Hello Trygve an Warships,
Thanks for detailed WHANGAREI history. (99 years old and still going strong!!).
MAY, RUSSEL, SPRØIT + SKUM: Warship's story is new to me. MAY: I've got no WWI documentation, but she was rebuilt to a tug, named Storesand after a short life as whale catcher. She probably went down 4/12-1920 after a "collision" with a sunken wreck. (Not documented).
RUSSEL, SPROIT and SKUM: First of all, Chr. Salvesen & Co. has never been a Norwegian company, but was established in Leith, Scotland 1872. The firm is still exisisting in UK as Christian Salvesen. (During the whaling era they used Tønsberg as their Norwegian "homeport", but that's an other story). In the book "From 70 North to 70 South", (CS & Co. company history), there is a Spesial Note in connection to the fleet list, Author Graeme Somner writes: "The company, at the request of the Admiralty in 1915, "ferried" the catchers BLINK (South African), GDI (South African), RUSSEL (Norwegian), SPROIT (Norwegian) an SKUM (Norwegian), back to the UK from the Antarctic for service as minesweepers. For the voyage the vessels were registered in the company's name, but they were at no time employed whaling".
I have no idea of what happend to the three catchers during WW I or later.
Comments?
Regards,
Ulf