Casgliadau Arlein

3/4 port bow view of S.S. ARCTURUS c.1936.

S.S. ARCTURUS. Built 1892 by Wood, Skinner & Co., Newcastle as the CAIRNEMORE for Cairn Line SS Co. Ltd. Newcastle. Sold in 1913 to A/S Nord (O. M. Milberg & Co.), Oslo and renamed NORD. Sold in 1915 to A/S D/S Nord (K. K. Nordgreen), Bergen. Sold same year to Schelderup & Schjøtt e.a., Bergen. Sold in 1916 to A/S Nord (H. H. Holta), Skien (from 1917 - O & H Holta). Sold in March 1922 to Rederi-A/B Atos, Helsingborg. Sold in 1937 to Laevaühing Arcturus, Estonia and renamed ARCTURUS. By 1937 she was 1682 gt. When Norway was invaded in April 1940 she was in Bergen loading lumber for Liverpool, but was not permitted to leave harbour. The following day she was seized by German authorities and allocated to Hafenkommandanten Haugesund, and with her cargo still on board she was used as a "Sperrbrecher" (minesweeper) for Hafenschutz Haugesund in Bergen, though proved unfit for this service and taken out of duty in January 1941. In the spring of 1941, resulting from a German - Russian agreement her cargo was unloaded and she was handed over to Russian authorities while in Bergen harbour. On 22 June 1941, when war erupted between Russia and Germany, she was still in Bergen with no crew. The following month, she was declared a German prize again and was allocated to Kriegsmarine Oslo by Reichkommissar des Prisenhofs Hamburg as supply vessel. In November that year she entered service for the Germans as ARCTURUS transporting supplies between various Norwegian ports. Managed Westergaard & Co., Oslo. At that time she was 1632 gt. On 22 November 1943 she was on a voyage from Oslo to the north of Norway with potatoes and generals when she was bombed by a Beaufighter aircraft based at Stadthavet. She received several hits and was set on fire. The captain and 3 gunners were killed. She was taken in tow towards Ålesund but was hit by 2 torpedoes from a Norwegian submarine southwest of Ålesund. ARCTURUS sank in 20 seconds and 4 engine crew died, having been unable to get out.