''Dana'' was a Danish research vessel, best known for the circumnavigation of the world in the third Dana expedition 1928–1930. It sank in 1935 after a fishing vessel collided with it in fog.

Construction and design

It was built as an

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

in 1917 (HMT ''John Quilliam'') for military service.

Danish service

In 1921, HMT ''John Quilliam'' was sold to the

Danish Government The Cabinet of Denmark (), officially the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark (), is the national cabinet of the Kingdom of Denmark. It has been the chief executive body and the government of the Danish Realm—Denmark proper together with the F ...

. She was subsequently rigged as a deep-sea research

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...

. She was renamed ''Dana II'', to avoid confusion with the motor schooner '' Dana'', which had served on the first and second

Dana expedition The Dana expeditions were four Danish research expeditions from 1920 to 1930. The first two were undertaken by the ''Dana I'' and the third by the ''Dana II''. They were funded in part by the Carlsberg Foundation and led by Johannes Schmidt. The ...

s. ''Dana II'' replaced the previous Danish research vessel ''Thor'', served until 1935 and was herself succeeded by ''Dana III'', built in 1937.

Collision and loss

''Dana'' sank on 22 June 1935 in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

following a collision with the German

''Pickhuben'', H.G.92 of

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is a town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has a footprint o ...

, about 70 km west of

Ringkøbing Ringkøbing (older spelling ''Ringkjøbing'') is a town in Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality in Central Denmark Region, Region Midtjylland on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in west Denmark. It has a population of 9,830 (1 January 2025).

. The collision happened in dense fog at 6:07 AM when ''Pickhuben'' rammed ''Dana'' with great force about amidships. None of the 22 persons onboard ''Dana'' were injured in the collision and all managed to escape to ''Pickhuben''. The ship sank ten minutes after Captain Hansen left the ship, the last man to do so. All personal belongings and large amounts of scientific material were lost. Dana's captain directed ''Pickhuben'' to the nearby

lightship A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. It is used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the ...

Horns Reef Horns Rev is a shallow sandy reef of glacial deposits in the eastern North Sea, about off the westernmost point of Denmark, Blåvands Huk.

where the following telegram was radioed to the Danish Government: "Dana hit by Trawler Pickhuben in fog at 6 AM this morning, sank immediately, all hands saved onboard the trawler, course towards Esbjerg. Dana lies at approx. 30 metres of water, 55 degrees, 55 minutes northern latitude, approx. 7 degrees eastern longitude. A large buoy with flag was deployed by the trawler at the spot." At the following inquiry in Esbjerg and later also in Hamburg, full responsibility for the collision was attributed to the navigator on ''Pickhuben'', who had steamed too fast in the dense fog and had failed to react to ''Dana's'' warning signals. The wreck of ''Dana'' was found in 2005 on the northern side of

Horns Reef Horns Rev is a shallow sandy reef of glacial deposits in the eastern North Sea, about off the westernmost point of Denmark, Blåvands Huk.

on the Danish west coast.

References

{{reflist Research vessels of Denmark Ships built in Selby Maritime incidents in 1935 Shipwrecks in the North Sea Maritime accidents involving fog 1917 ships Mersey-class trawler