''Selnes'' was a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

that was built in 1928 as ''Gemma'' by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft,

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for German owners. A sale in 1929 saw her renamed ''Peter Vith''. She was seized by the Allies in May 1945, passed to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and was renamed ''Empire Constitution''. In 1946, she was transferred to

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 t ...

and renamed ''Grannes'' and then ''Selnes'' following a further sale later that year. In 1950, she was involved in a collision in the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

and was declared a total loss.

Description

The ship was built in 1928 by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, Flensburg. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . The ship had a GRT of 1,593 and a NRT of 946. 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 Schiffbau-Gesellschaft.

History

''Gemma'' was built for

Holm & Molzen Holm & Molzen was a German company principally known for ship management between 1890 and 1932. History In the early 19th century the Holm family began to trade in the Flensburg area of Germany. In 1850 they expanded into coal. In 1865 they forme ...

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

. In 1929, she was sold to H P Vith GmbH, Flensburg and renamed ''Peter Vith''. Her port of registry was Flensburg. 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 ...

LNTQ were allocated. In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to DDTV. On 24 January 1934, ''Peter Vith'' was in collision with the German

pilot boat A pilot boat is a type of boat used to transport maritime pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting. Pilot boats were once sailing boats that had to be fast because the first pilot to reach the incoming ship ...

''Ditmar Köel'' off the ''Elbe I Lightvessel'' in

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...

gy weather. In 1936, ''Peter Vith'' 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 transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

to Germany. In May 1945, ''Memel'' was seized by the Allies at

. She was passed to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Constellation''. Her port of registry was changed to

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and she was placed under the management of W A Souter & Co Ltd. The Code Letters GFYC 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 ...

1806444 were allocated. In 1946, ''Empire Constellation'' was transferred to

, and was renamed ''Grannes''. She was sold later that year to Einar Wahlstrom and renamed ''Selnes''. On 26 November 1950, ''Selnes'' was in collision with the off the West Barrow Buoy in the

. Although she was beached on the West Barrow Sands, she was declared a total loss.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selnes 1928 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 1950