Gunnaren

The steel motor vessel Gunnaren was launched from the Gothenburg yard of A/B Lindholmen Motala (Yard No 931) on 11th February 1930. She measured 354.1′ x 50.1′ x 21.7′ and her tonnage was 3229 gross tons, 1779 net tons. She was powered by 4S CSA 12 cylinder diesel engines by A/B Gotaverken, Gothenburg delivering 543 nominal horse power. She was ordered by Rederi A/B Transatlantic of Gothenburg and operated for this Swedish company for her short five year career before she ran aground and was lost on Swona in 1935.

On 19th August 1935 she was en route from New York to Gothenburg with a general cargo under the command of Captain Einar Reich who had a crew of thirty four men aboard. As she passed through the treacherous Pentland Firth she was enveloped in a thick fog reducing visibility dramatically and, with the combination of the fog and the severe tidal streams of the firth, she ran aground at Tarf Tail, Swona and stuck fast. At 6am Wick Radio picked up the ship’s distress messages which reported the vessel ashore with 12 feet of water in the hold and a ten degree list to starboard. Wick then called out the Longhope lifeboat Thomas McCunn which was quickly launched reaching the scene at 8:15am. When the lifeboat reached Gunnaren the weather was calm meaning the crew were in no immediate danger. The lifeboat took off forty one bags of Swedish mail as a precaution but the crew remained aboard hoping that she could be easily refloated. After dropping off the mail the lifeboat returned to the wreck site stood by. Meanwhile a call was sent to the Swedish owners by the captain to dispatch tugs to pull her off.

However, at 2:00am the following morning the Gunnaren took on a heavy list to port. The crew were now in some danger and it was decided to take off twenty six of the men leaving the captain and nine men with the ship awaiting the arrival of the salvage tugs. The men disembarked into one of the ship’s boats which was then towed to Longhope by the lifeboat. The lifeboat then returned to stand by the Gunnaren. The following day, with the weather remaining calm, eleven of the crew returned to the ship to await the arrival of the tugs from Sweden. On 21st the German tug Seefalke arrived at Swona and early the following morning the Swedish salvage vessel Fritiof also arrived. Initial inspections revealed both sides of the ship heavily buckled forward of the engine room bulkhead and a diver inspection further confirmed that the bottom was also badly damaged with many rivets broken particularly around the starboard bilge. Work to remove as much of the cargo as possible continued but, at 4:20pm on the 23rd with deteriorating weather and the ship bumping heavily, the lifeboat was called back to the wreck and took off eleven of the remaining crewmen. The wind, now from the west, was driving a swell directly onto the stranded ship which was bumping and grinding heavily until, the following day, she broke into two pieces. The salvor’s efforts then focussed on attempts to detach and recover the stern section containing the cabins and engine room as the bow section was obviously damaged beyond recovery. Captain Reich and seven of his officers remained aboard and at one point succeeded in starting the engines hoping that they could be used to pull her off but finally the stern section broke off completely forcing the men to abandon ship for the final time. The detached stern section drifted off and came ashore around three quarters a mile from the stranded bow section. She was a total wreck. Some of the cargo was later salvaged by local men and returned to the owners.

Some remains of the Gunnaren are reported ashore and in the shallows in position 58° 44.783’N, 003° 03.566’W with parts of engine and propeller shaft visible. However, these reports are from the 1980’s so what still remains at or near this position is not known.