5 Συνημμένο(α)
Μεσσαριά [Polhem, Landskrona, Blekinge, Messaria, Aghia Kyriaki, Ancient]
Here is another small, forgotten and truly unusual passenger ship that served the Greek seas just after World War II. Messaria came from a far away place where she tasted bad seas and ice. She was so old and so small as to be questionable for long runs. But she did do some long routes in Greece... And her demise has left quite a few of us wondering if she is still alive somewhere in Lesvos ...
She was built as the passenger ship Polhem in 1889 (!) by Ångfartygsbolaget in Visby, the capital of the island of Gotland, a Swedish island in the East of Sweden, In Baltic Sea. She was just 35.9 or 37 m long (can you believe it?) and just 7.2 or 7.4 m wide! Her speed was a mere 9.5 knots.
Here is her Miramar entry
Παράθεση:
Name: POLHEM Launch Date:
Type: Passenger ship Date of completion:
Flag: SWE Keel:
Tons: 385 Link:
DWT: 0 Yard No: 191
Length overall: Ship Design:
LPP: 35.9 Country of build:
Beam: 7.4 Builder: Lindbergs
Material of build: Location of yard: Stockholm
Number of
screws/Mchy/
Speed(kn): 1C-9.5
Owner as Completed: Angfartygs A/B Gotland, Visby
End: 1986
Subsequent History: 30 LANDSKRONA - 41 BLEKINGE - 45 MESSARIA
Disposal Data: deleted 1986
But a much better entry is that in the Swedish Facts of Shipping http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/polhem_1889.htm
Παράθεση:
S/S POLHEM.
Byggd 1889 av W. Lindbergs mekaniska verkstad, Stockholm.
Varvsnummer. 191.
Dimensioner. 37,00 x 7,38 x 346 m.
Efter ombyggnad. 40,39 x 7,19 x 3,40 m.
Brt/ Nrt. 385/ 254.
Efter ombyggnad. Brt/ Nrt. 224/ 94.
Maskineri. En 2-cyl, compoundångmaskin.
Effekt. 400 hk.
Knop 9,5.
Efter maskinbyte. En 6-cyl, MWM diesel.
Effekt. 373 kW.
Knop. ?.
IMO. 5233339.
Levererades 16 juli 1889 till Ångfartygsbolaget Gotland, Visby.
1889. Insatt i trafiken till/från Gotland.
1894 07 10. Rederiet ändrar namn till Ångfartygs Ab, Gotland, Visby.
1925. Läggs upp och används som reservfärja.
1928 01. Såld till Vesterås-Torshaulla Ångbåts Ab, Vesterås.
1928 01 04. Lämnar ångaren sin gamla hemmahamn.
1930 06. Såld till Landskrona Stad, Landskrona för 210,000 SEK. Omdopt till LANDSKRONA. Insatt mellan Landskrona - Kopenhamn.
1932 02. Såld till Nordisk Rute och Farjefart, Ab, Landskrona för 115,000 SEK.
1937 02. Återtagen av Landskrona Stad, Landskrona.
1937 02. Övertagen av Ab Landskrona-Köpenhamn, Landskrona. Insatt mellan Landskrona - Köpenhamn.
1941 01. Såld till Blekinge Ångbåts Ab, Karlshamn. Omdöpt till BLEKINGE. Blir upprustad vid Öresundsvarvet.
1941. Insatt mellan Stockholm - Åhus.
1945 10. Såld till E.P. Nomikos, Pireus, Grekland. Omdöpt till MESSARIA.
1960. Registrerad för M. Stefanis & Co, Mytilene, Grekland.
1960. Ombyggd och motoriserad, samt ombyggd till lastfartyg.
1972. Registrerad för Ioannis Constantine Dimakis, Pireus, Grekland.
1986. Ströks fartyget ur Lloyds register.
Also see http://www.kommandobryggan.se/gotland/polhem89.htm
As noted above, from 1889 to 1928, Polhem served traffic to and from Gotland... And what traffic it was! I am uploading here a postcard of the vessel from our reliable Simplon postcards source http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/Gotland.html#anchor187931
Συνημμένο Αρχείο 39601
Then, http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/polhem_1889.htm has some more photos of the ship, four of which I present here, including the heroic pictures of Polhem pulling Hansa (http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/Gotland.html#anchor101549) in the icy water of the Visby harbor in 1922!
Συνημμένο Αρχείο 39603 Συνημμένο Αρχείο 39604 Συνημμένο Αρχείο 39605 Συνημμένο Αρχείο 39606
3 Συνημμένο(α)
Μεσσαριά [Polhem, Landscrona, Blekinge, Messaria]
Παράθεση:
Αρχική Δημοσίευση από
Nicholas Peppas
Messaria came from a far away place where she tasted bad seas and ice. She was so old and so small as to be questionable for long runs. But she did do some long routes in Greece... And her demise has left quite a few of us wondering if she is still alive somewherein Lesvos ...
The readers should be reminded that Greece was involved with another Polhem many years later... In 1981 Agapitos Lines bought another Polhem (See http://www.vasabatarna.se/scaniaexp/scania_express.htm and http://www.mareud.com/Postcard/sl_scania.htm which they changed to Nereus. This is the one that was lost in Sitia in 1989... See http://www.nautilia.gr/forum/showthread.php?t=25472
After 39 years of service (!), in 1928, Polhem was bought by Vesteras Ab and kept idle. Two years later she was bought by the city of Landskrona (located in the SW tip of Sweden, just opposite Denmark) that changed her name to Landskrona. They placed her in the service Landskrona-Copenhagen from 1930 to 1941, an "easy route", except for the strong current... {Careful: There was another Landskrona, just a few years before! See http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/landskrona_1905_b_1.htm}
In 1941 she was sold to the company Angbats Ab, named Blekinge, and placed in the route Karlshamn to Stockholm. Karlshamn is a city in Vesteras in SE Sweden. Remember that Sweden was neutral in World War II.
But in 1945 at the ripe age of 56 (and I do not know for what reason - maybe mostly because she could be a good freighter) she was transferred to E. P. Nomikos and named Messaria (Got it? Messaria? Village in Thera? The Nomikos family was from Thera...)
As Messaria, this ship actually started doing passenger service to ... far away (for her tonnage and shape) Greek places ... I do not see any serious quarters in its old pictures, so I assume most poor passengers (mostly returning soldiers) were sleeping on board. Here is a December 7, 1946 ad of her trip to Chalkis, Volos, Thessaloniki! In the process, she had "become" (in the eyes of her agent) a 500-ton boat of 12 knots!!!
Συνημμένο Αρχείο 39611
She seemed to be going everywhere, because on November 27, 1948 she found herself stuck in bad weather in Milos with other bigger passenger ships...
Συνημμένο Αρχείο 39612
One thing is for sure. On January 1, 1949 she was a regular passenger liner mentioned by A. Tzamtzis in his 2002 I Elliniki Epivatigos Aktoploia, page 84, Miletos, Athens.
Beyond that time, her traces are lost. It is probably true that she became a freighter as she appears registered to M. Stefanis in Mytilene in 1960. She passed to Yannis Dimakis in Piraeus in 1960 and its whereabouts became questionable until she was listed as dropped off Lloyd's in 1986.
And then starts a small mystery and comes out the phantom of Messaria. On December 7, 2008 there appeared in Shipspotting a picture of Messaria http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/...=687927&cid=92 taken at an unknown date by photographer Harilaos Dimakis of Dimakis Shipping Company! The company is real and it had/has four ships... (See http://www.shipspotting.com/userinfo.php?uid=25243) Messaria is presented as
Παράθεση:
THE 2nd SHIP OF : DIMAKIS SHIPPING COMPANY / MYTILENE - GREECE
. And everything leads to Dimakis Tours http://www.dimakistours.gr/
I would love to hear from you if you think this little cargo ship is the old Messaria and/or Polhem... Meanwhile, check your old Mytilene postcards. I know I will1
Συνημμένο Αρχείο 39613
I did my job... Now on to Ellinis and the other sleuths and experts of nautilia.gr. Who knows, maybe Apollon will produce a photograph... Don't we have anybody from Mytilene who can tell us what he/she remembers?
NAUTILIA.GR IS GREAT!!!! DIMAKIS SHIPPING
My friends... Nautilia.gr is so good, sopowerful! Can you believe it? We have a thread for the Dimakis ships!!! It is http://www.nautilia.gr/forum/showthread.php?t=24773 and it covers three pages....
For example, on 17-06-08, 01:46 Apostolos writes:
Παράθεση:
Τα πλοία ειναι μέρος μίας οικογενιακής επιχείρησης απο την Μυτιλήνη. Οργώνουν όλο το Αιγαίο μεταφέροντας τα παντα! Απο υλικά οικοδομών μέχρι και ολόκληρα νοικοκυριά. Πραγματικά είναι κάτι μοναδικό. Ίσως το μόνο που χρειάζετε είναι μία αννανέωση του στόλου τους γιατι τα πλοία είναι τα πλέον αρχαία motorship στο Αιγαίο.
And I say, no, no Apostole, we love antiques here!
Then, on 23-12-08, 13:46 our friend Moutsokwstas reveals an important Web site with all the Dimakis ships, including Messaria.
Also please note that the man who uploaded all the ships (Harilaos Dimakis) is Haris Dimakis who is the general agent of Hellenic Ways in Mitylene. Someone from Greece can call at 2251020716
A true "trivia" question..
Here is a true minutia! The conversion of Messaria as a passenger ship for the Greek seas was done by noted Greek naval engineer Alexandros Philippou in April 1946. It was just his second job as an engineer in Greece!
Other conversions on well known Greek ships followed including Semiramis (July 1946), Sophia Togia, Patris and Karystos (1947), Elsi, Konitsa, Cadio (1948 ), Kyklades, Corintha, Kyknos, Kalydon, Costakis Togias (1950) and many others...
{from the book K. Philippou, Diadromh enos aiona 1900-2000, J&J Hellas, Piraeus, 2007.}
