Alkimos (ship)

Alkimos as viewed from the shore, August 2012
History
Norway
Name:	Viggo Hansteen
Namesake:	Viggo Hansteen
Owner:	U.S. War Shipping Administration
Operator:	Nortraship
Builder:	Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards Inc., Baltimore
Laid down:	18 September 1943
Launched:	11 October 1943
Acquired:	18 October 1943
In service:	21 October 1943
Fate:	Sold, 1947
Name:	Alkimos
Owner:	Alkimos Shipping Company
Acquired:	1947
Fate:	Wrecked, May 1964
General characteristics (as built)
Type:	Type EC2-S-C1 liberty ship
Tonnage:	7,176 gross register tons (GRT) 10,865 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Displacement:	14,245 long tons (14,474 t)
Length:	441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam:	57 ft (17 m)
Draft:	27 ft 8 in (8.43 m) (full)
Propulsion:	2 oil-fired boilers Three cylinder triple expansion steam engine 2,500 hp (1,864 kW) 1 screw
Speed:	11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Range:	17,000 nmi (31,000 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Crew:	41

Alkimos was a Greek-owned merchant ship which was wrecked on the coast north of Perth, Western Australia in 1963. A nearby locality was later named after the vessel. The wreck is a popular diving venue.

The ship was built during World War II by Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards in Baltimore as part of the United States' Liberty ship program and was originally scheduled to be named George M. Shriver. It was launched on October 11, 1943. However, on October 20, the vessel was reassigned to the Norwegian Shipping & Trade Mission, was re-christened Viggo Hansteen. and saw war service for about 18 months, primarily in the Mediterranean and was crewed by mariners of various nationalities. It served as a troopship and transported cargo, in convoys that were sometimes attacked by German aircraft and U-boats.

A murder-suicide took place on board Viggo Hansteen in August 1944, while the ship was at Naples (some sources say Piombino);Canadian radio operator Maude Steane is reported to have been shot by another crew member, who then killed himself.

After the war it was sold to a Greek shipping company and renamed Alkimos, after a word meaning "strong" and a Greek god, Álkimos.

As Alkimos, the ship plied the world's oceans for some two decades. In March 1963, the vessel was on a voyage from Jakarta to Bunbury when it struck a reef on the 19 March 1963 near Beagle Island off the Western Australian coast. It was salvaged and towed to Fremantle, the port city for Perth, Western Australia, where it underwent repairs for two months. After settlement of a dispute concerning payment for the repairs, the Alkimos left Fremantle under tow by an ocean-going tug, the Pacific Reserve from Hong Kong.