The steel steamship Cedargrove was launched from the Sunderland yard of Robert Thompson and Sons Ltd (Yard No 243) on 20th August 1906. She measured 296.1′ x 44.5′ x 19.7′ and her tonnage was 2475 gross tons, 1380 net tons. She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine by G Clark Ltd., Sunderland delivering 229 nominal horse power. Ordered by SS Mary Co Ltd (Alexander and Arthurs) Glasgow she was registered in Glasgow later in 1906. In 1912 she was sold to P Wellin Rederi A/B Lulea-Ofoten of Stockholm who renamed her Svarton. She survived a collision with a German mine on a voyage from Rotterdam to the UK in February 1915 before she was sold to her final owners, Grangesburg-Oxelosund Trafik A/B of Stockholm in 1916.
SS Svarton alongside
Lloyd’s register 1939
After loading a cargo of iron ore at Narvik for shipment to Middlesbrough, Svarton joined convoy HN6 on 1st January 1940 departing Norwegian waters and heading for Methil, Fife. She was under the command of Captain G Swerin who had a crew of thirty men aboard. The convoy consisted of 36 merchant vessels and 4 escorts. Unfortunately as the ships made their way across the North Sea they encountered a heavy snowstorm. Four of the ships became detached in the poor visibility and then Svarton, steaming too fast also became detached from the main fleet. On the morning of 3rd January she reached the area north east of Kinnaird Head. Meanwhile the German U-boat U-58 under the command of Kapitanlieutnant Herbert Kuppisch had set out from Kiel on 27th December on her latest patrol arriving off Kinnaird Head on 31st December. On 1st January Kuppisch attacked and sunk the Lars Magnus Trozelli in the north Moray Firth before proceeding south towards Kinnaird Head. At 8:50am on 3rd January Kuppisch sighted Svarton. At 9:11am he fired a single G7e torpedo from a range of 600 metres which struck Svarton midships. The explosion of the torpedo was quickly followed by a second violent explosion as the boilers blew up smashing the central area of the vessel. She sank in 90 seconds. Only eleven of the crew survived.
U-58 KTB
The wreck of Svarton was first dived in 2003. The wreck was well known and had been nicknamed the ‘Knock Wreck’ by local fishermen. The identity of the wreck remained uncertain for years before some excellent detective work by the team at Buchan Divers discovered a recording error in the KTB of U-58. The correction of the error placed the attack on Svarton directly at the position of the ‘Knock Wreck’ and the mystery was finally solved. The Svarton lies in position 57° 46.783’N, 01° 57.284’W. She lies in 75 metres with a least depth clearance of 71 metres oriented 035/215 degrees. The wreck is broken and spread over a wide area.. the result of the two massive explosions that sank her so quickly.
Lloyd’s Casualty report
We acknowledge the work of Buchan Divers. More detail of the wreck is available at buchandivers.com.
We would like to thank Lloyd’s Register Foundation – Heritage & Education Centre for allowing us to reproduce documents from their archive in this article.
