Bound for Ellsmere Port, near Liverpool, with a cargo of wood pulp from Obo, Finland, the Stellatus went aground during thick haze between four and five o'clock in the morning of Tuesday 3 March 1959. She had a crew of twenty-six on board. The ship had run on a reef under a high cliff a short distance south of the ruins of Buchollie Castle, ancient seat of the Mowat family. It was almost high tide at the time.
As she was in no immediate danger, she did not want aid at first and the Stellatus's Master sent a private message to his owners in Helsingfors that she was in no immediate danger and required no assistance. Fortunately this message was picked up by Wick Radio who immediately informed the Coastguard, so that when twenty minutes later the Stellatus asked for a tug and other assistance, most of the important rescue-action authorities had already been alerted by Mr. Addison, the District Officer, who knew the dangers facing any ship which went ashore on that treacherous rock-bound part of the coast.
The vessel was lying parallel to the land, about 120 yards off shore. A fresh south-easterly wind was blowing, and, in case of danger, Wick lifeboat, City of Edinburgh, was called out and life saving apparatus crew were also summoned.
The Wick seine-net boat, Starlight (Skipper George Sinclair), on her way to the west, was first to arrive at the ship and stood by for some time. When the lifeboat arrived, she took up position on the leeward side of the Stellatus - between the ship and the rocks.
Wick Life Saving Apparatus Company had a twelve miles journey to the casualty which could not be seen from the main road, and to which they were directed by the Wick police who had located the wreck lying parallel to the shore and about 100 yards from the cliffs, which at this point are between 70 and 100 feet high.
The last half-mile was particularly difficult going because the gear had to be man-handled over boggy ground, and while it was being set up, communication with the stranded vessel had been established by the District Officer, Mr. Addison using a 2lb. rocket and nylon line. Mr. Addison said: "With the first shot the wind carried the line past the ship, but the second one fell over her stern." There was however, some confusion on board because the crew, after hauling out the whip and making a prolonged study of the tally board, secured the whip block dead centre on the boom of the after derrick instead of on to the mast or some other vertical king post.
This misunderstanding prevented the Company sending out and setting up the hawser, although conditions at the time with the wreck rolling about four degrees each way would have made working very difficult.
Thus everything was in readiness to effect a rescue by land and/or sea should the need arise. A police patrol car was in the vicinity and relayed messages by radio to Wick. Mr. D. McHutchon, superintendent of the Deep Sea Mission, Wick, had also gone to Freswick and organised a canteen service for the coastguards and other helpers on the clifftop.
In the early forenoon, members of the crew of the Stellatus began transferring luggage and personal belongings to the lifeboat. The salvage tug, Metinda III, based at Scapa, arrived at 10.30 a.m. and stood by. In the forenoon an R.A.F. plane from Lossiemouth flew over. Commander John Woolecombe, Coastguard Inspector for the area, who was out at Freswick most of the day, said "the plane had been sent up in case any further assistance would be required".
"After midday, although there were still no immediate danger, 12 members of the crew were taken off by the lifeboat, under the command of Coxswain Neil Stewart and were landed at Wick about 2.30 in the afternoon. Coxswain Neil Stewart said: "We had no difficulty in getting alongside. The men were able to come off easily." The ship was badly holed and the engine room and forward hold were flooded with about three feet of water which was still rising. The ship had neither light or steam.
The men who came off were stewards and engineers, whose presence was not required for the salvage attempt. On their arrival at Wick the seamen were taken to a hotel for a hot meal and later went to the Deep Sea Mission. After a short stay in Wick the lifeboat returned to the ship. In the early evening Captain Klintberg decided that it would not be safe for the others to remain aboard the vessel through the night. The lifeboat then took off the captain and the rest of the crew and landed them at Wick about 8 p.m.
They had a hot meal at the Deep Sea Mission and arrangements for their accommodation for the night were made by Mr. David Sandison, fish salesman, who was local agent for the Shipwrecked Mariner's Society. On Thursday 5th March the responsibility for their further accommodation was transferred to the Swedish Consul in Wick, Mr. John S. Duncan, fish salesman. The Stellatus was still on the reef on the 5th March, her position unchanged, as far as could be judged by salvage experts who saw the vessel.
When he stepped ashore from the lifeboat at Wick, Captain Klintberg said he: "intended to go back aboard the vessel the following day to see if it were possible to salvage her, but it would actually be a matter for the insurance company to decide." He thought his ship was badly holed. This was the Master's first mishap after being at sea for 40 years. He had commanded the Stellatus for the previous five years.
The chief steward, Ivor Holm, said: "I was in bed when the vessel struck but I hardly felt anything because I believe the ship was going slowly at the time. Water rose fairly quickly in the hold and engine room and soon we had neither steam or light. I think the vessel is badly holed."
The Chief Steward, who belonged to Hoganas, was making his third trip in the Stellatus as steward, but he had sailed in her as cook for six months in 1939.
Charles Olnsson, 62-year-old oiler, said: "I was on watch in the engine room when the ship struck at 4.25 a.m. We were only doing half speed. There was not much impact. We had been dodging about awaiting daylight to go through the Pentland Firth. There was fairly dense fog at the time."
The youngest member of the crew was 17-year-old mess boy, Ake Engstrom, Stockholm, who was on his first trip to sea, as was 18-year-old engine room boy, Kjell Claesson of Ronneby, Sweden.
Another junior member of the crew was 18-year-old mess boy, Bo Karlsson, who was on his second voyage.
Following the arrival by train on the Wednesday afternoon of Captain M. Anderson, salvage officer, Metal Industries Ltd., who was accompanied by Mr. James Thomson, diver, a survey was made of the ship's position. Captain Klintberg and members of his crew went out with Captain Anderson from Wick in a Keiss fishing boat. On their return, it was learned that there was little change in the position of the Stellatus, and that the tug, Salveda, had left the Clyde and was making for Freswick.
Following a strong south-easterly wind during the night, it was found that it was impossible to make another survey of the ship from the sea. Captain Anderson and Mr. Thomson went out by road form Wick and inspected the ship from the land. The Salveda was on the scene, along with the Metinda III.
On returning to Wick, Captain Anderson said: "With the bad weather nothing can be done to-day. It is impossible to get out to the ship and we cannot see from the shore if there is any change in her condition." In view of the fact that no salvage attempt could be made, the Metinda III left to go to Aberdeen for refuelling, leaving the Salveda standing by.
A week later a strong-easterly wind produced some swell against these rocks and with Stellatus swept by spray and breaking seas it could then be seen how difficult the rescue would have been. The lifeboat could only have carried out a rescue by breeches buoy, and all the crew would have had to use the L.S.A. equipment.
A few hours of this pounding and the Stellatus was broken in half; the stern part falling away into deep water, while the bows came even closer to the cliffs.
The ship, twenty-two years old at the time of her sinking, was built in Norway in 1936 as the Herma Gorthon (Yard No. 281), by Frederikshavns Vaerft & Flydedok A/S, Frederikshavn. She had been lying up for repair for months prior to her final voyage. She was owned at the time of her loss by Rederi A/B, Brubor, Helsingborg. She had two boilers, a 4-cylinder compound expansion engine and a single shaft, giving her a top speed of 13.5 knots. She was 95m long by 13m wide by 5.8m deep and 1827 gross registered tons.
Following her sinking some salvage work was carried out on the wreck and she was certainly dived on during the 1970s, but over time her position had been lost. Acting on information supplied by the Hellsmouth Diving and Shipwreck Company and from a magnetometer search by Dave Steele and Maurice Edmunds of Caithness Diving Club, the wreck of the Stellatus was rediscovered on 31 August 2015.
The wreckage lies in a shallow position close to the foot of the cliffs in a maximum depth of around 7m and is weed covered in the summer months. Items identified include a spare propellor, winch, hull plates and a boiler.
An underwater video of the Stellatus as she appears on the seabed can be viewed on our You-Tube channel.
As she was in no immediate danger, she did not want aid at first and the Stellatus's Master sent a private message to his owners in Helsingfors that she was in no immediate danger and required no assistance. Fortunately this message was picked up by Wick Radio who immediately informed the Coastguard, so that when twenty minutes later the Stellatus asked for a tug and other assistance, most of the important rescue-action authorities had already been alerted by Mr. Addison, the District Officer, who knew the dangers facing any ship which went ashore on that treacherous rock-bound part of the coast.
The vessel was lying parallel to the land, about 120 yards off shore. A fresh south-easterly wind was blowing, and, in case of danger, Wick lifeboat, City of Edinburgh, was called out and life saving apparatus crew were also summoned.
The Wick seine-net boat, Starlight (Skipper George Sinclair), on her way to the west, was first to arrive at the ship and stood by for some time. When the lifeboat arrived, she took up position on the leeward side of the Stellatus - between the ship and the rocks.
Wick Life Saving Apparatus Company had a twelve miles journey to the casualty which could not be seen from the main road, and to which they were directed by the Wick police who had located the wreck lying parallel to the shore and about 100 yards from the cliffs, which at this point are between 70 and 100 feet high.
The last half-mile was particularly difficult going because the gear had to be man-handled over boggy ground, and while it was being set up, communication with the stranded vessel had been established by the District Officer, Mr. Addison using a 2lb. rocket and nylon line. Mr. Addison said: "With the first shot the wind carried the line past the ship, but the second one fell over her stern." There was however, some confusion on board because the crew, after hauling out the whip and making a prolonged study of the tally board, secured the whip block dead centre on the boom of the after derrick instead of on to the mast or some other vertical king post.
This misunderstanding prevented the Company sending out and setting up the hawser, although conditions at the time with the wreck rolling about four degrees each way would have made working very difficult.
Thus everything was in readiness to effect a rescue by land and/or sea should the need arise. A police patrol car was in the vicinity and relayed messages by radio to Wick. Mr. D. McHutchon, superintendent of the Deep Sea Mission, Wick, had also gone to Freswick and organised a canteen service for the coastguards and other helpers on the clifftop.
In the early forenoon, members of the crew of the Stellatus began transferring luggage and personal belongings to the lifeboat. The salvage tug, Metinda III, based at Scapa, arrived at 10.30 a.m. and stood by. In the forenoon an R.A.F. plane from Lossiemouth flew over. Commander John Woolecombe, Coastguard Inspector for the area, who was out at Freswick most of the day, said "the plane had been sent up in case any further assistance would be required".
"After midday, although there were still no immediate danger, 12 members of the crew were taken off by the lifeboat, under the command of Coxswain Neil Stewart and were landed at Wick about 2.30 in the afternoon. Coxswain Neil Stewart said: "We had no difficulty in getting alongside. The men were able to come off easily." The ship was badly holed and the engine room and forward hold were flooded with about three feet of water which was still rising. The ship had neither light or steam.
The men who came off were stewards and engineers, whose presence was not required for the salvage attempt. On their arrival at Wick the seamen were taken to a hotel for a hot meal and later went to the Deep Sea Mission. After a short stay in Wick the lifeboat returned to the ship. In the early evening Captain Klintberg decided that it would not be safe for the others to remain aboard the vessel through the night. The lifeboat then took off the captain and the rest of the crew and landed them at Wick about 8 p.m.
They had a hot meal at the Deep Sea Mission and arrangements for their accommodation for the night were made by Mr. David Sandison, fish salesman, who was local agent for the Shipwrecked Mariner's Society. On Thursday 5th March the responsibility for their further accommodation was transferred to the Swedish Consul in Wick, Mr. John S. Duncan, fish salesman. The Stellatus was still on the reef on the 5th March, her position unchanged, as far as could be judged by salvage experts who saw the vessel.
When he stepped ashore from the lifeboat at Wick, Captain Klintberg said he: "intended to go back aboard the vessel the following day to see if it were possible to salvage her, but it would actually be a matter for the insurance company to decide." He thought his ship was badly holed. This was the Master's first mishap after being at sea for 40 years. He had commanded the Stellatus for the previous five years.
The chief steward, Ivor Holm, said: "I was in bed when the vessel struck but I hardly felt anything because I believe the ship was going slowly at the time. Water rose fairly quickly in the hold and engine room and soon we had neither steam or light. I think the vessel is badly holed."
The Chief Steward, who belonged to Hoganas, was making his third trip in the Stellatus as steward, but he had sailed in her as cook for six months in 1939.
Charles Olnsson, 62-year-old oiler, said: "I was on watch in the engine room when the ship struck at 4.25 a.m. We were only doing half speed. There was not much impact. We had been dodging about awaiting daylight to go through the Pentland Firth. There was fairly dense fog at the time."
The youngest member of the crew was 17-year-old mess boy, Ake Engstrom, Stockholm, who was on his first trip to sea, as was 18-year-old engine room boy, Kjell Claesson of Ronneby, Sweden.
Another junior member of the crew was 18-year-old mess boy, Bo Karlsson, who was on his second voyage.
Following the arrival by train on the Wednesday afternoon of Captain M. Anderson, salvage officer, Metal Industries Ltd., who was accompanied by Mr. James Thomson, diver, a survey was made of the ship's position. Captain Klintberg and members of his crew went out with Captain Anderson from Wick in a Keiss fishing boat. On their return, it was learned that there was little change in the position of the Stellatus, and that the tug, Salveda, had left the Clyde and was making for Freswick.
Following a strong south-easterly wind during the night, it was found that it was impossible to make another survey of the ship from the sea. Captain Anderson and Mr. Thomson went out by road form Wick and inspected the ship from the land. The Salveda was on the scene, along with the Metinda III.
On returning to Wick, Captain Anderson said: "With the bad weather nothing can be done to-day. It is impossible to get out to the ship and we cannot see from the shore if there is any change in her condition." In view of the fact that no salvage attempt could be made, the Metinda III left to go to Aberdeen for refuelling, leaving the Salveda standing by.
A week later a strong-easterly wind produced some swell against these rocks and with Stellatus swept by spray and breaking seas it could then be seen how difficult the rescue would have been. The lifeboat could only have carried out a rescue by breeches buoy, and all the crew would have had to use the L.S.A. equipment.
A few hours of this pounding and the Stellatus was broken in half; the stern part falling away into deep water, while the bows came even closer to the cliffs.
The ship, twenty-two years old at the time of her sinking, was built in Norway in 1936 as the Herma Gorthon (Yard No. 281), by Frederikshavns Vaerft & Flydedok A/S, Frederikshavn. She had been lying up for repair for months prior to her final voyage. She was owned at the time of her loss by Rederi A/B, Brubor, Helsingborg. She had two boilers, a 4-cylinder compound expansion engine and a single shaft, giving her a top speed of 13.5 knots. She was 95m long by 13m wide by 5.8m deep and 1827 gross registered tons.
Following her sinking some salvage work was carried out on the wreck and she was certainly dived on during the 1970s, but over time her position had been lost. Acting on information supplied by the Hellsmouth Diving and Shipwreck Company and from a magnetometer search by Dave Steele and Maurice Edmunds of Caithness Diving Club, the wreck of the Stellatus was rediscovered on 31 August 2015.
The wreckage lies in a shallow position close to the foot of the cliffs in a maximum depth of around 7m and is weed covered in the summer months. Items identified include a spare propellor, winch, hull plates and a boiler.
An underwater video of the Stellatus as she appears on the seabed can be viewed on our You-Tube channel.