Evig eies kun det tapte!

The story of Pietro Querini's meeting with Lofoten

Further Reading:

  • Il Naufragio della Querina di Pietro Querini, Nicolò de Michiele e Cristofalo Fioravante;
    Anacharsis Editions, 2005. ISBN 978-88-88389-79-0
  • Alla larga da Venezia di Franco Giliberto e Giuliano Piovan;
    Marsilio Editori, 2008. ISBN 978-88-317-9459-6
S/S Donau S/S Donau

S/S Donau , a German supply ship of 9'035 tons, came to grief in the Bay of Skiphelle, Norway in January 1945

Here she is depicted at her final rest by a local artist and photograper around 1948

Prior to Donau's departure from Oslo harbour on January 16, 1945, Norwegian patriots placed ten magnetic limpets on the hull [1]. In addition to the ship's normal crew, the cargo was reported to comprise:

  • 450 horses
  • ~200 vehicules
  • 1250 mountaineering troops
  • 250 staff of the Luftwaffe

From Oslo, Donau headed south down the Drøbak Sound. The limpets had been set to detonate when her position would have been in open water, but the explosions were felt shortly after the harbor pilot had disembarked at Drøbak. The captain soon realized that his last resort would be to run her ashore. He had the good fortune to reach the gravel beach in the Bay of Skiphelle, about 1.6 Nautical Miles south of Drøbak. There, Donau grounded hard and fast with the bow in the air and the stern at the depth of about 30 Meter. The site was easily accessible, but we, as kids at the time, were told to stay away from the wreck. It was haunted by the ghosts of the poor souls who had been carried to Germany on board the ship during those ugly years.

Donau was refloated by the Høvding Salvage Company and taken to Oslo in 1953. The vessel was emptied and scrapped according to the terms of the contract that the company had with the Norwegian post-war government.

Further reading:
  1. Det vil helst gå godt by Max Manus; Norsk Kunstforlag
Port Choiseul, Versoix, January 2005 Suledrott grounded on Småskjaer in the Drøbaksund just before 19h00 on 27 september 2006. At 22h00, the vessel was pulled off by Odd Fellow and Gyltingen On 2007-11-23, MS Explorer hit a submerged object (probably a concealed piece of an iceberg) in the Antarctic Ocean. A leak developed. Fortunately MS NordNorge was in the vicinity and came to assistance. All passengers and the crew were salvaged. Later the same day, the vessel sank.
In the afternoon of 29 September 2008, Falknes was heading south from Sjursøya near Oslo, bound for Sandnes in southwestern Norway. The vessel passed to the west of the Håøa island. Instead of turning east around the southern tip of that island and head for clear water north of Oscarsborg, or more precisely, Nordre Kaholmen, it went straight up onto the submerged defensive barrier, the Jetty, situated in front of the fort. Estimated speed was 10 knots at the time of the grounding at position 59°N39'43" 10°E36'28. Quickly, the rescue boat Odd Fellow II came to assistance, but it was no match for the 74 m long and 12 m wide Falknes. By coincidence, a modern and powerful tug BB-Connector passed by, heading for Denmark. After some commercial peddling a deal was struck, and by dawn Falknes was pulled off. At 05h34 on 2008-09-30 the APRS position of the vessel was picked up outside Storsand heading south towards Tofte harbour for a check-up.