SS Glitra
title: "SS Glitra" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1881-ships", "maritime-incidents-in-october-1914", "scuttled-vessels-of-the-united-kingdom", "ships-built-by-swan-hunter", "ships-sunk-by-german-submarines-in-world-war-i", "shipwrecks-of-norway", "steamships-of-the-united-kingdom", "world-war-i-merchant-ships-of-the-united-kingdom", "world-war-i-shipwrecks-in-the-north-sea"] topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Glitra" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox ship"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| section1 | {{Infobox ship/image |
| image | SS Glitra.jpg }} |
| section2 | {{Infobox ship/career |
| country | United Kingdom |
| flag | |
| name | *1881: Saxon Prince |
| owner | *1881: James Knott |
| operator | *1881: James Knott |
| registry | *1881: North Shields |
| builder | CS Swan & Hunter, Wallsend |
| yard_number | 51 |
| launched | 3 March 1881 |
| completed | April 1881 |
| identification | *UK official number 137431 |
| fate | Captured and scuttled, 20 October 1914 |
| section3 | {{Infobox ship/characteristics |
| tonnage | , |
| length | 215 ft |
| beam | 30.7 ft |
| depth | 13.8 ft |
| power | 99 NHP |
| propulsion | Compound steam engine |
| speed | 9 kn |
| :: |
|section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=SS Glitra.jpg }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country= United Kingdom |flag= |name= *1881: Saxon Prince
- 1896: Glitra |owner= *1881: James Knott
- 1895: Johan T Salvesen |operator= *1881: James Knott
- 1895: Christian Salvesen |registry= *1881: North Shields
- 1895: Leith |ordered= |builder= CS Swan & Hunter, Wallsend |yard_number= 51 |laid_down= |launched= 3 March 1881 |completed= April 1881 |acquired= |in_service= |out_of_service= |identification= *UK official number 137431
- Code letters VLQW
|fate= Captured and scuttled, 20 October 1914
|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |type= |tonnage= , |displacement= |length= 215 ft |beam= 30.7 ft |height= |draught= |depth= 13.8 ft |sail_plan= |power= 99 NHP |propulsion= Compound steam engine |speed= 9 kn |capacity= |crew= |notes=
'SS Glitra* was a steam cargo ship that was launched in 1881 as **Saxon Prince'''. In 1896 she was renamed *Glitra''. In 1914 she became the first British merchant vessel to be sunk by a U-boat in the First World War.
Building and ownership
Saxon Prince was the first steamship to be built for James Knott, a successful owner of collier brigs. She was also the first ship to which Knott gave a name ending in "Prince", which became a characteristic of his future Prince Line.
CS Swan & Hunter built Saxon Prince at Wallsend, launching her on 3 March 1881 and completing her that April. She had an iron hull and a two-cylinder compound steam engine. Her UK official number was 79247, her code letters were VLQW and Knott registered her in North Shields.
In 1895 Knott restructured his business as Prince Line (1895) Ltd and sold Saxon Prince to Christian Salvesen. In 1896 Salvesen renamed her Glitra and registered her in Leith.
Capture and sinking
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Feldkirchener.jpg" caption="Kapitänleutnant Johannes Feldkirchener"] ::
On 20 October 1914 Glitra was en route from Grangemouth to Stavanger in Norway laden with coal, iron plate and oil when , commanded by Kapitänleutnant Johannes Feldkirchener, stopped and searched her 14 nmi west-southwest of Skudenes, Rogaland, Norway, in accordance with prize law. Her crew was ordered into the lifeboat(s), and once all were safely off the ship a German boarding party scuttled Glitra by opening her seacocks.
One source states that U-17 towed the lifeboat(s) toward the Norwegian coast. Another states that the Royal Norwegian Navy 1. class torpedo boat , which was on neutrality protection duty, observed the incident but did not intervene as it was in international waters, and that after U-17 left, Hai towed the lifeboat(s) to the port of Skudeneshavn.
References
Bibliography
References
- "Saxon Prince". Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust.
- Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen. (1882). "Mercantile Navy List". [[Board of Trade]].
- Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen. (1898). "Mercantile Navy List". [[Board of Trade]].
- {{cite Uboat.net
- '''Note:''' sources disagree as to whether ''Glitra''{{'s crew left in one lifeboat or more than one.
- (2 August 2011). "British Merchant Ships Lost to Enemy Action Part 1 of 3 – Years 1914, 1915, 1916 in date order". Naval History.
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