MS Gripsholm (1924)
| Company type | Ocean liner |
|---|---|
| Industry | Shipping, passenger transport |
| Founded | 1924 |
| Founder | Armstrong Whitworth (builder) |
| Defunct | 1966 (scrapped) |
| Fate | Sold for dismantling |
| Headquarters | Newcastle-upon-Tyne (builder) , England, United Kingdom |
Area served | Transatlantic route between Gothenburg and New York City; transatlantic express travel; immigrant transport to Canada |
| Products | Passenger and immigrant transport; exchange and repatriation vessel during WWII |
| Owner | Swedish American Line (1924–1954), Norddeutscher Lloyd (1954–1966) |
MS Gripsholm was an ocean liner constructed in 1924 by Armstrong Whitworth at their Newcastle-upon-Tyne yard in England. Commissioned by the Swedish American Line, she served the transatlantic route between Gothenburg and New York City. Notably, she holds the distinction of being the inaugural vessel designed specifically for transatlantic express travel powered by diesel engines, rather than traditional steam propulsion.
Initial service
Beginning in 1927, the Gripsholm operated regular transatlantic passenger voyages alongside leisure cruises. She was among the earliest ships to dock at the Canadian immigration facility Pier 21 located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, completing a total of 101 immigrant voyages to this terminal.[1]
Exchange and repatriation vessel
Between 1942 and 1946, the United States Department of State chartered the Gripsholm to serve as an exchange and repatriation vessel. It transported Japanese and German nationals to designated exchange locations, where it then embarked US and Canadian citizens—as well as British individuals married to Americans or Canadians—to return them to North America. Additionally, the ship completed at least two journeys in 1944 repatriating British and Commonwealth prisoners of war, arriving in Belfast during spring and Liverpool in summer. Operating under the authority of the International Red Cross, the vessel was manned by a Swedish captain and crew. Over the course of 12 round trips, Gripsholm repatriated a total of 27,712 individuals. These exchanges occurred at neutral harbors such as Lourenço Marques (currently Maputo) in Mozambique or Mormugoa (now Goa) in Portuguese India for Japanese nationals, and at Stockholm or Lisbon for German nationals.
Following the conclusion of World War II, Gripsholm was employed to deport prisoners from US correctional facilities to Italy and Greece.
Post-war operations and renaming
In 1954, the Swedish American Line sold Gripsholm to Norddeutscher Lloyd, who renamed her MS Berlin. Under this new designation, the vessel resumed voyages transporting immigrants to Canada, docking at Pier 21 in Halifax. The ship completed 33 immigrant crossings before being retired from service. A photograph capturing MS Berlin arriving at Pier 21 in 1957 later became the central image featured on Canada’s redesigned electronic passport introduced in 2012.
The ship was ultimately sold for dismantling in 1966.
Routine Voyages
- Ernest Hemingway, the renowned American author and journalist, traveled with his wife Pauline Pfeiffer from Mombasa to Villefranch in early 1934. He made another journey with her in January 1938, sailing from Southampton to Nassau following his coverage of the Spanish Civil War.
- Anton Koschany, a Canadian news producer associated with W5, immigrated to Canada as a child aboard the March 22, 1956 voyage departing Bremerhaven, accompanied by his mother and sister.
- Count Zsigmond (Sigismund) Széchenyi, a Hungarian writer and hunter, embarked from Mombasa to Villefranch in early 1934 after completing a hunting expedition in East Africa.
- Greta Garbo, the celebrated actress, conducted a press conference onboard on August 8, 1932.
Exchange and Repatriation Voyages
- Joseph Alsop traveled not as a Naval Press Officer but as a journalist while stranded in Hong Kong.
- Gilberto Bosques, Mexican Consul General stationed in Marseille and known for issuing approximately 40,000 visas to Spanish Republicans, Jews, and other persecuted groups between 1939 and 1943, sailed aboard the MS Gripsholm from Lisbon on March 6, 1944. He was accompanied by his wife and three children after spending a year imprisoned at the Rheinhotel Dreesen in Bad Godesberg.
- Cornell Franklin, former chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council, was repatriated from Shanghai in 1943 via the Gripsholm departing Goa.
- Joseph Grew, United States Ambassador to Japan, was returned from Tokyo in 1942 aboard the Gripsholm from Lourenço Marques.
- Milton Helmick, judge of the United States Court for China, was repatriated from Shanghai in 1942 on the Gripsholm departing Lourenço Marques.
- Olive Ireland Hodges, a long-serving principal and missionary educator at Yokohama Eiwa Girls School.
- Saburō Kurusu, Japanese peace envoy present in the US during the attack on Pearl Harbor, was repatriated to Japan in 1942 through Lourenço Marques.
- Kichisaburō Nomura, Japanese ambassador to the United States at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, returned to Japan alongside Kurusu in 1942.
- Pedro Inzunza McKay, Mexican diplomat originally from Mocorito, Sinaloa, later serving as ambassador to Cuba and Brazil, traveled on the MS Gripsholm with his French wife Marie Louise. They departed Lisbon on March 6, 1944 after being held at Rheinhotel Dreesen in Bad Godesberg for one year.
- Gregon A. Williams, Marine Corps Officer and Assistant Naval Attaché stationed in Shanghai, was repatriated from Shanghai in 1942.
- May De Sousa, an American actress renowned for her work in operetta, was repatriated from the Chapei Civilian Assembly Center in Shanghai during 1943.
- Journalists Grace Drummond-Hay and Karl Henry von Wiegand of Hearst newspapers returned from a Japanese internment camp in Manila, Philippines, in December 1943.
References
- ↑ ""Gripsholm", Vessel Arrival Records, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21". Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
External links
- The Great Ocean Liners: Gripsholm (I)
- A Tribute to the Swedish American Line: Gripsholm 1925-1954
- (in Swedish) Fakta om Fartyg: MS Gripsholm (1925)
- US Navy photographs documenting its role as an exchange vessel
Template:Norddeutscher Lloyd ships
de:Liste von Passagierschiffen mit Namen Berlin#Passagierschiff „Berlin“ (IV) von 1924