Museum tug HUDSON returned to her homeport Maassluis last Friday after a much needed drydocking at the Padmos Shipyard at Stellendam. The shipyard did an excellent job and she looks (almost) new again. Assisted by the ADRIAAN (Kotug) and TONIJN (ex van der Tak) manned by volunteer crews she made the passage in perfect winter weather.
HUDSON was built in 1939 and was the prototype for a whole class of near similar, slightly larger tugs. Her engine was a 5 cylinder VBF-535 Baumeister & Wain of only 600 hp. That did not stop her from roaming around the globe, performing all sorts of tows until 1963 when she was sold for scrap. After removal of her interiors and machinery she was converted into a flake ice factory for the fishing fleet of Stellendam. In 1989 she was sold for scrap a second time, but a group of enthusiasts under guidance of Piet de Nijs stepped in and saved her. She is now a static museum ship at Maassluis with the permanent exhibition on board on the Dutch merchant navy during World War 2. HUDSON played a vital and heroic role in this period.
The drydocking drained most of the bank account of the foundation, so any donations are more than welcome in order to keep this unique vessel preserved for future generations:
Bank account nr: NL25RABO0149046022, Stichting Help de Hudson
Draafjeld, a real veteran with “many miles on the clock”
As built in 1889:
New rig in 1911:
De-rigged and motorized in 1931. She traded on the Norwegian coast until 1977:
Refurbished and full restored back to as close to original as possible by1981. Now used to carry tourists on cruises to Svalbard and Bear Island and later on longer trips to Australia and America.
Update:
The next catamaran with the same name had an accident in 1999 at nearly the same location as the older Sleipner in 1976.
This accident ended more tragically, with the loss of 16 lives:
This little reefer ship did regular trips across the North Atlantic carrying frozen fish from Norway to Gloucester, MA.
A lot of young boys from Ålesund and the surrounding district got their first trip at sea on board this ship. (No, I was not one of them)
PS> She was originally owned by a German company and intended as a support vessel for a Whale Factory ship. Sold to A/L Norsk Frysetransport, Ålesund in 1955.
The converted side trawler Petrel was one of the first Norwegian oil exploration vessels to operate in several parts of the world; here during a call in Malta. Photo Michael Cassar
Petrel* of Tromsø was chartered to Shell in the spring of 1968 for operations in the Far East and later came to South America for SSL.
She was not the only Norwegian fishing vessel that got converted and worked worldwide:
There is a list of converted fishing vessels at the end of the article.
Here is one that ended up being scrapped in Singapore in 1995:
PS> I inspected her for the buyer and was amazed that she was in immaculate condition, with hardly any rust to be seen, except for the parts that had been added on at conversion in 1975.
The buyer intended her “for further trading”, but a clause in the contract prohibited use as seismic vessel and converting to other use proved too expensive.
CCGS HUDSON was an offshore oceanographic and hydrographic survey vessel operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The ship entered service in 1963 with the Canadian Oceanographic Service, stationed at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, called CSS HUDSON. The ship made several significant scientific voyages, among them the first circumnavigation of the Americas in 1970. The ship was transferred to the Canadian Coast Guard in 1996 and decommissioned in 2022. A replacement is not scheduled for delivery until 2024–2025.
Source : Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
