SS Viking

For SS "Viking" of the Isle of Man Steam Packet, see HMS "Vindex" (1915).

Career
Builder:	Nylands Shipyards, Oslo, Norway
Laid down:	1881
Launched:	1882
Fate:	Exploded and sank off Horse Islands (1931)
General characteristics
Displacement:	620 gross tons
Propulsion:	Sails, Masts, Diesel Engine
Complement:	? officers, cook, ? deckhands

The SS Viking was a steam-powered sealing vessel used by film producer Varick Frissel in the making of the 1931 film The Viking. During the shooting of extra footage for this film it exploded, taking the lives of Varick Frissel and 26 other crew members.

The Viking, a wooden-hulled whaling ship built by Nylands at Christiania, Norway in 1881 the same location as another famous Newfoundland vessel the Southern Cross. The Viking was a vessel of 620 gross tons and equipped with a 90 horsepower (67 kW) auxiliary engine. The Viking was launched in 1882 from the Nylands Shipyard and for a while spent a number of years hunting the saddleback seal off the coast of Greenland. In 1882 the Viking was used by Fridtjof Nansen for his first Arctic expedition.

In 1904 the Viking was purchased by the Bowring Brothers of St. John’s for the sealing industry. She was placed under the command of Captain William Bartlett, father of Captain Bob Bartlett, where William remained master of her until 1923. The Viking was the smallest of the Bowring Brothers' fleet, and her loss was the first for the Bowring Brothers in fifty-two years. The Viking was capable of carrying 276 men.

In 1930 and 1931, the Viking was chartered by Varrick Frissel and Arthur G. Penrod to make a film of the annual seal hunt off the coast of Newfoundland. The Viking was mastered by Captain Bob Bartlett for the making of the film and was featured in the final production. The film was shown at the Nickel Theatre in St. John’s, to the chagrin of its producers who felt that it required more sensational footage. To obtain additional footage both Frissel and Penrod returned to the front the following spring in the Viking, this time with Captain Abram Kean.

On March 15, 1931 about eight miles (13 km) off Horse Islands, while stuck in the ice, the Viking was rocked by an explosion that blew the stern off the vessel. Dynamite loaded on the vessel to add to the sensationalism of giant explosions of icebergs had somehow been set off, killing 27 of the 147 on board including Varick Frissell. The Viking caught fire and sank. Some of the survivors made the over-ice trek to the Horse Islands, while some were rescued by other vessels dispatched to the area.

External links

• The Viking at the Internet Movie Database
• Viking Shipwreck