Sinking
Hans Hedtoft sailed from Copenhagen on her maiden voyage on 7 January 1959. Her voyage to Julianehaab, Greenland, was made in record time. Hans Hedtoft called at Nuuk, Sisimiut and Maniitsoq before returning to Julianehaab.
On 29 January, she began her return journey. The ship had 40 crew, 55 passengers and a cargo of frozen fish on board. One of her passengers was the Danish parliament (Folketing) member Augo Lynge. The next day, Hans Hedtoft collided with an iceberg about 35 miles (56 km) south of Cape Farewell, the southernmost point of Greenland. A distress call was given at 13:56 (local time) stating that the ship had hit an iceberg at 59°30′N 43°00′W / 59.5°N 43°W / 59.5; -43. The call was answered by the USCGC Campbell, the West German trawler Johannes Krüss of Bremerhaven and another West German trawler. Within an hour, another message was sent stating that the engine room was flooded. At 15:12, it was announced that the ship was sinking. A final message was sent at 17:41 stating the ship was slowly sinking and requesting immediate assistance. Aircraft in Newfoundland were grounded by the weather and unable to assist in the search for Hans Hedtoft. The beginning of an SOS was received by Johannes Krüss at 17:41 after which communication with Hans Hedtoft was lost. On 31 January, USCGC Campbell reported that conditions were the worst seen and there was no sign of Hans Hedtoft or her passengers and crew. The search was called off on 7 February. The only piece of wreckage ever recovered was a lifebelt which washed ashore some nine months after the ship sank. The ship sank with parish registers from parishes of Greenland, which were meant to be deposited in archives in Denmark, causing a major loss for Greenlandic genealogy.
As a result of the sinking, the airfield at Narsarsuaq, Greenland, which had closed in November 1958, was reopened. An appeal fund for the relatives of the victims was opened. Kr40,000 (then £2,000) was raised amongst ten countries in two months. Compensation for the relatives amounted to Kr1,184,936 (then £59,000). Like the RMS Titanic, Hans Hedtoft was said to be the safest ship afloat, being described as "unsinkable" by some.
Read more about this topic: MS Hans Hedtoft
Famous quotes containing the word sinking:
“they smile in secret, looking over wasted lands,
Blight and famine, plague and earthquake, roaring deeps and fiery sands,
Clanging fights, and flaming towns, and sinking ships, and praying hands.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“I consider that that “that” that worries us so much should be forgotten. Rats desert a sinking ship. Thats infest a sinking magazine.”
—James Thurber (1894–1961)
“We all indulge in the strange, pleasant process called thinking, but when it comes to saying, even to someone opposite, what we think, then how little we are able to convey! The phantom is through the mind and out of the window before we can lay salt on its tail, or slowly sinking and returning to the profound darkness which it has lit up momentarily with a wandering light.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)