Alexander Stephen and SonsofLinthouse, Glasgow built the ship in 1881 as Pieter de Coninck for the Belgian company Theodore C. Engels & Co of Antwerp.[3] She was 3,359 GRT and 3,700 tonnes deadweight (DWT), and her 1,400-ihp engine gave a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h). She could carry a maximum of 800 passengers.[4]
In 1889, she was sold to a Danish company, A/S Dampskibs-selskabet Thingvalla, for its Stettin-Copenhagen-Kristiania-Kristiansand-New York service and renamed Norge.[4] On 20 August 1898, Norge collided with the French fishing brigantineLa Coquette in a fog. La Coquette broke in two and sank, and 16 of the 25 crew aboard drowned.[5] After financial difficulties, Thingvalla was bought in 1898 by Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (DFDS), Copenhagen, which served the route as "Scandinavia-America Line".[6] By then, the capacity of Norge was 1,100 passengers; 50 first class, 150 second class, and 900 third class.[4]
On 22 June 1904, Norge left Copenhagen under the command of Captain Valdemar Johannes Gundel. After taking on Norwegian emigrants at Kristiania and Kristiansand, the ship set course across the Atlantic Ocean, travelling north of Scotland to New York City. She was carrying a crew of 68 and 727 passengers. Among the steerage passengers, there were 296 Norwegians, 236 Russians, 79 Danes, 68 Swedes, and 15 Finns. Half of the steerage passengers had prepaid tickets, paid for by relatives living in the United States.[7]
On 28 June, Norge ran aground on Hasselwood Rock, Helen's Reef, close to Rockall, in foggy weather.[4][8] She was reversed off the rock after a few minutes, but the collision had ripped holes in the hull, and water began pouring into the hold.[8][7] The crew of the Norge began lowering the lifeboats, but the first two lowered were destroyed by waves.[7] Of the eight lifeboats on board, only five were successfully launched.[9] Many passengers jumped overboard, only to drown.[9] The Norge sank twelve minutes after the collision. Captain Gundal stayed with the ship as it sank, but managed to swim to one of the lifeboats.[9]
According to author Per Kristian Sebak's comprehensive account, more than 635 people died during the sinking, among them 225 Norwegians. The first survivors to be rescued, a group of 26, were found by the GrimsbytrawlerSylvia. Thirty-two more were picked up by the British steamship Cervonax, and 70, including Captain Gundal, by the German steamship Energie.[9] Some of the 160 survivors spent up to eight days in open lifeboats before rescue. Several more people died in the days that followed rescue, as a result of their exposure to the elements and swallowing salt water. Among the survivors was the poet Herman Wildenvey.[10][11]
The disaster remains the worst in Danish maritime history.[4] The wreck of Norge was found off Rockall in July 2003 in 65 metres (213 ft) of water.[12]
Sebak, Per Kristian (2004). Titanic's Predecessor: The S/S Norge Disaster of 1904. Laksevaag, Norway: Seaward Publishing. ISBN82-996779-0-4. OCLC56437472.
