''Selnes'' was a cargo ship that was built in 1928 as ''Gemma'' by

Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft is a German shipbuilding company located in Flensburg. The company trades as ''Flensburger'' and is commonly abbreviated ''FSG''. History ''Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft'' was founded in 1872 by a group of ...

, Flensburg,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for German owners. A sale in 1929 saw her renamed ''Peter Vith''. She was seized by the Allies in May 1945, passed to the

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport ...

(MoWT) and was renamed ''Empire Constitution''. In 1946, she was transferred to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

and renamed ''Grannes'' and then ''Selnes'' following a further sale later that year. In 1950, she was involved in a collision in the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

and was declared a total loss.

Description

The ship was built in 1928 by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, Flensburg. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . The ship had a GRT of 1,593 and a NRT of 946. The ship was propelled by a

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

, which had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft.

History

''Gemma'' was built for Holm & Molzen,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. In 1929, she was sold to H P Vith GmbH, Flensburg and renamed ''Peter Vith''. Her port of registry was Flensburg. The Code Letters LNTQ were allocated. In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to DDTV. On 24 January 1934, ''Peter Vith'' was in collision with the German

pilot boat A pilot boat is a type of boat used to transport maritime pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting. Pilot boats were once sailing boats that had to be fast because the first pilot to reach the incoming ship ...

''Ditmar Köel'' off the ''Elbe I Lightvessel'' in foggy weather. In 1936, ''Peter Vith'' was one of 20 ships chartered to transport timber from

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

to Germany. In May 1945, ''Memel'' was seized by the Allies at Flensburg. She was passed to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Constellation''. Her port of registry was changed to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and she was placed under the management of W A Souter & Co Ltd. The Code Letters GFYC and United Kingdom Official Number 1806444 were allocated. In 1946, ''Empire Constellation'' was transferred to

, and was renamed ''Grannes''. She was sold later that year to Einar Wahlstrom and renamed ''Selnes''. On 26 November 1950, ''Selnes'' was in collision with the off the West Barrow Buoy in the

. Although she was beached on the West Barrow Sands, she was declared a total loss.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selnes 1928 ships Ships built in Flensburg Steamships of Germany Merchant ships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of Norway Merchant ships of Norway Maritime incidents in 1950