MV Sovetskaya Latviya
 As Hercogs Jēkabs in 1939.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Norway | |
| Name | Childar |
| Owner | Wiel & Amundsen Rederi A/S |
| Builder | Kockums, Malmö , Sweden |
| Launched | 25 November 1925 |
| Out of service | 1934 |
| Homeport | Halden |
| Fate | Ran aground |
| Norway | |
| Name | Aakre |
| Namesake | Åkre |
| Owner | Rederi A/S Henneseid (Thoralf Holta) |
| Acquired | 1934 |
| Renamed | May 1935 |
| Reinstated | 1935 |
| Fate | Sold |
| Latvia | |
| Name | Hercogs Jēkabs |
| Namesake | Duke Jacob of Courland |
| Owner | Apvienotā Kuģniecības Akciju Sabiedrība |
| Acquired | 1939 |
| Renamed | 1939 |
| Homeport | Riga |
| Fate | Nationalised by USSR |
| Soviet Union | |
| Name |
|
| Namesake | Soviet Latvia |
| Operator | Dalstroy |
| Acquired | 1940 |
| Out of service | 1967 |
| Renamed | Sovetskaya Latviya (1942) |
| Nickname(s) | Sovlatviya |
| Fate | Deleted 1967 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage |
|
| Length | 115 m (377 ft) |
| Beam | 16 m (52 ft) |
| Propulsion |
|
MV Sovetskaya Latviya (Soviet Latvia, Russian: Советская Латвия) was a transport ship operated by the Dalstroy concern of the NKVD. One of its main uses was to transport prisoners as forced labour in the Kolyma camps system.
Prior to Soviet ownership
The ship was originally christened Childar when launched on 25 November 1925.[1] It was operated as a merchant vessel for several years by the Norwegian line Wiel & Amundsen Rederi A/S, based in Halden.
Childar ran aground on 4 May 1934 at the entrance to the Columbia River in the United States while en route to Cape Town, South Africa. Four seamen were killed in this incident.[2]
The ship was eventually repaired at Porsgrunn and re-launched in May 1935 as MS Aakre by another Norwegian line, Rederi A/S Henneseid (Thoralf Holta).
In 1939, it was purchased by the Latvian United Shipping Company (Apvienotā Kuģniecības Akciju Sabiedrība), in Riga, Latvia, and renamed Hercogs Jēkabs, in honour of Duke Jacob of Courland. It was planned that she would maintain a monthly cargo service between Riga and New York City.[3] At that time it was one of the biggest and most modern ships in Latvia as it was only second ship with diesel engine in Latvian merchant fleet. The ship was involved in transatlantic voyages from Europe to North and South America.
In Soviet service
When
It was struck from the Soviet register in 1967.
References
- ^ "5533602". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
- ^ "Four Seamen Killed as Ship Grounds". Financial. The New York Times. 1934-05-05. p. 33.
- ProQuest 102891425.
Sources
- http://www.warsailors.com/freefleet/norfleeta1.html
- Bollinger, Martin J., Stalin's slave ships: Kolyma, the Gulag fleet, and the role of the West, Praeger, 2003, 217 p., ISBN 0-275-98100-2