View source for SS Irma (1905)

{{other ships|SS Irma}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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|Ship image=DS Irma ved Åndalsnes.jpg
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|Ship country=[[Norway]]
|Ship flag=[[File:Flag of Norway.svg|60px|Flag of Norway]]
|Ship name=''Irma''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship owner=[[Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab]]
|Ship operator=
|Ship registry=[[Bergen]]<ref name="Lille"/>
|Ship route=*[[Bergen]]&ndash;[[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] (1905&ndash;1921)
*[[Norway]]&ndash;[[Hamburg]] (1927&ndash;1931)
*[[Hurtigruten]] (1931&ndash;1944)
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|Ship builder=*[[Sir Raylton Dixon]] & Co. Ltd., [[Middlesbrough]],
*[[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]<ref name="Lille">{{cite web |url=http://www.sjohistorie.no/portal/skip/i/Irma%201905 |title=D/S Irma |accessdate=2009-01-24 |work=Lillesand Sjømannsforening |language=no }}</ref>
|Ship original cost={{NOK|570,684}}<ref name="Lille"/>
|Ship yard number=510<ref name="Lille"/>
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|Ship launched=5 January 1905<ref name=Miramar>{{csr|register=MSI|id=5602457|accessdate=2 February 2009}}</ref>
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|Ship out of service=13 February 1944
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|Ship identification=*[[Code letters]]: MCHD<ref name="Lille"/>
*{{ICS|Mike}}{{ICS|Charlie}}{{ICS|Hotel}}{{ICS|Delta}}
*Code Letters: LDTP<ref name="Lille"/>
*{{ICS|Lima}}{{ICS|Delta}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Papa}}
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|Ship fate=Sunk by [[Royal Norwegian Navy]] [[Motor Torpedo Boat|MTB]]s 
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|Ship type=*Passenger/cargo ship (1905&ndash;1944)
*Troop ship (1939)
|Ship tonnage={{GRT|1,322}}
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|Ship length={{convert|244|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|32.8|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draught={{convert|21.1|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=1,500 [[horsepower|hp]] [[triple expansion]] steam engine
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|Ship speed={{convert|13.5|kn|km/h}}
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|Ship capacity=*87 passengers (1940):<ref name="Lille"/> 
** 39 First Class
** 48 Third Class
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|Ship notes=All the above listed information, unless otherwise noted, was acquired from <ref name="Warsailors">{{cite web |last=Lawson |first =Siri Holm |url=http://www.warsailors.com/homefleetsingles/irma.html |title=D/S Irma |accessdate=24 January 2009 |publisher=Warsailors.com }}</ref>
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'''SS ''Irma''''' was a 1,322-ton steamship built by the British shipyard [[Sir Raylton Dixon|Sir Raylton Dixon & Co. Ltd.]] in [[Middlesbrough]] in the north-east of [[England]]. She was delivered to the Norwegian passenger ship company [[Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab]] of [[Bergen]] in 1905. ''Irma'' sailed for the company until she was attacked and sunk by two [[Motor Torpedo Boat|MTB]]s belonging to the [[Royal Norwegian Navy]] on 13 February 1944.

==Before the Second World War==
[[File:DS Irma i pakkis.jpg|thumb|left|''Irma'' in [[Drift ice|pack ice]] off [[Svalbard]] sometime in the 1920s]]
After delivery, ''Irma'' served on the [[Bergen]]&ndash;[[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] route<ref name="sffarkiv1">{{cite web |last=Kleppa |first =Hermund |url=http://www.sffarkiv.no/sffbasar/default.asp?p=result&db=dbatlas_leks&art_id=5997&spraak_id=1&ptype=single |title=Minnestein over lege Einar Djuvstein omkom ved Irma-forliset 1944 |accessdate=24 January 2009 |work=[[Sogn og Fjordane]] [[Sogn og Fjordane County Municipality|County Municipality]] |year=2000 |language=no}}</ref> until she was transferred to Norway in the autumn of 1921 to carry out tourist voyages to the [[North Cape, Norway|North Cape]] and [[Spitsbergen]] in the summer seasons.<ref name="Bakka"/> In 1927, she was put on the Norway&ndash;[[Hamburg]] route, replacing SS ''Neptun'' and [[SS Mira (1891)|SS ''Mira'']].<ref name="Bakka"/> A new heating system was installed in 1913 and [[Two-way radio|wireless radio]] in 1914. ''Irma'' had a new streamlined rudder put in place in 1928.<ref name="Lille"/> In 1931, she joined the [[Hurtigruten]] route in Norway, replacing [[SS Hera (1889)|SS ''Hera'']] after the latter's shipwreck in March that year.<ref name="Bakka">Bakka 1993: 57</ref> ''Irma'' was rebuilt that year and once again the year after that.<ref name="Warsailors"/> In a series of upgrades she received a refrigeration system in 1933, improved navigational equipment in 1938 and an [[echo sounding]] device in 1939. ''Irma'' was a very popular ship amongst her passengers, with her smoking salon receiving particular praise.<ref name="Lille"/> She had only one serious accident in the pre-war years, which occurred when she hit a reef off [[Kabelvåg]] in the [[Lofoten]] islands in 1937. Although suffering leaks in her port side, ''Irma'' managed to make port in Kabelvåg and put ashore all of her 120 passengers. Repairs were carried out at a shipyard in Bergen.<ref name="Bakka"/>

==Second World War==

===Troopship duties===
Following the outbreak of the Finnish-Soviet [[Winter War]] in late November 1939 Norway reinforced her northern border forces and ''Irma'' was dispatched from the [[Nordland]] port of [[Mosjøen]] on 11 December 1939, transporting a load of Norwegian troops to the border with the Soviet-occupied Finnish district of [[Pechengsky District|Petsamo]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://home.online.no/~naslakse/2vk/Norge.2vk.html |title=2vk: Norge &ndash; 1939 |accessdate=14 January 2009 |last=Aslaksen |first=Nils Martin |language=no |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070416194529/http://home.online.no/%7Enaslakse/2vk/Norge.2vk.html |archive-date=April 16, 2007 }}</ref> The troops transported on ''Irma'' belonged to the first battalion of Infantry Regiment 14. Initially the orders from the military had been that the entire battalion was to board ''Irma'' for the journey to [[Finnmark]], even though the ship was only certified to carry less than half the number of people involved. After vivid protests from both soldiers and officers over safety concerns and overcrowding, the original plan was abandoned and only half the battalion shipped off on ''Irma'', the other half transported days later on the fellow Hurtigruten steamer {{SS|Richard With||2}}.<ref name="Skogheim&Westrheim 1984: 106-108">Skogheim&Westrheim 1984: 106-108</ref> The incident with Norwegian conscripts being subjected to attempts at forcing them to board an overcrowded ship led to a public outcry in Mosjøen. The Mosjøen-based newspaper ''[[Helgeland Arbeiderblad]]'' published an article shortly after the incident criticizing the Norwegian military leadership's handling of the troop transport.<ref name="Skogheim&Westrheim 1984: 106-108"/>

When the German [[Operation Weserübung|invasion of Norway]] was initiated on 9 April 1940, ''Irma'' was at Bergen,<ref>Bakka 1993: 65</ref> one of the Norwegian cities captured by German forces that day. She continued to sail along the Norwegian coast with passengers and freight during the German [[Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany|occupation of Norway]].

===Last voyage===
On 13 February 1944 ''Irma'' was sailing northwards from Bergen to [[Trondheim]]<ref name="sffarkiv1"/> under the command of [[Captain (nautical)|Captain]] Sofus Strømberg.<ref name="Hegland154">Hegland 1989: 154</ref> That day she had a 43 strong crew and was carrying 40 Norwegian passengers as well as probably seven Germans.<ref name="Voksø">Voksø 1994: 402</ref> Her cargo consisted of freight, mail and 1,800 tons of [[herring]].<ref name="sffarkiv1"/>

====Sinking====
At 1837hrs ''Irma'', sailing in [[Hustadvika]] Bay<ref name="sffarkiv1"/> by [[Hestskjær Lighthouse]]<ref name="Vesterålen">{{Cite journal | last =Krogstad | first =Peter | title =På havets bunn står skutene… | journal =[[Bladet Vesterålen]] | pages =58&ndash;59 | date =21 December 2007 | url =http://www.isdykk.no/mSpider/_data/filarkiv/m1200746676.pdf | language=no }}</ref> off the port of [[Kristiansund]] in [[Møre og Romsdal]],<ref name="Warsailors"/> was attacked by {{HNoMS|MTB 627}} and {{HNoMS|MTB 653}}.<ref name=seekrieg194302>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/43-02.htm |title=Seekrieg 1943, Februar |accessdate=31 July 2015 |last=Rohwer |first=Jürgen |author-link=Jürgen Rohwer |author2=Gerhard Hümmelchen  |work=Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart |language=de }}</ref> She suffered a large explosion in the bow area. The initial explosion, which caused massive damage, was followed by another amidships shortly thereafter, the ship immediately starting to sink. During the incident ''Irma'' was in the same area as the 1907 Norwegian cargo ship [[SS Henry|SS ''Henry'']]. ''Henry'' was sunk shortly after ''Irma''. In addition to what turned out to be [[torpedo]] strikes the two ships were subjected to in total 2,034 rounds of [[heavy machine gun]] fire.<ref name="sffarkiv1"/> Sixty-one civilian Norwegians died on ''Irma'', another two on ''Henry''.<ref name="Voksø"/> Only 25 people survived the sinking of ''Irma'' and for days afterwards dead bodies washed ashore on the Norwegian coast as far north as [[Namsos]].<ref name="Vesterålen"/> Before ''Henry'' was sunk she had been able to launch two of her [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]] and these first saved several of their own crewmen before moving to the location where ''Irma'' had gone down and rescuing some survivors from floating rafts. About an hour into the incident the [[tugboat]] ''Hopplafjord'' passed the scene and rescued further survivors from rafts.<ref name="Voksø"/> The [[Fishing vessel|fishing boat]] ''Sveggøy'' also rescued 12 survivors from a raft after the sinking.<ref name="Vesterålen"/>

''Irma''{{'}}s sinking constituted the last major loss for the Hurtigruten service during the Second World War, with numerous coastal passenger ships having up to that point been lost to [[Naval mine|mines]], [[Aerial warfare|air]] and [[Submarine warfare|submarine]] attacks since the April 1940 German invasion of Norway.<ref name="krigsl">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Thowsen |first=Atle |author-link=Atle Thowsen |editor=Dahl, Hans Fredrik |editor-link=Hans Fredrik Dahl |encyclopedia=[[Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45]] |title=Hurtigruten |url=http://www.nb.no/nbsok/nb/d2e8afecb1aba47bf48bb3cd246dd070?index=0#0 |page=184 |accessdate=2009-01-15 |year=1995 |publisher=Cappelen |location=Oslo |language=no}}</ref>

The wreck of ''Irma'' was discovered by a geological [[survey vessel]] on 3 November 1999 north of [[Averøy]] at a depth of {{convert|200|m|ft}}.<ref name="Vesterålen"/>

==Reactions to the sinking of ''Irma'' and ''Henry''==
[[File:Propaganda poster Norway 1942.jpg|thumb|right|1942 Nazi propaganda poster attempting to link the exiled Norwegian King [[Haakon VII of Norway|Haakon VII]] to the sinking of civilian Norwegian ships.]]
The first official word to come out about the sinking of ''Irma'' and ''Henry'' in Norway was from the Norwegian national socialist party [[Nasjonal Samling]]'s official publication ''[[Fritt Folk]]'' on 15 February 1944. The [[National Socialism|national socialist]] newspaper used the word ''Skjendselsdåd'' ({{langx|en|Disgraceful deed}}) in the headline. The next day, 16 February 1944, ''Fritt Folk'' stated that [[Royal Navy|British]] Motor Torpedo Boats had been responsible for the attack.<ref name="sffarkiv1"/> Only after the end of the Second World War did it become known that the ships responsible belonged to the Royal Norwegian Navy,<ref name="Voksø"/> ''[[MTB 627]]'' sinking ''Irma'' and ''[[MTB 653]]'' sending ''Henry'' to the bottom.<ref name="Hegland153"/> The two warships had been towed from [[Shetland]] to Hustadvika by the converted [[whaler]] [[HNoMS Molde|HNoMS ''Molde'']], departing Shetland on 11 February 1944,<ref name="H&L"/> and were on a mission to intercept German and German-controlled shipping.<ref name="Voksø"/><ref name="Vesterålen"/>

The loss of Norwegian lives in the incident was exploited by the Nasjonal Samling propaganda machine, [[Thorleif Fjeldstad]] of the party's naval arm calling for Norwegians to join the ranks of the [[Kriegsmarine]].<ref name="H&L">Hegland&Lilleheim 1998: 97</ref><ref name="Siv48">Sivertsen 2001: 48</ref>

As was also the case with the Hurtigruten ship [[SS Sanct Svithun|SS ''Sanct Svithun'']] sunk the previous year, and [[SS Barøy (1929)|SS ''Barøy'']] sunk in 1941, ''Irma'' was depicted on one of the three [[Semi-postal stamp|postage stamps]] commemorating war-related shipwrecks released on 20 May 1944 by the [[Posten Norge|Norwegian Postal Service]]. ''Irma'' was portrayed on the 20 [[øre]] stamp.<ref name="sffarkiv1"/> The shipwreck stamps were designed by German-born Norwegian pro-Nazi propaganda artist and war reporter [[Harald Damsleth]].<ref>Engdal 2006: 200</ref>

==Controversy==
The sinking of ''Irma'' and ''Henry'' has been controversial ever since the Second World War, with disagreements over the exact nature of the events. The Royal Norwegian Navy remains adamant that ''Irma'' and ''Henry'' sailed without lights or national markings and were sailing as a convoy escorted by a German [[naval trawler]].<ref name="Voksø"/><ref name="Hegland153">Hegland 1989: 153</ref><ref name="H&L"/><ref name="Siv48"/> This has largely been disputed by the survivors of ''Irma'' and ''Henry''.<ref name="Voksø"/> All [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces were under strict orders not to attack Norwegian coastal liners travelling alone on the Norwegian coast.<ref name="krigsl"/>

The MTB crews also claimed that ''Henry'' took evasive action after ''Irma'' was hit,<ref name="Hegland153"/> while the survivors claimed that she had stopped to launch two of her lifeboats to assist the survivors from ''Irma'' when she herself was hit and sunk.<ref name="Voksø"/>

One explanation for the presence of the naval trawler reported by the crews of ''MTB 627'' and ''MTB 653'' has been fronted by several researchers. In the Hustadvika area was a small tugboat, the ''Hopplafjord'', which rescued survivors after the sinking of the two ships. ''Hopplafjord'', being similar to a naval trawler in size and profile, may have been misinterpreted as an escort vessel by the MTB commander.<ref name="Hegland154"/>

==Post-war memorials==
The sinking of ''Irma'' and ''Henry'' received an official memorial on 16 September 2002 when King [[Harald V of Norway]] first attended a church service in [[Bremnes Church]] together with bishop [[Odd Bondevik]],<ref name="OHRV">{{Cite journal | last =Schramm | first =Barbara | title =Kongens besøk på M/S Midnatsol | journal =ØHRV-nytt | volume =3 | issue =4 | pages =11 | date =November 2002 | url =http://www.ohrv.net/medlem/medlemsblad/2002/04/OHRV_nytt__4_2002.pdf | language=no }}</ref> and then unveiled a memorial monument at Røeggen on the island Sveggen in [[Averøy]] listing the names of the 65 Norwegians who lost their lives in the incident.<ref name="OHRV"/><ref>{{cite web| title =Tragedia den 13. februar 1944 | work =Sæbø skole | url =http://www.hjorundfjord.no/saboskule/arkiv/Prosjekt/Virvelvind/Andre/prosjekt2.htm | language=no | accessdate =22 January 2009 }}</ref> The day's events concluded with the King leading a ceremony with around 180 invited guests on board the Hurtigruten ship [[MS Midnatsol (1982)|MS ''Midnatsol'']] at the site of the shipwrecks. Two Royal Norwegian Navy Motor Torpedo Boats participated in the ceremony by lowering a flower wreath into the water.<ref name="OHRV"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Irma (ship, 1905)}}

==Literature==
* {{cite book|last=Bakka |first=Dag Jr. |title=Skipene som bandt kysten sammen &ndash; Hurtigruten gjennom 100 år |publisher=Rhema Forlag |location=Bergen | year=1993 |language=no}}
* {{cite book|last=Engdal |first=Odd G. |title=Norsk marinehistorisk atlas 900&ndash;2005 |publisher=Vigmostad & Bjørke AS |location=Bergen | year=2006 |isbn=82-419-0454-1 |language=no}}
* {{cite book|last=Hegland |first=Jon Rustung |title=Angrep i skjærgården &ndash; Norske motortorpedobåters operasjoner fra Shetland 1941&ndash;1945 |publisher=Dreyers Forlag A/S |location=Oslo |year=1989 |isbn=82-09-10533-7 |language=no}}
* {{cite book |title=Norske torpedobåter gjennom 125 år &ndash; MTB våpenets 125 års jubileumsbok 1873&ndash;1998 |last=Hegland |first=Jon Rustung |first2=Johan Henrik |last2=Lilleheim |year=1998 |publisher=Norsk Tidsskrift for Sjøvesen |location=Hundvåg |isbn=82-994738-1-0 |language=no }}
* {{cite book |title=Sjøforsvaret dag for dag 1814&ndash;2000 |last=Sivertsen |first=Svein Carl |year=2001 |publisher=Norsk Tidsskrift for Sjøvesen |location=Hundvåg |isbn=82-92217-03-7 }}
* {{cite book |title=Alarm &ndash; Krigen i Nordland 1940 |last=Skogheim |first=Dag |author-link=Dag Skogheim |author2-link=Harry Westrheim|first2=Harry |last2=Westrheim |year=1984 |publisher=[[Tiden Norsk Forlag]] |location=Oslo |isbn=82-10-02582-1 |url=http://www.nb.no/utlevering/nb/b9a3e4ce81c26c5913593af3c64df165 |language=no}}
* {{cite book|last=Voksø |first=Per |author-link=Per Voksø |title=Krigens Dagbok &ndash; Norge 1940&ndash;1945 |publisher=Forlaget Det Beste |location=Oslo |year=1994 |isbn=82-7010-245-8 |language=no}}

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{{February 1944 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irma, SS}}
[[Category:Maritime incidents in February 1944]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of Norway]]
[[Category:Steamships of Norway]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Tees]]
[[Category:Troop ships of Norway]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Norway]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Norwegian Sea]]
[[Category:1905 ships]]