SS Baychimo
SS Baychimo, 1931
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| History | |
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 Germany
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| Name: | SS Ångermanelfven |
| Owner: | Baltische Reederei GmbH, Hamburg |
| Builder: | Lindholmens Mekaniska Verkstad A/B, Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Yard number: | 420 |
| Launched: | 1914 |
| Fate: | To the UK as war reparations |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | SS Baychimo |
| Owner: | Hudson's Bay Company |
| Acquired: | 1921 |
| Homeport: | Ardrossan, Scotland |
| Fate: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Cargo ship |
| Tonnage: | 1,322 tons |
| Length: | 230 ft (70.1 m) |
| Propulsion: | Triple expansion steam engine |
| Speed: | 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
SS Baychimo was a steel-hulled 1,322 ton cargo steamer built in 1914 in Sweden and owned by the Hudson's Bay Company, used to trade provisions for pelts in Inuit settlements along the Victoria Island coast of the Northwest Territories of Canada. She became a notable ghost ship along the Alaska coast, being abandoned in 1931 and seen numerous times since then until her last sighting in 1969.
Baychimo was launched in 1914 as Ångermanelfven (Yard No 420) by the Lindholmens shipyard (Lindholmens Mekaniska Verkstad A/B) in Gothenburg, Sweden, for the Baltische Reederei GmbH of Hamburg. She was 230 ft (70.1 m) long, powered by a triple expansion steam engine and had a speed of 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph). Ångermanelfven (named after Swedish river Ångerman) was used on trading routes between Hamburg and Sweden until the First World War began in August 1914. After World War I, she was transferred to the United Kingdom as part of Germany's reparations for shipping losses and was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1921. Renamed Baychimo and based in Ardrossan, Scotland, she completed nine successful voyages along the north coast of Canada, visiting trading posts and collecting pelts.
On 21 July 1928, Baychimo ran aground off Pole Island in Camden Bay on the north coast of the Territory of Alaska. She was refloated the next day.
On 1 October 1931, at the end of a trading run and loaded with a cargo of fur, Baychimo became trapped in pack ice. The crew briefly abandoned the ship, travelling over a half-mile of ice to the town of Barrow to take shelter for two days, but the ship had broken free of the ice by the time the crew returned. The ship became mired again on October 8, more thoroughly this time, and on 15 October the Hudson's Bay Company sent aircraft to retrieve 22 of the crew; 15 men remained behind. Intending to wait out the winter if necessary, they constructed a wooden shelter some distance away. On 24 November a powerful blizzard struck, and after it abated there was no sign of Baychimo. Her captain decided she must have broken up during the storm and been sunk. A few days later, however, an Inuit seal hunter told him that he had seen Baychimo about 45 mi (72 km) away from their position. The crewmen tracked the ship down, but deciding she was unlikely to survive the winter, they removed the most valuable furs from the hold to transport by air. Baychimo was abandoned.
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Wikipedia