Ship History

	History

RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE M/S STOCKHOLM 1938
The Stockholm (1938) was a little known and ill fated ship with a tragically brief life. It was intended that she was to have re-established Swedish American Line as the principal concern on the transatlantic service from Scandinavia. She was to have been the largest ship built for Swedish American Line at that time and a replacement for the ageing Drottningholm, which by then 30 years old and a North Atlantic veteran. She was to have served on the transatlantic service and on cruises. Sadly the Second World War intervened and she never entered service with Swedish American Line. But she was to have been their finest liner of the interwar period. We can only wonder what might have been. Design and Construction (1937 – 1941): By the mid 1930s, the fledgling Swedish American Line was fast reaching maturity as a major player on the North Atlantic. The company had established itself as a main shipping company on the transatlantic service from Scandinavia and the Baltic to North America and was experiencing major growth. As a result of this rapid growth and growing confidence, Swedish American Line decided to order an even larger ship for the transatlantic service from Gothenburg to New York. This was the ill fated Stockholm ordered in November 1937 from Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Monfalcone, Trieste, Italy. She was to be a replacement for the ageing Drottningholm, by then a veteran of 30 years and the oldest ship in service on the North Atlantic. The Stockholm would have been the largest ship ever owned by the Swedish American Line and she constituted a major step forward in the quality of passenger amenities offered by the shipping line. She was a dual role ship intended for transatlantic service and cruising. Sadly she had a very brief and tragic life. On the 29th May 1938 the new ship was launched and named Stockholm. Sadly on the 19th December 1938 the Stockholm is destroyed by fire. The nearly completed ship caught fire at Monfalcone during the night, strong winds and toxic smoke hampered fire fighting, but the large quantities of water pumped in to her caused a loss of stability and she sank at her berth, investigation on causes of the fire were inconclusive but she was beyond salvage. All that survived from the charred remains were her main diesel engines which had somehow survived intact. This gave Swedish American Line a glimmer of hope that something could be salvaged from this disaster. As a result they ordered an identical ship to be built for completion in 1941. This replica Stockholm progressed to launch even quicker than her predecessor, being launched on the 10th March 1940. However by this time the Second World War had broken out and the Baltic was blockaded. As a result the ship could not be delivered. The War Years (1940 - 1944): Sadly the Stockholm was never delivered to her intended owners due to the outbreak of the Second World War and the entry of Italy into the war on the side of the Nazis. On the 3rd November 1941 the Stockholm is requistioned by the Italian Government from neutral Sweden who are forced to sell her to the Italians. She was converted for use as a troopship under the name Saubadia. In 1944 the Germans drilled holes in her hull, and the ship was sunk outside Trieste in 1944. Thus another fine ocean liner was lost to the Second World War. The ill fated Stockholm could have been Swedish American Line's finest ship of the interwar period. SAL had to wait till the magnificent M.S. Kungsholm was introduced in 1966 before they gained a ship equal in stature or size to this ill fated liner. This is the sad story of the wartime Stockholm and we can only wonder what might have been had this magnificent ship entered service as intended for Swedish American Line on the transatlantic service.