier sea speeds.[6]

There is evidence to say that the engine installation in Selandia was a world-first on numerous points, but she was not the world's first diesel-driven ocean-going ship, having been beaten to it by the Dutch tanker Vulcanus two years earlier.[3]

Service

Selandia the largest and most advanced diesel-driven ship at the time of her maiden voyage by way of Aalborg to London in January 1912 after completing trials in Øresund.[2][8] On arrival in London on 27 February at West India Docks during a coal strike and attracted attention as the first large transoceanic ship independent of coal and was visited by Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty.[2] On her passage upriver assistance had been offered as none had before seen a large ship without a smokestack and thought she had suffered damage.[2] From London Selandia sailed for Antwerp with cargo and a number of the prominent guests that had visited the ship in London as well as members of the press.[2] From Antwerp the ship began a voyage to east Asian ports and was noteworthy for burning only 800 tons of fuel from Copenhagen to Bangkok whereas a coal burning ship would have required fuel taking up greatly more cubic space and dead weight.[2]

She was sold to Panama in 1936 and renamed Norseman,[9] and Tornator in 1940.[1] 1941:Chartered to Yamashita Kisen (Steamship Co.) K.K. of Tokyo. The Finnish crew stays on board. Referred to in all official Japanese records as Tornator GO. Assigned to the Japan-Darien, Manchuria line.[10]

Later ships named Selandia

A second ship of the same name was built in 1938 and scrapped in 1962.[9] The third Selandia, built in 1972, was sold to USA in 1994 and renamed USNS Gilliland in 1998.[9] Eitzen Maritime Services owned and operated a third vessel named Selandia.

Films

MS Selandia ship model in Frihedsmuseet, Copenhagen.

The Ship that Changed the World is a 60-minute drama documentary about the first oceangoing diesel-driven ship, M/S Selandia. The film was produced in 2012 by Chroma Film ApS, with executive producer Anders Dylov for the 100-year anniversary on 17 February of that year. It was directed by Michael Schmidt-Olsen.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Search result for "5603423"". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Knudsen, Ivar (1914). "A Smokeless Marine". The American—Scandinavian Review. 2 (1). American—Scandinavian Foundation: 21–28. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Pospiech, Peter (27 December 2012). "Memorable 2012: 100th Anniversary of MV SELANDIA". Maritime Propulsion. Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  4. ISBN 9781236576040
    . Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  5. ^ "Ships of the Century". Marine Log. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  6. ^ a b "Motorship Progress". Pacific Marine Review. 19 (4). Pacific American Steamship Association / Shipowners' Association of the Pacific Coast: 201. April 1922. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  7. ^ Kennedy, Pagan (27 April 2023). "The Climate Crisis Gives Sailing Ships a Second Wind". The New Yorker.
  8. ^ Stapersma,Prof. D.: 'Vulcanus versus Selandia' Scheepswerktuigkunde, July 1996.
  9. ^ a b c "The Fleets: East Asiatic Company". Ship List. Archived from the original on 1 May 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  10. ^ "Ex-Finnish Merchants in Japanese Service". Combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 13 May 2023.

Further reading

  • Riis, Anders (2012). Selandia – The World's First Oceangoing Diesel Vessel. Forlaget Nautilus. p. 240.
    ISBN 9788790924799
    .

External links
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