![Selandia Bangkok 1912 600dpi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Selandia_Bangkok_1912_600dpi.jpg)
''Selandia'' (after the Latin name for the Danish island of
Sjælland
Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020.
It is the 1 ...
) was the name of three ships of the Danish
East Asiatic Company
The EAC Invest A/S, formerly known as the Santa Fe Group and East Asiatic Company ( da, italic=yes, Det Østasiatiske Kompagni or ''ØK'') is a multinational holding and investment company, based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
History
The East Asiat ...
, the best known of which, the first MS ''Selandia'' of 1912, was the most advanced ocean-going
diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
motor ship in her time.
Construction
''Selandia'' and sister ship ''Fionia'' were results of negotiations between the Danish East Asiatic Company's president,
Hans Niels Andersen
Hans Niels Andersen (10 September 1852 – 30 December 1937) was a Danish shipping magnate, businessman, diplomat and founder of the East Asiatic Company.
Early life
Born into a working-class family in Nakskov, he trained as a shipbuilder befor ...
, and
Burmeister & Wain
Burmeister & Wain was a large established Danish shipyard and leading diesel engine producer headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded by two Danes and an Englishman, its earliest roots stretch back to 1846. Over its 150-year history, it g ...
shipyards,
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
...
which had been introduced to the concept of marine diesel engines by engineer
Ivar Knudsen
Ivar Peter Bagger Knudsen (1 April 1861 – 23 March 1920) was a Danish engineer. As the director of Burmeister & Wain (B&W), Knudsen led the development of the , the biggest, most advanced diesel-powered vessel of its time.
Early life
Knudsen ...
who led the ship's development.
[Hines, J.S. (1912). ''Pacific Marine Review'', Volumes 9–10]
/span>. New York, NY: General Books. p. 14. . Retrieved 11 November 2013. Negotiations were also underway for the Scottish firm of Barclay, Curle & Company to build Diesel motors on the Danish system and a third ship, to be a counterpart of ''Selandia'' and ''Fionia'', named .
She was built at Burmeister & Wain in Copenhagen, and launched on 4 November 1911 before embarking on her maiden journey from Copenhagen to Bangkok on 22 February 1912. ''Selandia'' did not have a funnel; instead exhaust from her engines escaped through exhaust ports in the aft mast.
Built for cargo and passenger services between
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
,
Genoa, Italy
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...
, and
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
, Thailand, ''Selandia'' had "very ample and rather luxurious" cabins for 20 first class passengers, single-berth cabins of "exceptional size, with toilet and bath for every two cabins, and an extra feature is the servants' rooms, arranged in connection with private cabins."
She is frequently referred to as "the world's first large ocean-going
diesel-powered ship", an "experiment," as previous powered vessels were driven by steam.
The new motorships were described as "smokeless" and caused some to describe them as "phantom ships" with an incident during the trials for ''Selandia'' in which a captain of another ship ignored warnings and ran across her bows because he "saw no smoke."
The ship attracted curious crowds from London to San Francisco that were often skeptical of a deep ocean ship not powered by the commonly used
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 ...
; yet within ten years there were over 2,000,000 deadweight capacity tons in commerce powered by diesel engines and British experts calculated the motorship had a 40% advantage in fuel costs, with fewer crew and steadier sea speeds.
There is evidence to say that the engine installation in ''Selandia'' was a world-first on numerous points, but she was not the world's first diesel-driven ocean-going ship, having been beaten to it by the Dutch tanker ''Vulcanus'' two years earlier.
Service
''Selandia'' the largest and most advanced diesel-driven ship at the time of her maiden voyage by way of
Aalborg
Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...
to London in January 1912 after completing trials in
Øresund
Øresund or Öresund (, ; da, Øresund ; sv, Öresund ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width v ...
.
[Stapersma,Prof. D.: 'Vulcanus versus Selandia' Scheepswerktuigkunde, July 1996.] On arrival in London on 27 February at West India Docks during a coal strike and attracted attention as the first large transoceanic ship independent of coal and was visited by
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, then First Lord of the Admiralty.
On her passage upriver assistance had been offered as none had before seen a large ship without a smokestack and thought she had suffered damage.
From London ''Selandia'' sailed for Antwerp with cargo and a number of the prominent guests that had visited the ship in London as well as members of the press.
From Antwerp the ship began a voyage to east Asian ports and was noteworthy for burning only 800 tons of fuel from Copenhagen to Bangkok whereas a coal burning ship would have required fuel taking up greatly more cubic space and dead weight.
She was sold to Panama in 1936 and renamed ''Norseman'',
and ''Tornator'' in 1940.
Later ships named ''Selandia''
A second ship of the same name was built in 1938 and scrapped in 1962.
The third ''Selandia'', built in 1972, was sold to USA in 1994 and renamed in 1998.
Eitzen Maritime Services
Eitzen Maritime Services (Seven Seas) or EMS Seven Seas is a global maritime services group serving merchant marine, offshore and defense customers. The company supplies general ship supplies, provisions, stores, spare parts and leading technical m ...
owned and operated a third vessel named ''Selandia''.
Films
![MS Selandia model](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/MS_Selandia_model.jpg)
''The Ship that Changed the World'' is a 60-minute drama documentary about the first oceangoing diesel-driven ship, M/S ''Selandia''. The film was produced in 2012 by Chroma Film ApS, with executive producer Anders Dylov for the 100-year anniversary on 17 February of that year. It was directed by Michael Schmidt-Olsen.
See also
*
Ivar Knudsen
Ivar Peter Bagger Knudsen (1 April 1861 – 23 March 1920) was a Danish engineer. As the director of Burmeister & Wain (B&W), Knudsen led the development of the , the biggest, most advanced diesel-powered vessel of its time.
Early life
Knudsen ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
MV Selandia CentenaryM/S Selandia 100 yearsSuccess of the First Large Diesel-Driven Motor Liner(Technical article with photos & engine drawings, 1912)
Vulcanus versus Selandia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selandia
Ships of Denmark
1911 ships
Ships built in Copenhagen
Maritime incidents in January 1942