S/S Montrose
ex. S/S Herta Mærsk

Panama   



S/S Montrose wrecked in Skovfjord 6.7.1942.

Passenger and Cargo Ships Taken Over by U.S Maritime Commission during World War II

On June 6, 1941 there were 84 voluntarily inactive large ships of foreign registry in American ports. The Ship Requisition Act signed on that day allowed the Coast Guard to seize these vessels for the war effort. (Incl. 40 Danish vessels). Representatives of the friendly governments under which some these vessels were previously registered cooperated with the War Department. In many cases, crew members of other nationalities were kept on the vessels since they were familiar with the equipment, and there was a shortage of American seamen.

 

Call sign

Name

Built

Service

Owner

?

Montrose
ex. Herta Mærsk

1939

1941-1942

Marine Transport Co. Panama


Philatelic cover canc. IVIGTUT 4.4.1942 to S.S. Montrose.

5.11.1941: S/S Montrose rammed oiler USS Laramie (AO 16) in Tunugdliarfik Fjord during stormy weather. Suffers no damage in the accidental encounter.

1.3.-25.5.1942-: Narsarssuaq (BW1)

3.6.1942: S/S Montrose run aground on Moratties Reef near Argentia. USCG Cutter Tampa, assisted by two naval vessels, soon floated the merchantman free. Continued her escort mission, routed onward to Greenland. Arriving at Sondre Stromfjord on the 10th June 1942.

6.7.1942: S/S Montrose hit a submerged rock while navigating the poorly charted waters in Skovfjord southwest of the airbase while sailing from Ivigtut to Narsarssuaq (BW1). The wreck later called "The sunken ship" became an essential marker used by pilots approaching Bluie West 1.

6.9.1942: S/S Harjurand begin salvage work on the SS Montrose. 


S/S Herta Mærsk before the vessel was seized by U.S. Coast Guard in June 1941.


Air mail from Marstal, Denmark via Lisbon, Portugal to S/S Herta Mærsk in US.


Opened by German censor in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Ship

Postmark

Date

Sender

Note
Herta Mærsk Skagen 4.7.1940 Incomming to:
Matros Knud Jensen
S/S Herta Mærsk
Battery Warf
Boston, USA

PR

"Italien-USA by air mail via New York"

Herta Mærsk

Marstal

23.3.1941

Incomming to: 
Styrmand 
Kristian Bothe
S/S Herta Mærsk
Spragne S.S. Agency
Boston, Mass. USA

PR

Montrose

Ivigtut 4.4.1942 Incomming to: 
Mr. K. Bothe
S/S Montrose
Marine Transport Lines Inc
11 Broadway, N.Y.
QXL

 

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Update: 3.10.2005
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