The steel motor vessel Johanna Thorden was launched from the Landskrona yard of Oresundsvarvet Aktiebolag (Yard No 41) on 12th September 1936. She measured 362.0′ x 51.0′ x 18.0′ and her tonnage was 3223 gross tons. She was powered by two 5 cylinder 2S CSA diesel engines by Burmeister and Wain, Copenhagen delivering 675 brake horse power. She was ordered by Rederi A/B Finska Nordamerika, Helsinki.
MV Johanna Thorden under way
On the morning of Tuesday 12th January 1937, the Johanna Thorden was en route from New York to Gothenburg with a general cargo worth £2 million pounds including several hundred tons of copper ingots. She was commanded by Captain Lohja Simloa and had a crew of 20 men. Two of the crew’s wives and their two young children were also aboard. In a south easterly gale with poor visibility she ran aground. At the time the survivors claimed the ship had gone aground on the Pentland Skerries but, in fact it appears that the vessel had actually struck the Clett of Stroma. The bow section of the ship was spotted there by the Longhope lifeboat later that day. The ship seems to have broken apart very quickly after the impact with the bow section later drifting a further four miles to come ashore at Tarf Tail on Swona.
The bow submerged off the south end of Swona
Returning from her maiden voyage, the Johanna Thorden departed from New York in early January, 1937. For most of the voyage the weather was good but as they neared the Scottish coast the weather deteriorated. In the early hours of the morning of 12th January she was now steaming almost directly into a hurricane-force south easterly gale when she ran aground at full speed in the Pentland Firth. As noted above the actual location of the stranding is somewhat confused. Later testimony of the survivors indicated that the Captain had never navigated the treacherous Pentland passage at night. As they ran through the narrow channel it appears there was some confusion about the lights observed resulting in a miscalculation of position. The ship’s wireless failed preventing the transmission of a radio SOS so the crew set off multiple distress rockets. In a last desperate attempt to attract the attention, wireless operator Goran Moliis started a fire using gasoline and some clothes but it appears that no-one noticed these signals. The engine room quickly began to flood causing the power to fail plunging the ship into darkness. Despite the horrendous conditions the captain was forced to abandon ship.
At 6.15am one of the lifeboats was launched with the passengers, two women and their two boys plus 21 members of the crew. The boat drifted off into the darkness. Later it transpired that this lifeboat capsized before they reached safety and everyone on board was lost. An hour later a second lifeboat was launched with the remaining 13 crewmen on board. After a three-hour battle with the elements they approached land but, as they were reaching safety, this lifeboat also capsized and only eight of the men made it ashore. The captain was among the five men lost. The radio operator, Goran Moliis, who was also on board this lifeboat said: “The boat upended three times in succession, throwing us all into the sea. We were washed ashore, along with the boat. Our captain and unfortunate comrades who died were battered so severely that I do not think they drowned. They were probably killed in the first smash.” As the survivors struggled ashore they were spotted by Mr John Peace of Whistlebrae, South Ronaldsay, who immediately raised the alarm and summoned assistance. A number of locals arrived to tend to the exhausted and badly injured and to search for bodies. Within 30 minutes five bodies had been found.
Johanna Thorden lifeboat ashore
On receipt of the distress call the Longhope lifeboat had been launched quickly and set off for the wreck but was recalled when a message was received indicating that the surviving crew were safe ashore and she was no longer needed. Not long after the lifeboat reached base another message was received : the first of the Johanna Thorden’s lifeboats was missing. The lifeboat set off again despite the continuing bad weather heading east passing the stranded remains of the Johanna Thorden’s bow on Stroma, but unfortunately failed to find the missing ship’s boat. At 7am the following morning, Wednesday 13th January, locals ashore in Deerness caught a glimpse of a boat off the Point of Bisber near Dingieshowe. The boat was washed ashore later revealing the bodies of three crewmen. There were no survivors.
For the next few days the bodies of those who had drowned were washed ashore on South Ronaldsay and as far away as Flotta, Copinsay, Deerness and Sanday. Most of the recovered bodies were returned to Finland but three unidentified sailors were buried at St Peter’s Kirk, South Ronaldsay, and on Flotta.
Crew gravestone South Ronaldsay
One week later the stern section, which initially had remained stranded on the shoreline, was washed off by continued gales and swells and sank in deep water. It is assumed that some of the valuable copper cargo was salvaged at some point but this does not appear to be recorded. The scattered broken wreckage of the bow section of the Johanna Thorden lie in the approximate position 58° 44.076’W, 03° 04.437’W on a sloping rocky seabed at Tarf Tail, Swona between 10 and 20 metres where at least one of the large copper ingots has been recovered by divers. The location of the stern section is not known.
One of the copper ingots recovered from wreck site
