Another Maritime Drawing

Here is another nice drawing from the book "Svensk sjöfart" (Swedish shipping), published in 1921. The drawing was made by artist and architect Eduard Heurlin, who died in 1947:

(Colouring and processing by me)

Gothenburg in the late 1890s

The Vasa street.

The 19th century was a period of fast growth in Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city. During the second half of the century its population grew from 26,000 to 130,000. Already in the 1840's Gothenburg became the most important port city for imports, and by the end of the 1850's the it also became Sweden's largest export port (mainly timber) . (The Port of Gothenburg is still the largest port in Sweden - and Scandinavia).

Mighty merchant houses, like Dickson & Co, founded by the Scot James Dixon, who had emigrated to Sweden in 1807, soon also became important players in the shipping industry. 

As shipping became more important, also the Gothenburg shipyards experienced a fast growth. Among the other industries, the textile industry was the most important since to middle of the 1850's.  

The affluence brought by the fast growing economy also was reflected in the general development and architecture of the city, as can be seen from these photographs from the end of the 1890's. 

Västra Hamngatan.

The port of Gothenburg, with the customs building in the foreground.

Kungsportsavenyn

The Gustaf Adolf square and the City hall.

The concert hall in the Trädgårdsföreningen (garden society).

Hotel Haglund.

The Cathedral

Östra Hamngatan

The new concert hall (picture from 1905)

A renaissance for Swedish iron ore exports - and ore carriers?

Sweden has for centuries been one Europe´s most important iron ore exporters. Recently, PM Fredrik Reinfeldt has indicated that , due to the historically high price level, exports of iron ore could be Sweden´s answer to Norway´s oil exports. 

There are plans to re-open the Grängesberg iron ore mine in Bergslagen in Central Sweden, where mining activity had continued since the 15th century until closure in 1990. 

A successful re-opening of mining activities will have to be accompanied by improved infrastructure for port facilities, and perhaps the development of more effective ore carriers. 

A look at what happened about a hundred years ago might be of interest: 

The first two decades of the 20th century were a very profitable time for iron ore exports from Grängesberg, when new types of specialized vessels for transportation of ore were introduced.

The Dutch owned ore cargo steamer, shown below, was built by William Doxford & Sons in Sunderland in 1903. The 6799 tonnes "Grängesberg" was a so called turret deck ship, with an unusual hull, which made it particularly suited to the carriage of ores.

The Dutch owned steamer "Grängesberg" was mainly used for transporting iron ore from Sweden to Rotterdam.

The "Blötberg" was another Dutch owned turret steam used on the Oxelösund  - Rotterdam route in the early 20th century.

In side profile, turret deck ships resembled other merchant vessels with flush decks or with small forecastles and poop decks.^[6] In cross-section the differences between turret deck vessels and more conventional ships are apparent. There was no gunwale; the vertical side of a turret ship curves inward above the load line to a horizontal plane. This flat area was known as the harbour deck (Hamndäck in the picture). 
(source: wikipedia)

However, in the early 1920s the turret deck steamers had already lost their popularity in the ore shipping trade. This was probably mainly due to the capsizing of the turret steamer "Oxelösund" in 1916. Particularly, when loaded with other cargo than ore, the turret ships were considered to have stability problems. 

The "Sir Ernest Cassel" - named after the the British merchant banker and grandfather of Edwina Mountbatten, who owned Grängesberg mine at the turn of the century - was another type of ore steamer popular in the first decades of the 20th century. 

The "Sir Ernest Cassel", designed by the Swedish ship designer J. Johnson, and built by Messrs R. &  W.  Hawthorn,  Leslie & Co. in Hebburn on Tyne, was equipped with 12 electric cranes. 

The cranes were used for speedy loading of the ore. 

The loading system seen from another angle. 

However, in the early 1920's also this type of ore freighters lost their popularity. They were considered to be excellent for transporting ore, but less less so for carrying other, less heavy cargo. In 1920 the Grängesberg mining company had placed orders for 18 new ore carriers, but none of them was of the "Sir Earnest Cassel" type. 

The end of the once so proud ore carrier was sad. On April 16, 1940 the German armed merchant cruiser Thor intercepted the "Sir Earnest Cassel", which then was sunk by demolition charges. The crew was taken aboard the German ship.