Work started on the steel steamship Johanna at Haegholmens yard in Christiana but she was completed at Akers Mek Verksted, Christiana and launched in February 1885. She measured 141.5′ x 24.7′ x 13.0′ and her tonnage was 444 gross tons, 272 net tons. She was powered by a compound steam engine by Alex Shank and Son, Arbroath delivering 54 nominal horse power. She was delivered to Mr C E Smith of Christiana in July that year. By January 1897 she was owned D/S A/S Norden before she was acquired by her final owner D/S A/S Johanna (P Herlofsen mgr), Christiana in 1906 and registered in Tonsberg.
Lloyds register 1907
In July 1907 Johanna was en route from Glasgow to the Herlofsen Whaling Station at Bunavoneader (Bun Abhainn Eadarra), Harris under the command of Captain Jacob Dehli. He had a crew of eleven men aboard and a cargo of coal intended to fuel the fires to render the whale blubber for oil and barrel staves to store and transport the finished product. As Dehli approached the southern end of the Outer Hebrides on the 13th July the vessel was shrouded in a thick fog. In the bad visibility he appears to have veered off course and, without warning, struck a submerged rock somewhere off North Uist. He continued to steam north, hoping to find a sandy beach to run his damaged ship ashore, but she was filling fast with her pumps unable to cope with the ingress of water. As Johanna approached the island of Scalpay he finally endeavoured to run her ashore but only succeeded in stranding the ship on an offshore rock near the lighthouse.
Remains of whaling station at Bunavoneader (Bun Abhainn Eadarra),
The ship’s distress calls were answered by the SS Dunara Castle but, when she reached the Johanna the following day, the stranded ship had floated off the rock and was close to sinking with her deck level almost submerged. The crew of the Johanna had disembarked safely in the ship’s boats and, as the captain of the Dunara Castle deemed a successful salvage impossible, she departed the scene leaving the Johanna to founder, unseen in the darkness somewhere off Scalpay
The wreck of the Johanna remained undiscovered until 2024 when a new survey mark appeared on the electronic charts. The mark, in position 57° 52.499′ N, 006° 38.761′ W, was dived for the first time in June 2024. The divers discovered the wreck of a small steamship sitting upright in 53 metres with a least depth clearance of 45 metres. The vessel, which has one hold aft with a cargo of wood and two holds forward with a cargo of coal, sits upright and fairly in tact although the bow section shows sign of damage. Midships the superstructure has disappeared but a compound steam engine is visible. The stern section, with rudder and propeller, is in tact and visible. The divers recovered the ship’s bell but unfortunately it was not inscribed to confirm the vessel’s identity but the configuration of the wreck, the cargo of coal and wood and the wreck’s position make it all but certain this is the wreck of Johanna.
