Halland

The steel steamship Halland was launched from the Keil shipyard of Howaldtswerke (Yard No 630) in 1923. She measured 238.0′ x 37.2′ x 13.7′ and her tonane was 1264 gross tons, 727 net tons. She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine by Howawaldtswerke delivering 102 nominal horse power. She was owned and operated by Denske Franske Dampskibselskab, Esbjerg, Denmark on the North Sea and Baltic Sea routes. In the early days of World War Two she was requisitioned by the British Ministry of Transport in London and continued to move goods along the British east coast ports and across the North Sea . During the first year of the conflict she took part in ten convoys predominantly out of Southend and successfully crossed the North Sea to Norway on two occasions.

Her final voyage started in the port of London and she joined convoy FN279 off Southend heading for Methil on the Firth of Forth on the 13th of September, 1940. She was loaded with a cargo of 1900 tons of cement in bags and her skipper, Hans Rasmus Christensen, had a crew of twenty one men aboard. On 15th September. as they passed St Abbs Head the convoy was attacked by a group of German bombers. Halland received a direct hit and immediately started to sink. Only five of her crew survived to be picked up by the trawler Sparta with the remaining crew lost either in the initial explosion our drowned as the ship quickly plunged beneath the surface.

The wreck of the Halland lies in position 56° 01.864’N, 002° 18.926’W and sits upright and fairly in tact in 61 metres oriented 040°/220° and rising some 9 metres from the seabed. The wreck in thickly covered with colourful marine life.

We’d like to thank Jennie Staddon for her permission to use her underwater photographs of the wreck in this article.