The steel steamship Herma Gorthen was launched from the Fredrickstad yard of Fredrikstad Mek Verks A/S (Yard No 281) on 25th November 1936 for Rederi A/B Gylfe . She measured 304.4′ x 44.2′ x 15.6′ and her tonnage was 1827 gross tons, 930 net tons. . She was powered by a 4-cylinder compound expansion engine by Fredrickstad MV driving a single shaft resulting in 277 nominal horse power and a top speed of 13.5 knots. She was sold to Rederi A/B Gefion in 1944 before being acquired by her final owners Rederi A/B Brubor of Helsingborg who re-named her Stellatus.
On Tuesday 3rd March, 1959 she was bound for Ellesmere Port with a cargo of wood pulp from Obo, Finland under the command of Captain Klintberg with a crew of 26 men aboard. As the ship approached the Scottish east coast to make her passage through the Pentland Firth in the early hours of the morning visibility was poor as they were enveloped in a thick fog. The master ordered his ship to maintain her course but at half speed. Despite this precaution, between four and five o’clock in the morning the Stellatus ran aground without warning or the sighting of any lights on the coastline. The ship had run on a reef under a 100 foot cliff a short distance south of the ruins of Buchollie Castle. It was close to high tide at the time.
The Stellatus was in no immediate danger so Captain Klintsberg’s first message was a private message to the ship’s owners in Helsingfors stating that they were ashore but in no immediate danger and required no assistance. This message was picked up by Wick Radio who, despite the master’s confidence, notified the Coastguard as they knew that the ship’s position on the rocky coastline was a dangerous one. Twenty minutes later when the captain did ask for a tug and other assistance the rescue authorities had already been alerted by Mr. Addison, the District Officer. The vessel was lying parallel to the land, about 120 yards off shore. A fresh south-easterly wind was blowing, and, as a precaution, the Wick lifeboat and the local life saving apparatus crew were also summoned.
The Wick seine-net boat Starlight skippered by George Sinclair was first vessel to arrive at the ship and she stood by for some time until the lifeboat arrived. The Wick lifeboat, the City of Edinburgh, quickly took up position on the leeward side of the Stellatus between the ship and the rocks. Wick police also arrived landward of the stranded ship and were able to direct the Wick Life Saving Apparatus Company to the casualty, which could not be seen from the main road. Communication with the stranded vessel was established by the District Officer, Mr. Addison using a 2lb rocket and nylon line. Conditions at the time, with the wreck rolling about four degrees each way, made working very difficult.
In the early forenoon, members of the crew of the began transferring luggage and personal belongings to the lifeboat. The salvage tug Metinda III , based at Scapa, arrived at 10.30 a.m. and she also stood by. In the forenoon an R.A.F. plane from Lossiemouth flew over. In the early afternoon 12 members of the crew were taken off by the lifeboat, under the command of Coxswain Neil Stewart, and were landed at Wick about 2.30 in the afternoon. On their arrival at Wick the seamen were taken to a hotel for a hot meal and later went to the Deep Sea Mission. After a short stay in Wick the lifeboat returned to the ship.
By this time the ship, which had been badly holed, had about three feet of water in the engine room and forward hold and the water was still rising. The ship had neither light or steam. The men who came off were stewards and engineers, whose presence was not required for any salvage attempt. In the early evening Captain Klintberg decided that it would not be safe for the others to remain aboard the vessel through the night. The lifeboat then took off the captain and the rest of the crew and landed them at Wick about 8 p.m. When he stepped ashore from the lifeboat at Wick, Captain Klintberg said “I was in bed when the ship struck but hardly felt anything because I believe the ship was going slowly at the time. Water rose fairly quickly in the hold and engine room and soon we had neither steam nor light. I think the vessel is badly holed.” Charles Olnsson, a 62-year-old oiler, said: “I was on watch in the engine room when the ship struck at 4.25 a.m. We were only doing half speed. There was not much impact. We had been dodging about awaiting daylight to go through the Pentland Firth. There was fairly dense fog at the time.”
The Stellatus was still on the reef on the 5th March, her position unchanged, as far as could be judged by salvage experts who saw the vessel. On the Wednesday afternoon Captain Anderson, salvage officer of Metal Industries Ltd., arrived in Wick accompanied by James Thomson, a diver, who immediately surveyed the stranded ship’s position. Captain Klintberg and members of his crew went out with Captain Anderson in a fishing boat. On their return, it was reported that there was little change in the position of the Stellatus. That same afternoon the salvage tug Salveda left the Clyde making for Freswick. Following a strong south-easterly wind during the night, it was found that it was impossible to make another survey of the ship from the sea. Captain Anderson and Mr. Thomson went out by road form Wick and inspected the ship from the land. By now the Metinda III and the Salveda were the scene but were unable to aid the stranded ship. On returning to Wick, Captain Anderson said: “With the bad weather nothing can be done to-day. It is impossible to get out to the ship and we cannot see from the shore if there is any change in her condition.”
A week later a strong-easterly wind produced a large swell grinding the Stellatus against the rocks and is a she broke in half with the stern part falling away into deep water and the bow section was driven higher on the rocks and even closer to the cliffs.
Some salvage work was carried out on the wreck and she was certainly dived on during the 1970’s but over time her position was lost. The wreck was rediscovered in August 2015. The wreckage lies in position 58° 34.445’N, 003° 03.857’W close to the foot of the cliffs in a maximum depth of around 10 metres and is weed covered in the summer months. Items identified include a spare propeller, boiler, deck winch and some other miscellaneous fittings.
We would like to thanks Jim Steel (Hellsmouth Diving) for giving us permission to use his underwater photographs.
We would like to thank Lloyd’s Register Foundation – Heritage & Education Centre for allowing us to reproduce documents from their archive in this article.