The steel steamship Randi was launched from the Wesermunde yard of Schiffsbau Ges Unterweser (Yard No 136) on 23rd October 1918. She measured 212.9′ x 31.4′ x 13.2′ and her tonnage was 844 gross tons, 493 net tons. She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine by Christiansen and Mayer, Harburg delivering 85 nominal horse power. She was ordered by Vesterhavet Dampskibsselskabet (J Lauritzen) of Esbjerg, Denmark. She operated for this company until she was sold to E.B Aabyss Rederi A/S of Drammen, Norway who renamed her Faro and registered her in Oslo.
Lloyds register 1938
On 28th January 1940 she was en route from Sarpsborg to Methil in ballast under the command of Captain John Christensen. At 20.03 she was attacked by German submarine U-20 (Kapitanleutant Harro von Klot-Heydenfeldt) which fired a single torpedo. The torpedo exploded 20 metres from the ship causing severe damage to her hull which quickly began to settle as water rushed in through her split hull plates. The captain ordered his crew to abandon ship. They succeeded in launching two of her lifeboats. One boat, with eight crewmen aboard drifted off into the night and was never seen again. The second boat, with the captain and seven men aboard stayed close to the Faro and were able to get back onto the damaged ship the following morning. U-20 went on to attack and sink three more ships – Fredensborg, England and Hosanger – within the next three hours before making their escape back to their base.
U-20 KTB attack map 27th January 1940
The crew successfully restarted Faro’s engines but, with the vessel slowly sinking by the bow and her propeller increasingly above the water line, they were unable to get her completely under control. As they neared the Orkney coastline the situation became hopeless and they drifted ashore at Taracliff Bay south of Deerness. The remaining crew were safely pulled ashore by breeches buoy. Later the same day the second lifeboat washed ashore with four bodies aboard. The other four crewmen had disappeared. The ship was declared a total wreck almost immediately.
Faro aground in Tarracliff Bay, Orkney
The wreckage of the Faro lies in position 58° 54.741′ N, 002° 45.964′ W and is reported to lie in 9 metres. The last reported survey of the site was in 1972 which reported the wreck substantially still in place with boilers, engine and propeller shaft visible and her stern section mainly in tact. An article in Scottish Diver in the 1990s reported the wreckage still visible with the boiler almost breaking the surface at low tide.
