SS ''Kristianiafjord'' was the first ship in the fleet of the Norwegian America Line, built by

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

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, UK. The name refers to the

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

leading into the Norwegian capital

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, at the time called Kristiania. Launched from its shipyard on 23 November 1912, it was put into service in 1913, the same year as its sister ship, SS ''Bergensfjord''. It embarked on its maiden voyage on 4 June that year, sailing from Christiania (Oslo) through

Christiansand Kristiansand is a city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation of the mun ...

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and

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, with the captain S. C. Hiortdahl. ''Kristianiafjord'' had a tonnage of 10,699, and was fitted with

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transm ...

and electric light. She could take 1,200 passengers – 100 first class, 250 second class and 850 third class. ''Kristianiafjord'' remained on the same route for the next four years, but on 15 July 1917 the ship wrecked near

Cape Race Cape Race is a point of land located at the southeastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Its name is thought to come from the original Portuguese name for this cape, "Raso", mean ...

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due to navigational error. There were 1144 persons on board at the time, but there were no deaths. About two weeks later, on 28 July, the wreck was destroyed and lost in a storm.

Other ships by the same name

The same name was later used by the company for two other ships. The first one (tonnage 6,759) was purchased in 1921, and sold in 1955 to Marinos & Frangos, Nassau, who renamed it ''Aghios Stefanos''. The last ''Kristianiafjord'' (tonnage 17,188) was a bulk carrier, bought in 1981. It had previously been in the possession of D. Lauritzen,

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, under the name of ''Dan Bauta''. It was purchased by the Norwegian America Line in 1989, but sold to Vibeke K/S, Oslo, in 1993, and renamed ''Federal Vibeke''.

References

External links

Ship List of the Norwegian America Line

Norway Heritage -- Hands across the sea

Pictures of SS Kristianiafjord at Avtrykk 22.04.2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristianiafjord (1912) 1912 ships Ships built on the River Mersey Steamships of Norway Passenger ships of Norway Norwegian America Line Maritime incidents in 1917 Shipwrecks of the Newfoundland and Labrador coast World War I merchant ships of Norway