''Laura'' was an

coaster Coaster (stylized as COASTER) is a commuter rail service in the central and northern coastal regions of San Diego County, California, United States operated by the North County Transit District (NCTD). The commuter rail line features eight s ...

that was built in 1908 by Kjøbenhavns Flydedok & Skibsværft,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

for Danish owners. She was captured in 1917 by and passed to German owners as a

prize of war A prize of war is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle, typically at sea. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 19th centuries. Basis in inte ...

. A sale in 1935 saw her renamed ''Sylt''. She was seized by the Allies in May 1945, passed to the

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport ...

(MoWT) and was renamed ''Empire Continent''., then ''Master Nicholas'' following a sale in 1947. In 1952, she was sold to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and renamed ''Soussana II''. A further sale in 1955 saw her renamed ''Georgios Matsas''. On 18 April 1955, she struck a reef off

Muros Muros may refer to: *Muros, A Coruña, a municipality in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain * Muros, Sardinia, a comune in the province of Sassari in the region Sardini, Italy * Muros (comarca), a comarca in the ...

, Spain and sank. Although ''Georgios Matsas'' was refloated two months later, she was declared a constructive total loss. Despite this, she was sold to Panama, repaired and renamed ''Sur'', serving until 1965 when she was scrapped.

Description

The ship was built in 1908 by Kjøbenhavns Flydedok & Skibsværft,

. As built, the ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of and a draught of . As built the ship had a GRT of 787. She was , 1,135 DWT. The ship was propelled by a

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

, which had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by Kjøbenhavns Flydedok & Skibsværft.

History

''Laura'' was built for A/S Dampskibs Selskab Vesterhavet. She was operated under the management of J. Lauritzen A/S,

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

. The

Code Letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

NRDG were allocated. On 28 April 1917 she was on a voyage from

Göteborg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a p ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

, United Kingdom, when she was captured by the German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

in the

Skagerrak The Skagerrak (, , ) is a strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, the southeast coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area through the Danish Straits to the Baltic Sea. The ...

at and taken as a prize of war. In 1935, ''Laura'' was sold to Wendenhof Reederei GmbH,

Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...

and was renamed ''Sylt''. In 1940, the ship was requisitioned by the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

. On 21 July 1943, she sailed from

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

, Norway under escort from the ''

vorpostenboot ''Vorpostenboot'' (plural ''Vorpostenboote''), also referred to as VP-Boats, flakships or outpost boats, were German patrol boats which served during both World Wars. They were used around coastal areas and in coastal operations, and were tasked w ...

'' for a port to the north. In May 1945, ''Sylt'' was seized by the Allies at

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

, Norway. She was passed to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Continent''. Her port of registry was changed to London. The Code Letters GQBN and United Kingdom

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

180805 were allocated. She was placed under the management of G F Cuthbert Brown & Co Ltd. ''Empire Continent'' was recorded as long, with a beam of , a depth of and a draught of approximately . In 1947, ''Empire Continent'' was sold to A G Tsavliris Ltd, London and was renamed ''Master Nicolas''. In 1952, she was sold to N T Papadatos, Greece and was renamed ''Soussana II''. In 1955, she was sold to Loucas G Matsas, Piraeus, and renamed ''Georgios Matsas''. On 18 April 1955, she struck rocks off

, Spain and subsequently sank. The ship was refloated on 17 June but was declared to be a constructive total loss. ''Georgios Matsas'' was sold and repaired. She was then sold to Dabaco & Co,

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

and renamed ''Sur'', serving until she was scrapped in

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

, Spain in August 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laura (1908) 1908 ships Ships built in Copenhagen Steamships of Denmark World War I merchant ships of Denmark Maritime incidents in 1917 Captured ships World War I merchant ships of Germany Steamships of Germany Merchant ships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of Greece Merchant ships of Greece Maritime incidents in 1955 Steamships of Panama Merchant ships of Panama Maritime incidents in Spain