THE SHIPS THAT BUILT THE WEST

THE SHIPS THAT BUILT THE WEST The Scandinavian Navy, Wapama and Værdalen Olaf T. Engvig Themo Publishing The Scandinavian Navy.indb 3

Layout and Design: Håkon Engvig of 4eign Design. Cover photo: Lena Knutli Main titles by the same author: Skoleskipene Shipping and Culture Gamle Dampen Slepebåten Oscarsborg Viking to Victorian Legendariske Skuter Legends in Sail Paper: 157 gsm matte art paper Set in ITC Officina Serif 12/19 Endsheets: Photo: Einar Borgfjord Printed in Shanghai by Bigger Printing Group Published in the USA Copyright 2018 by Olaf T Engvig Illustrations in this book are either in the public domain, published with permission or copyrighted by the author. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be transmitted in any shape or form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher. Themo Publishing Ventura, California MMXVIII themopublishing@earthlink.net Winner of the 9th Karl Kortum Maritime History Award, a program of the Friends of Pacific Maritime History The author has received support from: Harold D. Huycke Publications Endowment of the Friends of Pacific Maritime History The Norwegian Non-Fiction Literature Fund The Norway House Foundation De Engvigske Samlinger av 1980 The Engvig Family Trust ISBN: 978-1-5323-1333-2 Keywords: Hybrid ship, industrial revolution, iron, lumber schooner, lumber transportation, maritime history, Norwegian, Pacific Coast, Scandinavia, Scandinavian Navy, ship restoration, steam schooner The Scandinavian Navy.indb 4

In memory of my father, Captain Thormod Engvig, who gave me the ballast needed for safe voyages around the world, and with thanks to all who helped save the last hybrid ship from the nineteenth century, the lumber schooner VÆRDALEN. Photo: Engvig 5 The Scandinavian Navy.indb 5

CONTENTS FOREWORD INTRODUCTION THE SCANDINAVIAN NAVY How Scandinavian Was The Scandinavian Navy? Scandinavian Immigrants Ships and Sailors from Scandinavia The Lumber Industry and the Schooners Sail and Steam The Sailors Union of the Pacific Life on the Lumber Schooners The 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition The Emergency Fleet s Challenges Ship Owners and Captains Nickname Tobacco and Liquor A New World Rising 8 12 18 19 24 28 32 42 46 51 56 59 63 68 70 77 6 The Scandinavian Navy.indb 6

WAPAMA The Historic WAPAMA Museum Ship History Lost Forever THE LAST HYBRID SHIP VÆRDALEN Construction and Early History The VÆRDALEN s Particulars The VÆRDALEN s History 1892-1975 Fighting World War II Thirty Years on the Coast Saving the VÆRDALEN A Safe Haven The Struggle Continues IRON IN SHIP BUILDING From Wood to Iron Three Iron Ships and a Tower Imprints in Iron EPILOGUE SOURCES INDEX 84 85 91 98 106 107 113 116 123 126 131 143 151 158 159 163 167 171 179 182 7 The Scandinavian Navy.indb 7

Lumber schooner VÆRDALEN, at full speed with engine power only, after her restoration from 1981 to 2016. Photo: Lena Knutli The Scandinavian Navy.indb 8

FOREWORD When I researched material for my Norwegian book Gamle Dampen (Old Steamers) in 1976, I discovered that two local mail and passenger ships built in the 1800s, the HANSTEEN and the VÆRDALEN, were still around. I solicited help to save them. No official body wanted to help. On the contrary, I was told to not get engaged in saving them as it would make it more difficult to fund the restoration of two other younger steamships. I therefore took it upon myself to save and restore the HANSTEEN of 102 feet, built from iron in 1866. It took me 15 years. The other ship, the VÆRDALEN, was an odd-looking steamer made to carry mail, passengers, livestock and lumber. It was built in the same manner as the lumber fleet on the West Coast of the United States. These ships were manned by Scandinavians. After I moved from Norway to California, I befriended the founder and director of the maritime ship collection in San Francisco, Karl Kortum. He had saved the last steam lumber schooner of the Pacific Coast. This helped me formulate my two-fold mission: to retell the story of Scandinavians working on the steam lumber ships of the Pacific Coast (the Scandinavian Navy) and to restore the lumber schooner VÆRDALEN, located in Norway. First printing of the book Gamle Dampen was done 1977 by Adresseavisens Forlag, Trondheim. This second printing is by Tapir, Trondheim, 2008. 9 The Scandinavian Navy.indb 9

The Ships That Built The West The latter became a challenge as the Norwegian government flat out refused to get involved in the project even if the ship should have been at the top of the list. With a lot of good helpers and almost no money apart from my own meager funds and some private monetary support, I fought for 36 years to restore the VÆRDALEN, keeping all original parts intact. This challenging work lead to delays in telling the story of the Scandinavian Navy. I first started writing this book 25 years ago and then over the years there were numerous starts and stops. My goal was to finish the book as soon as the ship was ready, which took decades longer than I expected. The VÆRDALEN and the HANSTEEN, both constructed during the Industrial Revolution (late 1800s), are among the rarest and largest movable objects of their type. They were made from iron and built for a specific purpose (mapmaking and lumber, respectively). Both had survived more or less intact from when our forefathers built them. A ship is a sophisticated item full of information that can be interpreted by scientists. Hence, it is important to save and care for these historic artifacts. Like an archeologist that unearths a site that has not been compromised, a 150 year old ship that has not been heavily restored will contain very valuable information secured in its original fabric. Good generations save and protect memories of what their forefathers created so new generations can investigate and interpret historic information. That will make them proud of their ancestors achievements. Today the VÆRDALEN is ready, as is this book about the Scandinavian Navy. For now, the final words are written. I am definitely not in debt to any official body of government as their representatives only made things more difficult. Writing applications for public funding for what is undoubtedly a historically very valuable ship without getting any money for 20 years in a row was extremely discouraging. Thankfully, I got help from friends, family and various companies and finally succeeded with the restoration after more than three challenging decades. 10 A special thank you goes to two ladies: Shipyard owner Anna Synnøve Bye who helped when the ship appeared to be almost too far gone, and Janne Irene Dyrendahl for providing space on land for the ship during the restoration. Numerous helpers in Rissa and Fosen have pitched in with their professional expertise without sending The Scandinavian Navy.indb 10

Foreword bills. Over the years Rissa High School students and teachers have aided the ship in many ways. Major monetary contributions have come from Det Norske Veritas, Værdalsbruket, Stiftelsen UNI, Nordic Shipping and Billabong Shipping. Finally, I want to include my wife, Mona, and my three sons, Tormod, Håkon and Einar, who worked on the ship for many years during their vacations to move the project forward. Unfortunately, due to burglary, theft and vandalism, we had to stop and restart the project many times over. After each set-back, my helpers and I just had to pick up the pieces and start all over again. Juvenile delinquents and drug addicts did their best to destroy the VÆRDALEN, but 100 year old iron plates became too intimidating even for them. Time and time again, many great helpers assisted so we could finish the project. To each and every one of you, on behalf of coming generations who may see this ship as a crown jewel of our maritime history, I am forever thankful. Olaf T. Engvig The stolen steering wheel from 1891 was returned to the ship before the VÆRDALEN was ready for sea trial. Photo: Mona Engvig 11 The Scandinavian Navy.indb 11