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D/S Iris To Iris on the "Ships starting with I" page. Manager: Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab, Bergen Delivered in May-1901 from Gourlay Brothers & Co., Dundee, Scotland (198) as liner Ingerid to Naaml. Vennootschap Maats Noorwegen (D. Burger & Zoon) Rotterdam. Steel hull, 236.4' x 23.2' (32.2?) x 15.5', 1213 gt, 1020 tdwt, Tripple Expansion (Gourlay Bros.) 1110ihk, 13 knots. Used as liner Rotterdam-Stavanger-Haugesund-Bergen with passengers and cargo. Line (including ships) sold on Apr. 2-1907 to Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab, Bergen, renamed Iris. The other ships were Lerfos (became Ceres) and Olav Kyrre (Flora). Ran aground near Hårr, Jæren on Apr. 22-1907, salvaged and repaired. New interior for 3rd class in 1931, interior for 1st class altered in 1938. In service to Rotterdam. Captain: Bjarne Grønneberg
On Jan. 9-1940 Iris rescued 2 men from a raft of the Norwegian ship Manx, North Sea, 13 died. She's listed in the U.K.-Norway Convoy ON 14 in Febr.-1940, returning to the U.K. later that month with Convoy HN 15, carrying mail and passengers. Early in March she joined Convoy ON 18, then went back to the U.K. with Convoy HN 19, bound for North Shields with passengers and fresh fish. Towards the end of March she joined joined Convoy ON 22 for Norway, then in Apr.-1940 she was in Convoy HN 24, which arrived Methil from Norway on Apr. 7-1940; in other words, she got out of Norway just before the German invasion. Follow the links for more info, several other Norwegian ships took part. (Other HN and ON convoys also have a ship by this name, but unless the Advance Sailing Telegram is available, which usually gives the ship's tonnage, it's difficult to determine the nationality for sure. See, for instance, Convoy HN 6, where there's a Swedish Iris listed). Iris arrived Toronto on Aug. 3-1940 together with Lyra carrying men from the Norwegian Air Force. According to the book "Krigens Dagbok Norge 1940-1945" they had departed Glasgow on July 21. The Air Force was establishing a training camp in Canada. There's a ship by this name listed in station 11 of Convoy HX 221 at the end of Dec.-1942, but no nationality or tonnage is given, so I'm not sure if this was the Norwegian Iris.
In the afternoon of Oct. 4-1944 Iris was approaching Cape Harrison on the coast of Labrador with supplies and personnel for the American weather station there when she ran aground in heavy weather. She had been on a voyage to various ports along the northeast coast of Canada for the American Army, the voyage having started in St. John's on Aug. 16. She had departed Hebron for Cape Harrison on Oct. 3. The grounding caused her to spring a leak which resulted in the engine room filling with water and by 22:00 that evening the water was 3' above the main deck. All the cabins were also flooded, but as the water at that time stopped rising it was decided to remain on board until the next morning at which time USCG M/S Laurel came to the scene and Iris was abandoned. She could not be saved and was declared a total loss. All 36 crew + 47 passengers survived. Hearings were held in New York on Oct. 16-1944 with the captain, the 1st mate, the 2nd mate, the 1st engineer, the 3rd engineer, and the helmsman, Able Seaman Gjerde appearing. Crew List - No casualties:
Related external link: There was also a German D/S Iris, 3323 gt, ex Norwegian Herøy, sunk by allied aircraft in Aspevåg near Ålesund, Norway on March 17-1945. The Norwegian D/S Log was lost in the same attack. Back to Iris on the "Ships starting with I" page. The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "Bergenske, byen og selskapet", by Dag Bakka Jr., some info received from T. Eriksen, Norway (misc. sources), "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland, "Sjøforklaringer fra 2. verdenskrig", Norwegian Maritime Museum, Volume I, and misc. (ref. My sources).
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