Posted by Axel van Eesbeeck gemyala@netcologne.de on April 11, 2001 - transferred from the old forum.

Hallo again
The german cruiser Admiral Hipper captured the finnish ship Ester Thorden (Esther Thorden ?) in 1940.

I need the size of the ship, the exact date of capturing (and sinking ?) and the fate of the crew

Thank you

RESPONSES:

Posted by Roger W Jordan rogwj@aol.com on April 12, 2001.
Ester Thorden (ex CG Thulin 1932) was owned by Rederi-AB Ester Thorden and managed by Gustaf B Thorden, of Brando, Finland. She was built at Fredriksstad in 1921, and was 1940 gross tons, 3050 deadweight tons, length 264 feet 9 inches overall, 42 feet 2 inches breadth, 18 feet draught, was fitted with a triple expansion engine and had a service SPEED of 9 knots.
At the end of July to the end of the first week of August 1940, Admiral Hipper made an expedition into the Arctic, north of Tromso, hoping to find some enemy shipping, but only found neutrals. I think one of these was Ester Thorden, which was reported as having on board "contraband" and was taken as a prize. However, it seems she was later released for in 1941 she came under the control of the Ministry of War Transport and under the British flag was managed by RH Penney & Sons, London. She was returned to Finland in 1946.
Roger W Jordan

Posted by Axel van Eesbeeck on April 12, 2001.
Thanks for the fast reply. Your answers are allways helpful to me. Yesterday i ordered your book at amazon.de. It should arrive in 1 or 2 weeks. I hope, after that i don't have so much questions.

Best regards
Axel van Eesbeeck