D/S Nina

Painted by, Jan Goedhart, Holland

Gordon Bowker in Pursued By Furies relates how Lowry, upon arriving in Alesund aboard the S.S. Fagervik on his trip to Norway on 1931, tries to get a job on a ship to continue to Oslo to meet Nordahl Grieg. (Pg.125)

Captain Skaugen of the S.S. Fagervik introduced Lowry to a captain of a collier from Danzig (Gdańsk) to try and get him a job. The ship's name was the Nina which appealed to Lowry as by coincidence he had been shown a poem by a teacher from Alesund about Nordahl Grieg written by a "Nina". However, Lowry failed to get a job due to the captain wanting only to hire Norwegians.

The Nina was probably a ship owned by J.Kielland Peterssen as that is the only ship ever registered in Norway with that name.

Built in May 1917 by Olsen Brothers, CA and named Holm. Length: 240.2 Width: 36.2 Draft: 16.8. Gross tonnage:1371 Net tonnage:803 Dead weight: 2255. 1919: D / SA / S Holmen (Olsen Brothers) Stavanger do;12/1921: A / S Eidsvold (ATSimonsen) Kristiania / Oslo Eidsvold, 1/1929: Rederi A / S Nina (J.Kielland Peterssen) Oslo Nina;  8/1933: Rederi A / S Nina (Jan Dedichen) Oslo do;  1/1935: Rederi A / S Nina (Erling Mortensen) Oslo do; 10/1944.

There is conflicting information about the ship's fate in WW11 - possibly struck a mine and sank on Oct. 27-1944 at Schulz's Grund, in the Kattegatt; or sank in the RAF minefield "Silver XIII", 56 12N 11 20E on the above date. Some confusion here; on another page he says that the steamer Nina (this time he gives her 1371 gt) was sunk on Dec. 27-1944 in 56 10N 11 17E. War Sailors

There is another possible non-Norwegian ship called the Nina which might have been the ship Lowry tried to ship out of Alesund on which looks more like a collier. The ship below is flying the Finnish flag and registered to the port of Loviisa in South Finland.

The Nina was built 1899 by A.G. 'Neptun', Rostock as Martha Russ Ernst Russ, Hamburg. 2007 grt. Surrendered to the Shipping Controller 1920.Bought by Calvert in 1921 and renamed Fredrick Larssen. Sold in 1927 as Nina to R. Nordstrom of Loviisa, Finland.Broken up in July 1963 at Helsinki. The photograph below shows the ship being loaded with coal at Goole. (Information and photograph courtesy of  Goole Ships)