S.T. Íslendingur RE120 | The Bosun's Watch

Information courtesy of Birgir Þórisson

Technical
Official Number: 102924
Yard Number: 112
Completed: 1893
Gross Tonnage: 151
Net Tonnage 64
Length: 101.5 ft
Breadth 21.6 ft
Depth: 11.0 ft
Built: Cook, Welton & Gemmell Ltd, Hull
Engine: T.3-cyl and boiler by Charles D. Holmes & Co, Hull

History

14.9.1893: Launched by Cook, Welton & Gemmell Ltd, Hull (Yd.No.112) for Pickering & Haldane’s Steam Trawling Co Ltd, Hull as OSPREY.
10.1893: Completed.
5.10.1893: Registered at Hull (Part I & IV) O.N.102924 (H225). Henry A. L. Rees designated manager.
8.1906: New boiler fitted.
23.10. 1908: Sold to Elías Stefánsson, Reykjavik on behalf of Hf. FRAM, Reykjavik for a reported 60-70 thousand krónur (£3,350-£3,385),
1-2.3.1908: Arrived Reykjavik.
11-14.3.1908: Renamed ÍSLENDINGUR. Elías Stefánsson designated manager.
21.5.1908: Registered at Reykjavik (RE 120).
1908: Remeasured (Iceland registry) 142.62g 65n.
23.10.1908: Hull registry closed.
1916: Company dissolved, ownership transferred to Elías Stefánsson, Reykjavik (sometimes ownership shown as Hf. Eggert Ólafsson a limited company in which
Elías Stefánsson was the majority shareholder).
26.10.1918: Reported arrived Fleetwood along with the ex whaler VARANGER (RE 181) (g/1881) and the ÁSGEIR PÉTURSSON – Elías Stefánsson trawler HELGI MAGRI (EA 290) (136g/1891), to fish out of the port over the winter. J. Marr & Son Ltd, managing agents. During their stay some crew members fell ill with influenza and one crew member died along with one from HELGI MAGRI. The crews were so well nursed in a Seamens’ Home that the skippers invited the nurses to Iceland in the summer of 1919 on a holiday tour. (Jan 1918-Dec 1920 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic, the so called “Spanish Flu” – about 50 million dead worldwide.)
9.4.1919: Sailed Fleetwood and returned to Iceland. Reported that catches had been good. Experimented with Danish Seine.
By Autumn 1920: Elías Stefánsson and companies in financial difficulties.
17.12.1920: Already an ill man, Elías Stefánsson (41) died of stomach cancer. Estate put into liquidation by creditors. Attempts to sell the ÍSLENDINGUR were unsuccessful. Ship leased to various parties mainly during summer herring season and laid up over winter.
9.12.1926: Sank at winter moorings at Eiðisvík, Reykjavík.
1942: After salvage, refitted and converted to motor. Fitted with 500hp Fairbanks-Morse oil engine by Fairbanks-Morse & Co, Beloit, WI. 77hp Greyhound
trawl winch engine and 20hp Lister generator.
1942: Remeasured 146.11grt 66.20n 31,09 (102.0) x 6,25 (20.5)x 2,92 (9.6) metres (feet)
4.11.1942: On completion registered by Sveinbjörn Einarsson, Ágúst Ingvarsson and Stephan Stephensen, Reykjavík at Reykjavik (RE 73). Operated by Díseltogorar hf, Reykjavik.
18.5.1949: Sold to Bjarni Sigurðsson, Kristján Guðlaugsson, both Reykjavík, Ingibjörg Pétursdóttir, Reykjum Mosfellssveit, (all Iceland) and Þorvaldur Stephensen, Sörvaag, Faroe Islands.
19.06.1951: Ingibjörg Pétursdóttir shares sold to Kristján Guðlaugsson.
1954: Last reported fishing with cod nets.
By 1956: Had been laid up in Reykjavik and sank at the berth. Refloated and sold by auction for breaking up.
15.10.1957: Removed from Icelandic registry.
2.2.1961: Final deletion from Icelandic registry.
Early 1970s: Remains only finally removed from beach at Reykjavik.

Click to enlarge images

S.T. Íslendingur RE120
Picture courtesy of The Birgir Þórisson Collection

Changelog
06/06/2019: Page published.
15/06/2019: Added images.
04/02/2021: Minor correction to history.