SS Springfjord
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: |
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| Namesake: |
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| Owner: | |
| Port of registry: | |
| Builder: | Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted |
| Launched: | 1939 |
| Completed: | 1940 |
| Out of service: | 1954 |
| Fate: | Bombed and sunk by CIA aircraft, Puerto San José, Guatemala, 27 June 1954 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Cargo ship |
| Tonnage: | 2,036 GRT |
| Length: | 289.3 ft (88.2 m) |
| Beam: | 44.1 ft (13.4 m) |
| Draught: | 18.3 ft (5.6 m) |
| Installed power: | 188 NHP |
| Propulsion: | Triple-expansion steam engine |
SS Springfjord was a 2,036 GRT cargo ship that was launched in Norway for a British shipping company in 1939, taken over by Nazi Germany in 1940, re-taken by the United Kingdom in 1945 and destroyed by the CIA in Guatemala in 1954.
In 1939 Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted (TMV) of Trondheim, Norway launched Springfjord for Springwell Shipping Co, Ltd of London. Springwell created a separate company, Springfjord Shipping Co, Ltd, to actually own the ship.Springford was a conventional cargo steamer of her era, powered by a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine of TMV's own manufacture.
In April 1940, while Springfjord was still being fitted out in Trondheim, the German troops invaded Norway. The German authorities had her completed for Deutsche Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft "Hansa" (DDG Hansa) of Bremen, who renamed her Rüdesheimer.
In May 1945 German forces in Norway surrendered to the incoming British military occupation. Rüdesheimer was seized at Tønsberg and transferred to the British Ministry of War Transport. The MoWT added its standard "Empire" prefix to her original name, making her Empire Springfjord. In 1946 the MoWT was dissolved and in 1947 the ship was restored to Springwell Shipping Co Ltd, who reinstated the original version of her name Springfjord.
In 1954 the CIA was engineering a coup d'état in Guatemala to replace its elected government with a dissident Guatemalan colonel, Carlos Castillo Armas. In May 1954 the Swedish cargo ship MS Alfhem had evaded US sea and air patrols to deliver a cargo of Czechoslovak armaments to Puerto Barrios on Guatemala's Caribbean coast to augment the elected government's defences. The CIA was determined to prevent any further arms deliveries. This included using a covert "Liberation Air Force", disguised as rebels unconnected with the USA, that the CIA had created to support Colonel Castillo's few hundred rebels.
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Wikipedia