 | 
| 
| 
|
|  | |||
A Tribute to the Swedish American Line | ||||||||
| . | ||||||||
| . | ||||||||
| . | ||||||||
| |
|
|
|
| | |||
A Tribute to the Swedish American Line | ||||||||
| . | ||||||||
| . | ||||||||
| . | ||||||||
Drottningholm and Gripsholm
The Exchange and Repatriation Voyages
During WWII
Summary Written by Lars Hemingstam
During World War II the Drottningholm and the Gripsholm were used
as repatriation
ships
and made 33 voyages to exchange
prisoners of war, diplomats,
women and children,
between the
warfaring nations.
Do you have information to share, or inquiries about
the Drottningholm's and Gripsholm's
exchange and repatriation voyages?
Please send us an email: salship@yahoo.com
When resuming the regular Atlantic crossings in 1946, SAL published this advertisement.
Click on the image to enlarge.
An introduction follows below
See also: |
| Rune Dahlstrand managed the Beauty Salon and served as a barber
on the Gripsholm from 1938 to 1946, during the WWII exchange and
repatriation voyages.
Read about his memories here. |
George and Gertrude Wilder, American missionaries in China, were repatriated on the Gripsholm in 1943. Gertrude Wilder painted a number of watercolor sketches of the ports visited along the way. Their grandson,
Donald Wilder Menzi, has
provided a narrative, and combined the paintings in a video. In addition, George Wilder, was an amatuer ornithologist, and wrote a memoir of the voyage with an emphasis on the various birds seen along the way. His friend, Howard Galt, also wrote a memoir of the voyage. http://d.menzi.org
For an eye-witness report from the mercy ship Drottningholm, read From Prisoners of War to War Brides, and about Carl-Otto Claesson, who served 32 years on the bridge. See also a photo of wounded British POW's on the Drottningholm |
Voyage of Mercy, the story of Floyd Randall Riebling, RN & MA, Registered Nurse on the Gripsholm in 1944 |
Captives of Empire, Gripsholm repatriation voyages during WWII. Greg Leck, author of Captives of Empire, shares excerpts from his book. |
The Exchange Voyages of German and Italian Americans During WWII by Stephen Fox, Ph.D., author of Fear Itself: Inside the Roundup of German Americans during World War II: The Past as Prologue has contributed an excert from his book. |
INTRODUCTION
© Lars Hemingstam, 2005-2010
This is a work in progress. Additions, and revisions, will be made to the text.
Unfortunately, various souces give different dates for the same events.
Similarly, the number of passengers on each sailing, as well as the total number
of repatriated passengers, vary.
Drottningholm The U.S. State Department had learned that the Drottningholm was available for charter, and accepted on March 4, 1942, the offer that had been conveyed via the Swedish and Swiss Governments. The purpose of the charter was to exchange official personnel between the Axis powers and the American Republics.
The Drottningholm made two trips from New York to Lisbon and back. The first voyage from New York commenced on May 7, bound for Lisbon. The second sailing departed from New York on June 3. The Drottningholm's return voyage ended in NYC on June 30, 1942. However, she would come to serve much longer as an exchange ship, chartered by the British Government. Read the story of a RAMC medical orderly returning home from a POW camp via Gothenburg. See a "March of Time" film cliip, showing Drottningholm arriving in US on June 1, 1942 with diplomatic officers leaving Axis nations. The link connects to the Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive at US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Many thanks to Susan Pentlin for this tip. There is another film clip of the Drottningholm arriving in NY Harbor in 1940. The ship carried Rabbi Joseph I. Schneersohn (1880-1950), the Lubavitcher Rebbe, to freedom from war torn Europe. The film clip is from Lubavitch archives. (Link contributed by David Shatz.) Read more about the Drottningholm here:
|
Gripsholm The Gripsholm was chartered to the US State Department during World War II, from 1942 to 1946, as an exchange and repatriation ship, under the protection of the Red Cross, hence the term "mercy ship".
"M. S. Gripsholm is painted white with the name of the vessel,
The Gripsholm sailed with flooding lights across the seas. She must have been a magic sight on the dark waters. The venture was managed by American Export Lines, which was founded in 1936. Fredric T Schneider in New York has written: "My uncle distinctly articulated to me his recollection of the ship being lit up in white lights. The result was that any other blacked out ship within miles and not protected by the Gripsholm's neutrality was perfectly silhouetted and an easy target for submarines. My uncle said you could see every ship making top speed to scurry away as fast as possible from the Gripsholm's bright lights. "
Another source, blogger Musafir, has this to say about Bill Lichtman: It is not hard to see why American Export Lines was chosen to administer the voyages. The crew was Swedish. Sigfrid Ericsson was Commander on the first two voyages, to be succeeded by Gunnar Nordensson, who had served as Chief Officer until then. Gunnar Nordensson was later to become the Captain of the Stockholm. Gripsholm made 12 round trips to various parts of the world and carried 27,712 passengers. The crew was initially signed up for six months, SAL had an order for one voyage, but it would take two years before they were back in Goteborg for a short visit. See film clips of the Gripsholm and Drottningholm arriving in New York during WWII here. Among the ports she visited during WWII, were: The Gripsholm also carried mail and food packages to prisoners of war. One American prisoner recognized his father's razor, sent from home by parents to their son in the prison camp. What a wonderful gift! One voyage from New York to Mormugao took 44 days, the return was estimated at 41 days. So, she was out to sea for nearly 3 months, for just one of the trips. The passengers were POW's, diplomats, journalists, nurses, missionaries and merchants, e.g. "oil people", and crew members of the U.S. Merchant Marine, who had been left behind in Asia.
The Gripsholm's service during the exchange voyages was the same as during Atlantic crossings prior to the war, with three classes for passengers. The bars and lounges were open as usual. The photo above was shot after the war. The U.S. Merchant Marine ribbon bars on Mr Karlholm's jacket show that he served on the Gripsholm during WWII. Read about Captain Torkel Tistrand, who served on the Gripsholm during WWII. |
Gripsholm's first exchange voyage in 1942
View unique photos from the exchange voyage. On the first voyage Gripsholm departed from from New York on June 18, 1942, with 1,083 Japanese nationals on board, bound for Japan. They were mostly diplomats and their families, but also some Japanese businessmen, journalists, who were in the U.S. when war was declared. Some were American relatives of Japanese deportees, who didn't wish to go to Japan, but wouldn't abandon their husbands or fathers. Some of the young passengers on the ship were students, and later those intellectuals would become influential leaders in Japan's post war society.
The Gripsholm also picked up 417 Japanese passengers in Rio de Janeiro, among them the Japanese Embassy staff. The embassy's picture of the Emperor was covered by cloth when it was carried on board, and all the Japanese passengers kneeled and bowed before it. No one was allowed to go ashore in Rio. There was Brazilian military on the pier with machine guns. Gripsholm was anchored in the harbor, and was only allowed to dock for a short while for embarkation.
The Japanese passengers disembarked from the Gripsholm and embarked a Japanese ship bow to bow, while the western nationals walked on another gangway, stern to stern. The procedure took place on the 24th, during 4 hours. The majority were not military personnel, but civilians, who had been interned. One American journalist, normally weighing 160 lbs, weighed 64 lbs when he was carried on board. The 1,500 western nationals had to wait on Gripsholm's deck while the cabins were cleaned. There were buffets prepared on the decks, and many passengers kneeled and prayed when they saw the food, while the Swedish crew wept. Ms. Carmen Puente Prieto of Mexico City, Mexico, has contributed an interesting and lovely story about her mother and grandmother, who left Shanghai in June 1942, and boarded the Gripsholm at Lorenco Marques. Gripsholm sailed on July 28, with 1,510 passengers on board. Among the them were 15 American newspapermen, 125 Catholic priests and nuns, and 100 children, many born abroad, never having seen their homeland. Read about a meeting of Free Masons on board the Gripsholm on August 8, 1942, posted on the website of the lodge Star in the East No. 640 S.C. Yokohama, Japan.
All in all, the passengers spent two months at sea during their voyage from Asia to USA, but were able to go ashore in Lorenco Marques, and later in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 10. Some of the passengers were mentally ill after captivity, and decades later, one Swedish crew member said he still could not forget their terrifying screams from the cabin area. After having returned to New York, on August 25, there was a long waiting period before the next voyage. Gripsholm was laid up in Yonkers for over nine months. The Swedish crew members were given American Coast Guard passes, and received the same benefits on leave as American servicemen.
Rich Turnwald, a member of LinersList, has contributed the following information:
Max Hill's niece, Edie Pickens of Las Vegas, NV, has contributed memories
of her uncle
| ||||||||
Gripsholm's second exchange voyage in 1943
The exchange liner GRIPSHOLM, carrying 1330 Japanese civilians to be exchanged for 1500 Western Hemisphere nationals interned in the Orient, sailed from New York yesterday, September 2, 1943. The liner will call at Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, and Montevideo, Uruguay, to pick up additional Japanese civilians, and arrive at the port of exchange - Mormugao, Portugese India - about October 15, The Japanese exchange liner TEIA MARU, with 1500 Americans, Canadians and other Western Hemisphere nationals aboard, will arrive at Mormugao at the same time, and the two groups will be exchanged.The GRIPSHOLM is also carrying American and Canadian Red Cross supplies, consisting of medicines, concentrated foods, vitamins, and blood plasma, which are intended for distribution to American and Western Hemisphere nationals in Japanese controlled territories. This picture shows the loading of those supplies on the GRIPSHOLM in New York Harbor. Exchange liner With the gold and blue colors of Sweden painted on her sides, the former luxury liner GRIPSHOLM is loaded at her pier in New York harbor. With the word "Diplomat" lettered prominently on her side, the liner will travel without convoy under safe conduct arrangeents with all the belligerent governments. At night, she will be brilliantly lighted to show her identity as a diplomatic vessel. This is the second mission the GRIPSHOLM has undertaken since she was chartered from the Swedish American Line by the United States Government in 1942 to be used as an exchange vessel. ____________ The Gripsholm picked up Japanese passengers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and in Montevideo, Uruguay, (Sept 23). She crossed the Atlantic, and entered Port Elizabeth in darkness at night, through mined waters, to bunker fresh water and food. On the trip to Mormugao, one Japanese deportee jumped overboard, and the Gripsholm set out lifeboats to find him. It was infernally hot, and the sea was full of sharks. The passenger was not found. When the exchage was to be made at Mormugao, there was a a lot of commotion among the officials of different nationalities on shore, because there was a passenger missing, and the exchange of prisoners was halted. Finally one American offered to return to captivity, and the exchange could be made. What an unselfish sacrifice!
Several hundred Americans and Canadians, including a number from Hong Kong, walked from the Teia Maru on to the Gripsholm. It did occur that passengers (those not disabled) from both sides cooperated in carrying light cargo and luggage from one ship to the other. Read about Laurits V. Larsen who was a passenger on this voyage. The Gripsholm docked in Jersey City, across the river from New York, on December 1, 1943. The New York Times wrote in an editorial in December 1943: |
|
Updated Sep 14, 2009 Film Clip: The Gripsholm arriving in New York in 1943 This clip from Youtube shows the Gripsholm arriving in New York City in 1943, with American citizens from the Far East, among them former internees of Santo Tomas Internment Camp.
|
|
George and Gertrude Wilder, American missionaries in China, were repatriated on the Gripsholm in 1943. Gertrude Wilder painted a number of watercolor sketches of the ports visited along the way. Their grandson, Donald Wilder Menzi, has provided a narrative and combined the paintings in a video.In addition, George Wilder, was an amatuer ornithologist, and wrote a memoir of the voyage with an emphasis on the various birds seen along the way. His friend, Howard Galt, also wrote a memoir of the voyage. Visit the web site here: http://d.menzi.org
|
The following exchange voyages After the two long voyages in 1942 and 1943, the Gripsholm made several shorter voyages, carrying German repatriates and POW's from America to be exchanged in Lisbon, Goteborg and Mediterranean ports. The German POW's were submarine crews and other navy crews who had been captured by the US Armed Forces. There were also German internees, as described by Steven Fox in his book excerpt. In 1945, the Gripsholm made a longer voyage to Port Said and Bombay, through the Suez Canal. The Gripsholm made three voyages in 1944, four in 1945, and three in 1946, before returning to regular transatlantic crossings and cruises. Also among the passengers on the Gripsholm was the Kungsholm crew, which had been stranded in New York City, just after the proclamation of war, when Kungsholm was bought by the US Government, and renamed John Ericsson. Professor Emeritus Susan Pentlin, has edited The Diary of Mary Berg, a republication of the diary of a woman who had been in the Warzaw Ghetto and later interned at the Vittel Internment Camp in France, has provided the following information: "The Gripsholm arrived from Lisbon on March 15, 1944 in New Jersey City, New Jersey with 662 passengers. 35 or 36 of the passengers were wounded U. S. soldiers. There were also American and Latin American officials aboard, Red Cross workers, journalists and American citizens, many of them came from Poland, some directly from concentration camps, others from internment camps such as Vittel."
In an article from 1991, Mary Berg's Warsaw Ghetto: A Diary,
Susan Pentlin has written: Stephen Fox has informed us of the story about Seven Sisters of Mary of the Presentation interned at Vittel, France during World War II. They also returned safely to the USA on the Gripsholm in March 1944. On one of the voyages, the Gripsholm also carried concentration camp victims from Bergen-Belsen. Vandy Vandervort has contributed the documents below from her aunt's arrival on the Gripsholm on March 15, 1944. Dorothea (Dodo) Clark Vandervort Richie was a member of the U.S. diplomatic corps in Germany.
After the war, in 1946, Gripsholm sailed from the USA to Europe, carrying several hundred deportees from American prisons to Naples and Greece, amng them Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello. These passengers carried plenty of cash, and organized gambling on board, resulting in knife fights after accusations of cheating. The SS Drottningholm was chartered by the American and British governments for similar purposes. For an eye-witness report from the mercy ship Drottningholm, read about Carl-Otto Claesson, who served 32 years on the bridge. |
Links Read more about Gripsholm as a repatriation ship on these personal home pages: |
| James E. McEldowney's family, traveling to India in 1946. |
| Lt. Robert M Janson, returning from Europe in 1944. |
| Gwen Dew, reporter, returning from Asia in 1942. |
| Radzia, American prisoner in Nazi-Occcupied Poland returning from Europe in 1945. |
| Lt Walter R. O'Sullivan, returning home in 1945. |
The China National Aviation Corporation CNAC There are several stories of people who were interned by the Japanese during WW II. Some of these people came home on the Gripsholm. Tom has started a small page listing those who came home on the Gripsholm: http://www.cnac.org/emilscott/gripsholm01.htm |
View photos from the WW2 Repatriation Voyages > >
More than 100 web pages developed and maintained by Lars Hemingstam ©1998-2010
Email us
Regardless of which ship we sailed on or which year - the memories we share are the same!
|
|
||
| . | ||||||||
| . | ||||||||
| . |
Recommended Books |
|||||||
|
|||||||
Updated Sep 7, 2009 Waterline - Images from the Golden Age of Cruising John Graves
Örjan Slätte, ex Information Officer on the Gripsholm, recommends Waterline - Images from the Golden Age of Cruising by John Graves, published by the National Maritime Museum in London in 2004. It is based on photos by Marine Photo Service, which were acquired by the museum in 1996 The book features many photos from SAL cruises.
Please note that the book's edition at Amazon.co.uk may not have the Kungsholm on the cover. Örjan Slätte, Informationsofficer på Gripsholm, rekommenderar boken Waterline - Images from the Golden Ages of Cruising. Boken är utgiven år 2004 av National Maritime Museum i London som 1996 förvärvat Marine Photo Service (MPS) samlingar. Redan omslagsbilden föreställer Kungsholm 1953 med två vattenskidåkande ynglingar i fronten. MPS fanns i många rederier och där finns många mycket bra foton från SAL:s kryssningar. Våra fotografer var mycket yrkesskickliga med konstnärlig talang. Man kan förmoda att de tidvis kände för att fotografera annat än leende, välklädda pax med cocktailglas i hand. Fina miljöer från fartygens "omvärld". |
Updated July7, 2008 MERCY SHIPS
During World War 2 the Drottningholm and the Gripsholm were used as repatriation ships and made 33 voyages to exchange prisoners of war, diplomats, women and children, between the warfaring nations. David Miller has written a book about the exchange and repatriation voyages,with an emphasis on the British experience. It is loaded with facts about these voyages of mercy. Read more about all the exchange and repatriation sailings during WWII here. |
||||||
| Recommended Books | |||
|
|
M/S Kungsholms inredning Första M/S Kungsholm, Amerikalinjens stora passagerarfartyg, byggdes på 1920-talet. Det gick mellan Göteborg och New York. Arkitekten Carl Bergsten fick uppdraget att hålla i den påkostade inredningen som skulle visa för världen vad svenska konstnärer kunde åstadkomma. Under andra världskriget togs fartyget i beslag av amerikanarna för att användas i trupptransporten till Europa. Inredningen revs då ner och förstördes. Anne-Marie Ericsson har letat i arkiv och museer efter beskrivningar, ritningar och gamla fotografier för att försöka rekonstruera denna makalösa uppvisning i svensk inredningskonst. |
Amerikabåtarna Christer Winberg, professor i historia vid Göteborgs universitet, har skrivit en bok om SAL som bygger på bevarat samtida material från Svenska Amerika Linien på Landsarkivet och Sjöfartsmuseet i Göteborg. Det omfattar exempelvis reserapporter, minnesberättelser och personligt färgade reseskildringar. Författaren har också samlat in eget material genom intervjuer med f.d. anställda.
|
Andrea Dorias undergång I Andrea Dorias undergång berättar Britt-Marie Mattsson den fascinerande berättelsen om kollisionen, den heroiska räddningsaktionen och det rättsliga efterspelet till den mycket uppmärksammade olyckan - sin tids Titanic. Mattssons far var vid tiden för olyckan informationschef vid Svenska Amerika Linien. Britt-Marie Mattsson har träffat flera av de överlevande och intervjuat dem för denna bok. Hon har bland annat talat med vittnen som ger information som kan kasta nytt ljus över vad som egentligen orsakade den fruktansvärda kollisionen. Boken är rikligt illustrerad i svartvitt. |
A book about the Kungsholm of 1953. |
Journalist Per Fält has recommended |
"Såna" på Amerikabåtarna SAL har skildrats i böcker, dokumentär-filmer, journalfilmer och tidningsartiklar. Oftast är det glamouren som uppmärk-sammats men en grupp har alltid saknats i beskrivningarna: homosexuella män. Såna på Amerikabåtarna är en välskriven, lättläst och underhållande studie av en värld som gått i glömska. | |
De Flytande Palatsen From the very inception of the line in 1915, the ships of the Line attracted much attention on both sidesof the Atlantic. Not only did they represent the bonds between the old country and the new, they also represented new concepts in service, decor, and furnishings as well as in art and handicraft. Published in 1987. This book can be found on Amazon.
|
Huset Broström Huset Broström för tankarna till Forsythesagan och Onedinlinjen. Inget svenskt företag har upplevt så stor dramatik som just Broströms. Detta är den dramtiska berättelsen "inifrån Huset", om det som skedde i det som syntes ske. Utgiven 1980. | ||
Out of the Fog is an American edition of a Swedish book by Algot Mattsson, who was the information officer for SAL, the owner of Stockholm, the ship that collided with Andrea Doria in 1956. The book describes the collision from the perspectives of both ships as well as the heroic rescue of hundreds. Testimony given at the hearing is also included as is a legal opinion by the American editors, one of whom was directly involved with the case. |
Detta är en berättelse om den dramatiska färden över Atlanten, från de hårda och riskfyllda överfarten med små lastskutor i mitten av 1800-talet, till lyxresorna med Amerikalinjens sista skepp. Utgiven 1982 | ||
