Owned by Aabenraa Rederi-A/S and bound from Frederikshavn to Blyth in ballast, she was torpedoed along with another Danish steamer, Bothal. At 04.15 hours, U-19 (KL Joachim Schepke), spotted two steamers northeast of the Moray Firth and twenty minutes later fired a G7a torpedo that missed the first ship. At 04.57 hours, a G7e torpedo was fired that struck Viking in the engine room and caused the ship to sink immediately. The second steamer, Bothal, was hit amidships by a G7e torpedo at 05.15 hours and sank after breaking in two.
Thirty men lost their lives in the two attacks, the survivors taking to liferafts. That evening, two of those rafts were spotted by an RAF plane 28 miles south east of Wick and the 'City of Edinburgh', under Coxswain Neil Stewart Jnr, was launched at 7.45pm. In moderate seas and a stiff NNW breeze, the lifeboat men began a search of the area and they eventually found one raft with two men in it from the 'Viking' . A further search was made and then suddenly the lifeboat men spotted a small light, on the horizon. They went to check and found that it was coming from a torch being shone from a liferaft with five men in it from the 'Bothal'. One of these men had been seriously injured and as the lifeboat men tended to his injuries, Coxswain Stewart took the lifeboat back to Wick at full speed, the survivors being landed there at 6.30am.
Only two of the Viking's crew of seventeen were rescued.
Possible GPS position is 5827.123N, 0227.755W. The wreck was found here when a fishing trawler snagged her nets and depth believed to be about 60m.
The Viking was built in 1893 by Flensburger Schiffsbau Gasellschaf. She was 231.3' x 34.3' x 13.7', (69m long by 10m wide). Her triple-expansion engines developed 106 nhp and she was 1153 gross registered tons.
Thirty men lost their lives in the two attacks, the survivors taking to liferafts. That evening, two of those rafts were spotted by an RAF plane 28 miles south east of Wick and the 'City of Edinburgh', under Coxswain Neil Stewart Jnr, was launched at 7.45pm. In moderate seas and a stiff NNW breeze, the lifeboat men began a search of the area and they eventually found one raft with two men in it from the 'Viking' . A further search was made and then suddenly the lifeboat men spotted a small light, on the horizon. They went to check and found that it was coming from a torch being shone from a liferaft with five men in it from the 'Bothal'. One of these men had been seriously injured and as the lifeboat men tended to his injuries, Coxswain Stewart took the lifeboat back to Wick at full speed, the survivors being landed there at 6.30am.
Only two of the Viking's crew of seventeen were rescued.
Possible GPS position is 5827.123N, 0227.755W. The wreck was found here when a fishing trawler snagged her nets and depth believed to be about 60m.
The Viking was built in 1893 by Flensburger Schiffsbau Gasellschaf. She was 231.3' x 34.3' x 13.7', (69m long by 10m wide). Her triple-expansion engines developed 106 nhp and she was 1153 gross registered tons.