Flying Enterprise
Encyclopedia
SS Flying Enterprise was a 6,711 ton Type C1-B ship
which sank in 1952. She was built in 1944 as SS Cape Kumukaki for the United States Maritime Commission
for use in World War II
. The ship was sold in 1947 and then operated as a tramp steamer
under the name Flying Enterprise.
of Wilmington, California and launched on 7 January 1944. Delivered on 18 March 1944, she was owned by the United States War Shipping Administration
and registered at Los Angeles
.
After the end of World War II
, she was sold in 1947 to the Isbrandtsen Company
. At this time, her name was changed to the Flying Enterprise and re-registered in New York
. For the next five years, she was used as a general cargo freighter in the North Atlantic.
On 21 December 1951, under the command of Henrik Kurt Carlsen
, she left Hamburg
, Germany
bound for the USA. Among her cargo was 1270 long tons (1,290.4 t) of pig iron
and 486 long tons (493.8 t) of coffee
, 447 long tons (454.2 t) rags, 39 long tons (39.6 t) peat moss, twelve Volkswagen
cars, antiques and antique musical instruments, typewriters, 447 long tons (454.2 t) of naphthalene
as well as ten passengers. There is speculation that the cargo also included gold
and zirconium
Four days later, on Christmas night, she encountered a storm in the Western Approaches
to the English Channel
. Afterwards, it was discovered that she had suffered structural damage and a crack was found across the weather deck. The cargo then shifted. An SOS
was issued on 28 December, by which time she was listing 45 degrees to port. The SS Southland and USS General A. W. Greely
responded. On 29 December 1951, the crew and passengers were evacuated with the loss of one life (a male passenger). Captain Carlsen remained on board.
By 2 January 1952, the USS John W. Weeks
had arrived and relieved the merchant ships. The following day, the tug Turmoil arrived, guided by the searchlights from USS John W Weeks, but found it impossible to take the Flying Enterprise in tow. The tug's mate
, Kenneth Dancy, was then transferred to the Flying Enterprise on 4 January, by which time the list had increased to 60 degrees. The ship was taken in tow on 5 January, when she was some 300 nautical miles (555.6 km) from Falmouth, Cornwall
. On 6 January, USS Willard Keith
relieved the John W Weeks and the French tug Abeille 25 also joined the rescue effort. The tow line parted at 01:30 on 10 January, with Flying Enterprise 31 nautical miles (57.4 km) south of The Lizard
and 41 nautical miles (75.9 km) from Falmouth. Later that day, the Turmoil was joined by the Trinity House
vessel Satellite and the tugs Dexterous and Englishman. Carlsen and Dancy finally abandoned ship at 15:22 hrs and were picked up by Turmoil. The Flying Enterprise sank at 16:10 hrs to whistle, siren and foghorn salutes from the flotilla.
The salvage attempts were criticised as the ship might have been saved by heading for the nearest safe harbour, Cork
, rather than Falmouth.
A public house
in Cork
, Ireland
is named the "Flying Enterprise" after the ship.
company Sorima. Under a confidentiality clause in the salvage contract, further details of the recovered cargo were not released.
"Flying Enterprise & Kurt Carlsen" was published a months ago on Danish language. 29'th November in an English version
Before Carlsen past away he told journalist and book writer Bjarne Bekker his life story in Woodbridge, New Jersey.
The burial at sea over Flying Enterprise happened 8th February 1990 after a journey to Japan in a safety box on SS "Jutlandia".
www.flying-enterprise.com - ISBN978-87.88876-75-8.
Later Leigh Bishop worked with US divers John Chatterton
and Richie Kohler
to film the wreck for a 2005 episode of the History Channel's Deep Sea Detectives
. This became the deepest wreck dived of the 56 episodes made.
The wreck now lies resting on her port side in a depth of 84m/280 ft on the seabed of the western approaches to the English Channel. Leigh Bishop recovered artifacts from the site, which went on display for many successful years to the general public in the Cornish Maritime Museum.
, intended for use in the first nuclear submarine USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
, but registered as pig iron
, were discussed in a 2002 Danish
television documentary Det Skæve skib (English title: The Mystery of Flying Enterprise).
Silver Medal for Meritorious Service in recognition of his efforts to save Flying Enterprise, and received a ticker-tape parade
in New York City
on January 17, 1952.
Kenneth Dancy was awarded a medal for Industrial Heroism
by the Daily Herald and an illuminated citation from the American Institute of Marine Underwriters.
Type C1 ship
Type C1 was a designation for small cargo ships built for the U.S. Maritime Commission before and during World War II. The first C1 types were the smallest of the three original Maritime Commission designs, meant for shorter routes where high speed and capacity were less important. Only a handful...
which sank in 1952. She was built in 1944 as SS Cape Kumukaki for the United States Maritime Commission
United States Maritime Commission
The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and replaced the U.S. Shipping Board which had existed since World War I...
for use in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The ship was sold in 1947 and then operated as a tramp steamer
Tramp steamer
A ship engaged in the tramp trade is one which does not have a fixed schedule or published ports of call. As opposed to freight liners, tramp ships trade on the spot market with no fixed schedule or itinerary/ports-of-call...
under the name Flying Enterprise.
History
Cape Kumukaki was built by Consolidated Steel CorporationConsolidated Steel Corporation
Consolidated Steel Corporation was an American steel and shipbuilding business. Consolidated built ships during World War II in two locations: Wilmington, California and Orange, Texas...
of Wilmington, California and launched on 7 January 1944. Delivered on 18 March 1944, she was owned by the United States War Shipping Administration
War Shipping Administration
The War Shipping Administration was a World War II emergency war agency of the US Government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the US needed for fighting the war....
and registered at Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
After the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she was sold in 1947 to the Isbrandtsen Company
American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines
American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines, New York, was the leading US-flag shipping company between the US east coast and the Mediterranean from 1919 to 1977, offering both Cargo ship services and Passenger ship services, until declaring bankruptcy and was acquired by Farrell Lines, New York.-American...
. At this time, her name was changed to the Flying Enterprise and re-registered in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. For the next five years, she was used as a general cargo freighter in the North Atlantic.
On 21 December 1951, under the command of Henrik Kurt Carlsen
Henrik Kurt Carlsen
Kurt Carlsen was a Danish-born sea-captain who became world-famous in January 1952 when he stayed on his sinking freighter, the Flying Enterprise, for 13 days. It eventually sank less than from safe harbour at Falmouth, Cornwall in England, minutes after the Captain was forced to abandon ship...
, she left Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
bound for the USA. Among her cargo was 1270 long tons (1,290.4 t) of pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
and 486 long tons (493.8 t) of coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, 447 long tons (454.2 t) rags, 39 long tons (39.6 t) peat moss, twelve Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
cars, antiques and antique musical instruments, typewriters, 447 long tons (454.2 t) of naphthalene
Naphthalene
Naphthalene is an organic compound with formula . It is a white crystalline solid with a characteristic odor that is detectable at concentrations as low as 0.08 ppm by mass. As an aromatic hydrocarbon, naphthalene's structure consists of a fused pair of benzene rings...
as well as ten passengers. There is speculation that the cargo also included gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
and zirconium
Zirconium
Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name of zirconium is taken from the mineral zircon. Its atomic mass is 91.224. It is a lustrous, grey-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium...
Four days later, on Christmas night, she encountered a storm in the Western Approaches
Western Approaches
The Western Approaches is a rectangular area of the Atlantic ocean lying on the western coast of Great Britain. The rectangle is higher than it is wide, the north and south boundaries defined by the north and south ends of the British Isles, the eastern boundary lying on the western coast, and the...
to the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. Afterwards, it was discovered that she had suffered structural damage and a crack was found across the weather deck. The cargo then shifted. An SOS
SOS
SOS is the commonly used description for the international Morse code distress signal...
was issued on 28 December, by which time she was listing 45 degrees to port. The SS Southland and USS General A. W. Greely
USS General A. W. Greely (AP-141)
USS General A. W. Greely was a named for U.S. Army general Adolphus Greely. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General A. W. Greeley in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service as USNS General A. W. Greely ...
responded. On 29 December 1951, the crew and passengers were evacuated with the loss of one life (a male passenger). Captain Carlsen remained on board.
By 2 January 1952, the USS John W. Weeks
USS John W. Weeks (DD-701)
USS John W. Weeks , an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, was named for John Wingate Weeks, who attained the rank of Rear Admiral. Weeks was elected to the United States House of Representatives where he served until entering the United States Senate in 1913. He became Secretary of War on 4 March...
had arrived and relieved the merchant ships. The following day, the tug Turmoil arrived, guided by the searchlights from USS John W Weeks, but found it impossible to take the Flying Enterprise in tow. The tug's mate
Chief Mate
A Chief Mate or Chief Officer, usually also synonymous with the First Mate or First Officer , is a licensed member and head of the deck department of a merchant ship...
, Kenneth Dancy, was then transferred to the Flying Enterprise on 4 January, by which time the list had increased to 60 degrees. The ship was taken in tow on 5 January, when she was some 300 nautical miles (555.6 km) from Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....
. On 6 January, USS Willard Keith
USS Willard Keith (DD-775)
USS Willard Keith , an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, is currently the only completed ship of the United States Navy ever named for Willard Keith, a United States Marine Corps captain who died in combat during the campaign for Guadalcanal. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions...
relieved the John W Weeks and the French tug Abeille 25 also joined the rescue effort. The tow line parted at 01:30 on 10 January, with Flying Enterprise 31 nautical miles (57.4 km) south of The Lizard
The Lizard
The Lizard is a peninsula in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The most southerly point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at ....
and 41 nautical miles (75.9 km) from Falmouth. Later that day, the Turmoil was joined by the Trinity House
Trinity House
The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond is the official General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales and other British territorial waters...
vessel Satellite and the tugs Dexterous and Englishman. Carlsen and Dancy finally abandoned ship at 15:22 hrs and were picked up by Turmoil. The Flying Enterprise sank at 16:10 hrs to whistle, siren and foghorn salutes from the flotilla.
The salvage attempts were criticised as the ship might have been saved by heading for the nearest safe harbour, Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
, rather than Falmouth.
A public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
in Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
is named the "Flying Enterprise" after the ship.
Salvage
In 1960, some $210,000 of the $800,000-worth of cargo was salvaged from Flying Enterprise by the ItalianItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
company Sorima. Under a confidentiality clause in the salvage contract, further details of the recovered cargo were not released.
"Flying Enterprise & Kurt Carlsen" was published a months ago on Danish language. 29'th November in an English version
Before Carlsen past away he told journalist and book writer Bjarne Bekker his life story in Woodbridge, New Jersey.
The burial at sea over Flying Enterprise happened 8th February 1990 after a journey to Japan in a safety box on SS "Jutlandia".
www.flying-enterprise.com - ISBN978-87.88876-75-8.
Wreck discovery and diving
On June 22, 2001 the Danish expedition company "No limit diving" with the Danish filmmaker Lasse Spang Olsen's documentary "The Mystery of Flying Enterprise" a team of Danish and British divers re-discovered the famous lost shipwreck Flying Enterprise almost 50 years after she had sunk. Well known deep wreck diver Leigh Bishop had researched the whereabouts of the sinking and obtained information from British government departments on the wreck's approximate location. Photographs taken by Leigh Bishop were enough to positively identify the wreck as that of the Flying Enterprise.Later Leigh Bishop worked with US divers John Chatterton
John Chatterton
John Chatterton is one of the world’s most accomplished and well known wreck divers. Together with Richie Kohler, he was one of the co-hosts for the History Channel’s Deep Sea Detectives where they have completed work on 57 episodes of this successful series...
and Richie Kohler
Richie kohler
Richie Kohler is an experienced technical wreck diver and shipwreck historian who has been diving and exploring shipwrecks since 1980. Together with John Chatterton, Kohler was one of the co-hosts of the television series Deep Sea Detectives on the History Channel and is also a consultant for the...
to film the wreck for a 2005 episode of the History Channel's Deep Sea Detectives
Deep Sea Detectives
Deep Sea Detectives is a television show on The History Channel. The show began airing in 2003.In a post dated September 1, 2006 on the Deep Sea Detectives message board, series producer Kirk Wolfinger stated that the show would not be renewed for another season.- External links :* *...
. This became the deepest wreck dived of the 56 episodes made.
The wreck now lies resting on her port side in a depth of 84m/280 ft on the seabed of the western approaches to the English Channel. Leigh Bishop recovered artifacts from the site, which went on display for many successful years to the general public in the Cornish Maritime Museum.
Speculation into the sinking and cargo
Speculations about a shipment of zirconiumZirconium
Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name of zirconium is taken from the mineral zircon. Its atomic mass is 91.224. It is a lustrous, grey-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium...
, intended for use in the first nuclear submarine USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
USS Nautilus is the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine. She was the first vessel to complete a submerged transit beneath the North Pole on August 3, 1958...
, but registered as pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
, were discussed in a 2002 Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
television documentary Det Skæve skib (English title: The Mystery of Flying Enterprise).
Passengers
The passengers on board Flying Enterprise were Nicolai Bunjakowski, who drowned during the rescue, Nina Dannheiser, Maria Duttenhofer, Rolf Kastenholz, Leonore von Klenau, Curt and Elsa Müller and their children Liane and Lothar and Frederick Niederbrüning.Honours
Captain Carlsen was awarded a Lloyd'sLloyd's of London
Lloyd's, also known as Lloyd's of London, is a British insurance and reinsurance market. It serves as a partially mutualised marketplace where multiple financial backers, underwriters, or members, whether individuals or corporations, come together to pool and spread risk...
Silver Medal for Meritorious Service in recognition of his efforts to save Flying Enterprise, and received a ticker-tape parade
Ticker-tape parade
A ticker-tape parade is a parade event held in a built-up urban setting, allowing large amounts of shredded paper to be thrown from nearby office buildings onto the parade route, creating a celebratory effect by the snowstorm-like flurry...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on January 17, 1952.
Kenneth Dancy was awarded a medal for Industrial Heroism
Order of Industrial Heroism
The Order of Industrial Heroism was a private civil award given in the United Kingdom by the Daily Herald newspaper to honour examples of heroism carried out by ordinary workers. Many of the 440 awards were posthumous....
by the Daily Herald and an illuminated citation from the American Institute of Marine Underwriters.
External links
- Photo of listing Flying Enterprise from the U.S. Navy Historical Center.
- Information and Photos of the wreck by Leigh Bishop.
- Photos of Flying Enterprise.