''Nyon'' was a cargo ship that was built in 1952. She ran aground in 1958, and was cut in two in order to salvage her. The stern section was salvaged and a new bow section built and fitted in 1959. She served until 1962 when she was involved in a collision with another ship and sank.

Description

As built, ''Nyon'' was long, with a beam of and a draught of . She was assessed as , , 9,540 DWT. She was propelled by a 5-cylinder

MAN A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

, which drove a single screw propeller. It could propel the ship at .

History

''Nyon'' was built in 1952 by C Van der Giessen & Zoon, Scheepswerf ''De Hoop'',

Krimpen aan den IJssel Krimpen aan den IJssel () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of in , and covers an area of of which is water. History Krimpen is first mentioned in a docum ...

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

, the Netherlands. She was built for the Suisse-Atlantique Societé de Navigation Maritime SA,

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, Switzerland. ''Nyon'' was launched on 16 July 1952 and delivered on 17 October 1952. She had a crew of 33. ''Nyon'' was allocated the Swiss Official Number 050 and

Code Letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids. Later, with the introduction of ...

HBFC. Her port of registry was

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. In 1956, ''Nyon'' was sold to Helica SA,

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. She was placed under the management of Suisse Outremer SA de Gérance et d'Affretement Maritimes, Geneva. On 16 November 1958, ''Nyon'' was on a voyage from

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, Senegal when she ran aground at St. Abbs Head,

Berwickshire Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...

. At the time there was dense

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...

in the area. Two forward holds were breached, with a total of five holes between them. The

fishing boat A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial, arti ...

''Emulate'' of

Eyemouth Eyemouth is a town and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is east of the main north–south A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road and north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The town's name ...

brought bags of cement to ''Nyon'', which were used in an unsuccessful attempt to plug the holes. The British tugs ''George V'' and ''Beamish'' attempted to refloat the ship without success. On 20 November 23 of the crew were taken off by a lifeboat. That day, the decision was made to cut the ship in two, salvaging the stern portion. Wijsmuller Salvage of the Netherlands were awarded the contract under

Lloyd's Open Form The Lloyd's Open Form, formally "Lloyd's Standard Form of Salvage Agreement", and commonly referred to as the LOF, is a standard form contract for a proposed marine salvage operation. Originating in the late 19th century, the form is published b ...

rules. The ocean-going tugs ''Simson'' and ''Hector'' were despatched to Scotland. On 21 November, the operation to separate the two parts of the ship began. The sides were cut on 23 November, leaving just the bottom plates intact. Although all four tugs attempted to separate the two sections, they were unsuccessful. On 25 November, it was decided to use explosives to part the two sections of the ship. This was achieved on 27 November. The stern part of Nyon was towed to

North Shields North Shields ( ) is a town in the borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. The population of North Shields at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom cens ...

, Northumberland, arriving on 28 November. The bow section was left ''

in situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...

'' and was destroyed in a gale some days later. Following further work to strengthen the stern section, it was towed to

Bolnes {{Infobox settlement , official_name = Bolnes, municipality of Ridderkerk , image_flag = Ridderkerk snow bolnes.jpg , flag_size = 250px , image_shield = , shield_size = , image_map = Ridderkerk-bolnes.png , mapsize = 250px , subdivision_type = Cou ...

, South Holland, Netherlands, in February 1959. A new bow section was manufactured by NV Boeles Shipyards, Bolnes, and fitted on 8 June 1959. Following the rebuild, ''Nyon'' was longer, measuring . She was assessed as , , 10,003 DWT. On 15 June 1962, ''Nyon'' was on a voyage from

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, Canada, when she collided in

gy conditions with the Indian cargo ship in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, some south of

Beachy Head Beachy Head is a Chalk Group, chalk headland in East Sussex, England. It is situated close to Eastbourne, East Sussex, Eastbourne, immediately east of the Seven Sisters, Sussex, Seven Sisters. Beachy Head is located within the administrative ar ...

, East Sussex. A

mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiz ...

was broadcast giving her position as , some west of her true position. ''Nyon'' sank within fourteen minutes. All 32 crew were rescued by ''Jalazad''.

References

External links

Photo of ''Nyon'' as built
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyon 1952 ships Ships built in the Netherlands Merchant ships of Switzerland Maritime incidents in 1958 Maritime incidents in 1962 Shipwrecks in the English Channel Ships sunk with no fatalities Ships sunk in collisions