''Ilse L.-M. Russ'' was a cargo ship that was built in 1926 by Flensburger Schiffbau Gesellschaft, Flensburg. She was seized by the Allies in May 1945 at

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

, 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 renamed ''Empire Conqueror''. In 1946, she was allocated to the Norwegian Government and renamed ''Ekornes''. She was sold into merchant service in 1947 and renamed ''Elfrida''. She served until December 1959 when she sprang a leak and sank off the coast of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

Description

The ship was built as yard number 403 by Flensberger Schiffbau Gesellschaft, Flensburg. She was launched in 1926, with completion in August of that year. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . The ship had a GRT of 1,600 and a NRT of 942. She had a DWT of 2,600. 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 Flensburger Schiffau Gesellschaft. It could propel her at .

History

''Ilse L.-M. Russ'' was built in 1926 for Schiffart und Assekuranz GmbH. She was operated under the management of Ernst Russ,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. She was allocated the Code Letters RFVK. In 1934, her code letters were changed to DHMI. In 1936, ''Ilse L.-M. Russ'' was one of 20 ships chartered to transport timber from

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

to Germany. In 1940, ''Ilse L.-M. Russ'' was one of the ships that was to have taken part in

Operation Herbstreise During World War II, Operation Herbstreise (''Autumn Journey'' in German language, German) was a planned series of deception operations to support the Germany, German invasion of the United Kingdom (Operation Sealion, Operation Seelöwe). It would ...

. In May 1945, ''Ilse L.-M. Russ'' was seized by the Allies at

. She was passed to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Conqueror''. She was placed under the management of William S Scott & Co Ltd. Her port of registry was changed to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The Code Letters GMXN and United Kingdom Official Number 180700 were allocated. In 1946, ''Empire Conqueror'' was transferred to the

Norwegian Government The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power is ...

and was renamed ''Ekornes''. Her port of registry was changed to

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

and the Code Letter LLTS were allocated. In 1947, she was sold to Tetlies Rederi AS,

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 ...

and renamed ''Elfrida''. She was operated under the management of Bjarne Tetlie. On 8 December 1959, ''Elfrida'' was on a voyage from Archangelsk,

to a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

port with a cargo of

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

, when a leak developed in the engine room. The weather at the time was stormy. A distress call was issued when the ship was at . The ship was discovered capsized with the loss of all 20 crew. She sank on 9 December some off Stavanger.

References

External links

Photo of ''Elfrida''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilse L M Russ 1926 ships Ships built in Flensburg Steamships of Germany Merchant ships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of Norway Merchant ships of Norway Maritime incidents in 1959