Nicholas Peppas
04-07-2009, 23:05
Antissa was a very unusual British-owned, Greek-promoted passenger ship in the difficult 1922-24 times. She was built as Lomonosoff or Lomonosov by Dobson in the UK in 1891. She belonged to the Archangel (Arkhangelsk in Russia)-Mourmansk Shipping and Navigation Company in Archangel, Russia and did most of her runs in the first 29 years between Arkhangelsk, Onega, and Severodvinsk in the White Sea and Murmansk in the Barents Sea. Her name was given because the great Mikhail Lomonosov came from a Pomor village near Kholmogory in Arkhangelsk Oblast.
And then in 1920, in the aftermath of the Russian revolution, this ship had the most unusual story as described by http://www.archive.org/stream/leadingcasesonin00evaniala/leadingcasesonin00evaniala_djvu.txt
A group of British and Belgian officers and soldiers were at Murmansk, which had been under the Government of Northern Russia, when the town was captured by the Bolsheviks. The British and Belgians, who would probably have been killed if they had remained, could have escaped to Norway by land, but they decided instead to seize the steamer Lomonosoff, then lying in the harbor, which they navigated to a Norwegian port where they turned it over to the owners and claimed salvage on the ground that they had saved the ship from the Bolsheviks. In the action brought to enforce this claim, the owners set up several defenses, among them being that the plaintiffs had merely saved the ship from passing from the control of one government to the control of another. On this point the court, in The Lomonosoff (1920), L. R. [1921] P. 97, 105, said:
It is obvious that this court, respecting the comity of nations, would never treat as a meritorious service the act of persons who in defiance of the laws of an established government recognized by and in friendship with this country, took a ship out of the lawful control of such a government. But at Murmansk on February 21 there was no government recognized by this country and indeed no established government at all. There was for the moment a state of anarchy, during which armed men were taking possession of all the ships they could get at. It is true that, so far as I can
judge, they were not strictly pirates in the sense that they were persons who plundered indiscriminately for their own private ends. But, on the other hand, they were not acting with the authority of a politically organized society which at the time was recognized by this country. There is nothing, therefore, in the comity of nations which compels this Court to treat the rescue as a rescue from lawful authority.
Lomonosoff (then Antissa) had a tonnage of 977 tons, a length of 69 m and a width of 9.2 m. Here are her Miramar characteristics
Name Tons Change Main Owner
LOMONOSOFF 977 1891 Archangel Murmansk
ANTISSA 977 1922 T.Bowen Rees & Co
ANTALYA 977 1924 Turkish Govt
IDNo: 1144926 Year: 1891
Name: LOMONOSOFF Launch Date: 27.12.90
Type: Passenger/cargo Date of completion: 3.91
Flag: RUS Keel:
Tons: 977 Link: 1499
DWT: Yard No: 41
Length overall: Ship Design:
LPP: 69.0 Country of build: GBR
Beam: 9.1 Builder: Dobson, W.
Material of build: Location of yard: Low Walker
Number of screws/Mchy/ Speed(kn): 2T-
Owner as Completed: Archangel-Mourmansk S.N.Co, Archangel
Subsequent History: 22 ANTISSA - 24 ANTALYA
Disposal Data: BU Istanbul 55
In late 1921, the ship was sold to the New Egypt & Levant Shipping Co Ltd, (T Bowen Rees & Co Ltd, managers). This company specialized in older passenger/cargo ship bought usually from Russia. At that time, all the names of her ships started with Ant- (Antiope, Anteus, Antar, Antioch, Anteros, Antinoe, Antonio, etc). Lomonosoff was named Antissa, from the name of the ancient Lesbian town.
Yet, Antissa was assigned to the Palios Line or Anonymos Elliniki Etaireia Thalassion Epiheiriseon and was handled by them. She continued flying the British flag. Here is a schedule of August 31, 1922 when she was going from Piraeus to Alexandria
47669
Then, on September 27, 1922, Antissa leaves from Thessaloniki to Volos and Alexandria. Note that the Greta mentioned in the same announcement became the Potamianos Elvira in just one year! The shipping company appears now as Αγγλικη Ατμοπλοια Ρηζ (Rees).
47670
The reason that Palios could continue having access to the Turkish coast market was that the New Egypt & Levant Shipping Co Ltd, of T Bowen Rees & Co was one of the companies allowed to work in Turkey according to a poor translation of the Turkish text in www.dtoizmir.org/TΓΌrkdenizciliΔindeizmir.pdf (http://www.dtoizmir.org/TΓΌrkdenizciliΔindeizmir.pdf)
47671
And then in 1920, in the aftermath of the Russian revolution, this ship had the most unusual story as described by http://www.archive.org/stream/leadingcasesonin00evaniala/leadingcasesonin00evaniala_djvu.txt
A group of British and Belgian officers and soldiers were at Murmansk, which had been under the Government of Northern Russia, when the town was captured by the Bolsheviks. The British and Belgians, who would probably have been killed if they had remained, could have escaped to Norway by land, but they decided instead to seize the steamer Lomonosoff, then lying in the harbor, which they navigated to a Norwegian port where they turned it over to the owners and claimed salvage on the ground that they had saved the ship from the Bolsheviks. In the action brought to enforce this claim, the owners set up several defenses, among them being that the plaintiffs had merely saved the ship from passing from the control of one government to the control of another. On this point the court, in The Lomonosoff (1920), L. R. [1921] P. 97, 105, said:
It is obvious that this court, respecting the comity of nations, would never treat as a meritorious service the act of persons who in defiance of the laws of an established government recognized by and in friendship with this country, took a ship out of the lawful control of such a government. But at Murmansk on February 21 there was no government recognized by this country and indeed no established government at all. There was for the moment a state of anarchy, during which armed men were taking possession of all the ships they could get at. It is true that, so far as I can
judge, they were not strictly pirates in the sense that they were persons who plundered indiscriminately for their own private ends. But, on the other hand, they were not acting with the authority of a politically organized society which at the time was recognized by this country. There is nothing, therefore, in the comity of nations which compels this Court to treat the rescue as a rescue from lawful authority.
Lomonosoff (then Antissa) had a tonnage of 977 tons, a length of 69 m and a width of 9.2 m. Here are her Miramar characteristics
Name Tons Change Main Owner
LOMONOSOFF 977 1891 Archangel Murmansk
ANTISSA 977 1922 T.Bowen Rees & Co
ANTALYA 977 1924 Turkish Govt
IDNo: 1144926 Year: 1891
Name: LOMONOSOFF Launch Date: 27.12.90
Type: Passenger/cargo Date of completion: 3.91
Flag: RUS Keel:
Tons: 977 Link: 1499
DWT: Yard No: 41
Length overall: Ship Design:
LPP: 69.0 Country of build: GBR
Beam: 9.1 Builder: Dobson, W.
Material of build: Location of yard: Low Walker
Number of screws/Mchy/ Speed(kn): 2T-
Owner as Completed: Archangel-Mourmansk S.N.Co, Archangel
Subsequent History: 22 ANTISSA - 24 ANTALYA
Disposal Data: BU Istanbul 55
In late 1921, the ship was sold to the New Egypt & Levant Shipping Co Ltd, (T Bowen Rees & Co Ltd, managers). This company specialized in older passenger/cargo ship bought usually from Russia. At that time, all the names of her ships started with Ant- (Antiope, Anteus, Antar, Antioch, Anteros, Antinoe, Antonio, etc). Lomonosoff was named Antissa, from the name of the ancient Lesbian town.
Yet, Antissa was assigned to the Palios Line or Anonymos Elliniki Etaireia Thalassion Epiheiriseon and was handled by them. She continued flying the British flag. Here is a schedule of August 31, 1922 when she was going from Piraeus to Alexandria
47669
Then, on September 27, 1922, Antissa leaves from Thessaloniki to Volos and Alexandria. Note that the Greta mentioned in the same announcement became the Potamianos Elvira in just one year! The shipping company appears now as Αγγλικη Ατμοπλοια Ρηζ (Rees).
47670
The reason that Palios could continue having access to the Turkish coast market was that the New Egypt & Levant Shipping Co Ltd, of T Bowen Rees & Co was one of the companies allowed to work in Turkey according to a poor translation of the Turkish text in www.dtoizmir.org/TΓΌrkdenizciliΔindeizmir.pdf (http://www.dtoizmir.org/TΓΌrkdenizciliΔindeizmir.pdf)
47671