S/S "Ris"'s last voyage

These were on the trip:

            Skipper Jon Vik

            First shooter Oskar Lingås

            Second shooter Ruben R. Brandal

            Machinist Sverre Abelset

            Firefighter Elias Rasmussen

            Steward Leif Nilsen

            Trapper Peder Linge

            Trapper Sverre Døving

            Trapper Edvard Mork

            Trapper Peder Sjåstad

            Trapper Olav Grønningsæther

            Trapper Bernhard Jemtegård

            Trapper Ludvig Solem

            Catcher Arthur Langdal

Arthur Langdal was the youngest man on board.

            We arrived in Bodø on March 2nd at 8:00 PM.

            In Bodø we were supposed to anchor, but we were so unlucky that the chain jumped out of the scissors, and the whole length came loose and everything went to the bottom. We were able to borrow a warp anchor from the port authority, but we couldn't get it out. Then we were going to try a drag, but now the Hurtigruten's anchor had snagged and we kept pulling her from the quay.         

            To find our anchors again, we rented the salvage steamer "Uller". They first tried searching, then using divers. The diver went down to the bottom, but the sea was so murky that he couldn't see anything. He was therefore called back up at once. Then we started walking slowly back and forth while dragging the patent anchor, and finally we walked along the chain and got it up.

            In the evening we were at a party in "Nordlands Fremtid".

            It was a communist youth group. There was a lecture there, and the topic was: "How can we work most easily in our country?" But I must say that the speaker had a vivid imagination and built many castles in the air.

            At three o'clock in the morning we weighed anchor with Tromsø as our next stop. On March 6th at 17 o'clock we arrived in Tromsø, and there we took on board coal and water. But the misfortune had followed us all the time, and we did not forget it now either.

As soon as we had got the kola on board and filled up the water, everyone went ashore. When we got on board again, the water was completely up under the pine seat in the engine room. At first we couldn't understand where the water was coming from. But when we went to look for it, the plug in the bottom of the water tank had come out, and 9000 liters of water had gone to waste.

            We left Tromsø on March 8 at 7:30 p.m. with Hammerfest as our next destination. We arrived there on March 9 at 4:30 a.m., and there we refilled our water tank. Hammerfest is a small town and is sheltered by a steep mountain. We barely had a chance to look around the town. I bought a card with pictures of the town, and then went up to a café to write on it. But it wasn't a nice café. When I opened the door, a foul smell of beer and tobacco hit me. Every table was full of Finns, Lapps, and Kven in their motley national costumes. We left town at 7:30 p.m., and figured there wouldn't be any more stops before we reached the ice.

            On March 10th at 17 pm we passed Vardø, and now we saw the last of our beloved Norway. We could only glimpse the coast as a small low farm with the occasional mountain peak sticking out, and then we arrived at the Varangerfjord in fine, sunny weather.

            On my off-duty day on March 11, I did some laundry, and then I took a nap in my bunk. Then my thoughts came to my loved ones back home and to my hometown, from which I would now be away for a while. We had now crossed the Varangerfjord and were heading southeast along the Murmansk coast, about thirty miles from land. We expected to reach the ice edge the next evening. There was a land wind and a light sea.

            The next day it was not easy to write in the diary, because that day we had a storm and a storm. I lay in my bunk, and of course it was home that was on my mind. But I couldn't sleep, the ship was rolling so much in the turbulent sea that there was no way to lie calmly in my bunk.

            Then came the order: – ALL MEN ON DECK!

            All you had to do was pull on your clothes and get on deck as quickly as possible.

            It was not pleasant to work on deck, because the seas were constantly beating over the ship, and it was so bitterly cold that the sea spray froze to ice on the oilcloth. In this terrible weather we had to keep hoisting, lacing and tearing the sails. It was very dangerous work. But it went well. Each of us had to be careful to hold on to something or other. Then the engine reported that the ship had burst a leak.

            After this there was no pleasant night. It was a night such as I have never experienced since, and which I hope I never experience again. When we lay down in the barren valleys, we saw only the sky above us, and with each breaking sea that came one could have thought that we were buried in the depths. But strangely enough, the ship rose again time after time, even though it was half full of sea, and on top of that was the heavy load from before of coal and provisions.

            We had a hole in the bow of the ship, and for every sea it hit, there was a splash of sea right behind the middle bulkhead so it was narrow. And this hole just got bigger and bigger. When we got shelter from the weather, the leak got a little better.

            We set course for Vardø, but few of us thought we would get this far. At 4 o'clock in the morning we were 4 miles off the Murmansk coast. Every man at work. Five men with the deck pump, the rest of the crew were in the engine, carrying up water in bags. It was so hot in the engine and the engine room was filled with raw steam, so it was difficult to see where you were going.

            But no matter how hard we tried, the leak only got bigger and bigger, and it seemed that sinking was now inevitable.

            Solem, Peder, Edvard and Arthur worked hard with the deck pump, the whole time we had the breaking seas, which were constantly hitting the deck, above us.

            Then suddenly there was a new breaking sea, the biggest of the whole night. We saw it coming, so some managed to jump into the galley, others into the engine.

            Arthur grabbed the top galley door and hung there. Ruben didn't get to shelter in time. And was taken overboard, but he had a hold of a mooring rope and was thrown back onto the deck. It was a miracle of God. A rowboat that we had tied up on deck was torn loose and smashed to pieces and everything disappeared overboard.

            We were soaked to the skin and our clothes were soaked and frozen to the bone. Those in the engine had had an unexpected steam bath. But there was no help for it. Everything had to be tried, otherwise we would go to the bottom. Then the skipper sent up some emergency flares to a boat that passed alongside us for a while. But they just kept going. It was unlikely that he would have been able to give us any kind of help in this weather.

            Peder and I were sitting in the galley, resting between the pump towers. Then Peder said: “Oh, no, we probably won’t see Norway anymore, Sverre.” It wasn’t particularly encouraging to hear.

            Then we couldn't do it anymore, everyone was exhausted.

            We were still sailing away from the weather with the Russian coast as our destination. Now the engine was barely turning. It was working hard, and the sea was now rising under the lighthouse grate and gradually extinguishing the lighthouse. The engine men were in despair. But a sheet of sail that we had at the top gave the ship speed anyway.

            Then the worst happened, the steering chain got stuck, and it was impossible to steer the ship. The chain had frozen to the rudder. Oskar and Peder worked frantically to get the chain free. Peder took off most of his clothes to crawl as far under as possible. It was a miracle that he didn't drown.

            Finally they managed to get the chain loose, and we regained control of the ship. In the meantime the ship had gone straight towards the mountain. Without steering she would have been crushed to pieces. But we managed to turn around a headland, and those at the helm saw an opening in the mountain. The ship mostly went across this opening, which was not much wider than the ship was long. We turned into that bay at a good speed, and soon the ship hit the bottom. At first she seemed to be holding on to the ground, but soon she hit the bottom in another place.

            There the ship is stuck, it leans over to the port side and then leans against a large rock, as if it was tired from the journey. Fortunately, we had reached solid ground. Inland, on the starboard side, there were some cabins. We whistled, but there were no signs of life to be seen.

            Now we finally had the means to get some food, we hadn't tasted it in two days. The crew cabin was full of sea and so dirty that it was impossible to stay there until we had cleaned it out. We went to the cabin aft and prepared food there. Some of the men were sick from seasickness. Fortunately, I had been as healthy as a fish ever since we left home. It was quiet in the cabin, there was little talk in the men. Everyone was tired and had enough of their own thoughts.

            I think most of us sent a thank you up to the man who had saved us from a wet grave. Then we had to empty the cabin and clean it up so we could get some sleep. We lay down in the wet clothes we were wearing. The steam was rising up the porthole. But none of us got sick from this. We were back on deck at 15 p.m. The ship was still as safe.

            Then we spotted a man coming running. It was a Russian dressed in a reindeer skin. We took him on board. It was difficult to understand his language, but we understood enough that there was a telephone four Russian miles away. Oskar and the lighthouse keeper got ready to follow him to try to send a message home about our situation. They were given a reindeer ride over the mountain to Sakrabotn, as the colony was called. On March 14 at 20:30 they sent a telegram to Vardø. The patrol boat "Heimdal" was probably there. But it was uncertain whether the message reached him. Maybe we would soon see Norway again, maybe. . .

            One day, seven Russians came aboard to collect provisions as payment for the reindeer transport over the mountain.

            Then it was time to figure out what to do to pass the time. Because these were going to be long days. We had arrived on a foreign coast, cut off from everything. We had only the wreckage of the ship to cling to, and only the crew to associate with. We went ashore and came across some reindeer grazing. They were so tame that we could go right up to them, pet them and photograph them.         

            March 15th was Sunday. It was a strange Sunday, here we were locked in Tyraskibai, as the place was called. It is a small bay that juts inland, about 400 to 500 meters, and half the bay is dry in the spring sea. The ship was lying about on the dry land. It must have been spring tide when we came in.

            We went up a mountain and put up a large pennant, in case a boat came sailing past and could then see our distress signal. We could see three trawlers lying off the coast, but they were so far out that they could hardly see anything on land.

            We also took a trip into the huts that the Russians lived in, to see how they lived. But it looked sad there. There was such a bad smell that I was quick to get out. There was even a chicken coop in the kitchen. The chickens were placed in a cupboard in the middle of the wall, three hens and a rooster.

            I went over to some reindeer that were lying there most covered in snow, brushed the snow off them and patted them. I took out my tobacco pouch and gave tobacco to one of the men, who was both happy and grateful for the gift. He pointed to a pile of reindeer antlers that he wanted me to get from, and I found a small branch that I would take home if we ever got out of there. When I got back on board, it turned out that the sea was right in front of the cabin, it had become high tide.

            On March 16th we rowed out to a headland with a gasoline drum, which we wanted to blow up in the air as a distress signal. We also brought rockets with us that we wanted to launch.

            We could see six trawlers lying three or four miles off the coast. But unfortunately, it took a lot for them to see and hear us. It was tiring to go there and see the boats and rescue off the coast and not be able to reach them.

            Two Russians, a sergeant and a corporal, came from Sakrabotni with a telegram to us from Vardø. But it had become completely incomprehensible, we didn't understand a word.

            I made myself a new sailor's bag out of sailcloth to carry my clothes in. My first bag went missing overnight. I had to stuff it in the chain poplar so the steering chain wouldn't freeze.

            On March 17, three men from Sakrabotni arrived with a new telegram from Vardø with more detailed information. Our telegram had been so distorted that they did not know where the ship was from or her name. When the Norwegian patrol boat "Heimdal" received such a telegram for immediate help, one would think that they considered 14 human lives more valuable than engaging in such unnecessary correspondence. A new telegram was now sent with a request that they immediately send a boat to pick us up.

            A Russian sergeant came aboard to watch over us. The guy didn't have a nice uniform, a pair of gray cotton trousers, a blue military uniform with a reindeer skin jacket and, of course, a revolver. One day we were all invited to the Russians'. There was supposed to be a party. They had gotten hold of 6 girls from Sakrabotni who were going to dance with us. But when we got into the party room, the guys were already very drunk. They had made themselves drinks from grated potatoes, sugar and yeast. Their horrible drink was thick as soup, and he wasn't tempted. We didn't get any food, but we still waited a while to see what they had to offer.

            We went from there and out to the headland to set fire to the petrol drum, but we couldn't get it to explode. Then we shot holes in it with a Krage and it was a huge fire. Then we also fired 4 cannon shots and two rockets, but to no avail. There was no response to our signals. The boats that were in the waters here, they were probably outside the territorial limit, and it was too far away.

            On March 18th it was clear, sunny and nice weather, but bitterly cold. It was Sunday here, as in Norway. But the time here was two hours earlier than ours.

            The ship was now listing so much to port that we had to saw off the table legs on one side to make the food lie flat on the table. We had to do the same with the bunks. The ship was listing more and more every day.

            On March 19th the weather was still fine, but it was still cold. The days were long, as we had nothing to do. Nothing happened, and our spirits were getting lower every day. Only the Russians were there now and then to look at us.

            On March 20th we went ashore, we had to eat occasionally to keep our appetites up. We did nothing but eat and sleep, and then the days became long. There was nothing more to see. We had enough provisions, and we could be happy that things were going the way they were. It would have been worse to lie frozen on the seabed. I went to the galley and fried pancakes, frying pancakes was done by the whole crew. But it had to be done while the steward was sleeping. I cut the hair of 11 men that day, so now the guys were in good shape.

            On March 21st, a Russian patrol boat from Lake Kvitesjøen came to us. He was to take us to Sakrabotni. It was quite a task for us to get our things on board for them. We also had to bring with us as much provisions as we expected to use until we left the country.

            We now left our ship, "Ris", for good, and we gathered on deck and said goodbye to her. The crew of the guard boat invited us into the cabin. They did not know what good they could do for us. In the cabin we were given tea, cigarettes and cakes, but without butter. They did not use butter. We were now explained why we had a sergeant to watch over us. They told us that it was to see that we had what we needed in terms of food and clothing, and that we did not trade anything away on shore.

            It was a nice boat, painted gray all over. It weighed 200 tons and had a 90 HP engine. It had two cannons, a machine gun and a large searchlight. The boat could go 15 miles. But the crew was just young guys.

 

We live with the Russians in Sakrabotni  

On March 22nd we arrived at Sakrabotni. Here we were accommodated privately, two men in each home.

            The patrol boat went to Kvitesjøen again, but they were supposed to come back in a week and take us to Murmansk.

            Solem and I were accommodated with a family that had 4 children. Olav and Arthur were unlucky, they saw a strange sight where they were supposed to live. There were 4-5 men sitting around a table drinking, one had fallen off the chair and was lying under the table. On the table was a round, tall cake that pointed up, there was a crust on the outside, but inside the cake was half-rotten fish. They ate the drink from this. The woman sat over by the fire with an infant in her lap. The guys took Olav and Arthur and held them tight and wanted to pour them some of the drink. But then an old woman over in a hut got up and shouted to them, then they let go of Olav and Arthur, who were not slow in getting out.

            They went to the skipper and told him what they had experienced. Then the skipper arranged for them to stay with another family. The house was clean and nice, and there were two children. But they had to sleep on the floor in the same room as the people in the house.

            The house that Solen and I lived in was a low hut with one room and a hallway at one end. At the other end of the house was a barn with a cow and three sheep. We also had to sleep on the floor. While I sat and wrote in my book, my wife sat in the house picking lice from a little girl.

            You see what we had to go through on this trip, even after we had been shipwrecked. It was unbelievable. Home was on my mind all the time, and the days were long. There were still fights when we got ashore. Almost all the Russians were drunk, some of them had stolen a loaf of bread from us, but the sergeant was there at once and tackled them. One of them used a rough mouth on the sergeant and told him to stay away from them. Fortunately, there was no more of that, otherwise the sergeant would have shot the man down.

            On March 23rd I was given a glass of tea in the morning, they used it for every single meal. They had a samovar in every house, and the tea they made was very good. Their cakes or breads were made of rye flour and water, and were so tough that I was not good at tasting them. It was very hot, and the air inside their houses was unhealthy. A little before noon Peder Sjåstad fainted, he stood in the doorway and walked backwards into the kitchen. Fortunately, he quickly recovered.

            The men in Sakrabotni were just as drunk the next day. I moved out in the evening, because the man in the house was lying inside, dead drunk. There was some yellow, thick filth they were drinking.

            Later I had a wonderful trip to the mountains. I had my gun with me, so when I came upon a flock of grouse, I shot two of them, and I also caught a hare. So now we had fresh meat.

            They arranged a dance for us once more, probably to cheer us up. Oskar, the skipper, the stoker and the engineer had drunk some of the cognac that we had brought with us in our medicine chest. Oskar got a little angry, but it all worked out in the end.

            On March 24th in Sakrabotni.

            Both Solem and I had slept well, and we were up early, it was no more than 6 o'clock when we took a long walk along the beach to look for seals. I was lucky and shot two at a time. But one was so far from land that it was impossible to reach him. I shot the other at a distance of 150 meters, across a bay. I was not so little when I returned with the catch. I skinned the seal and salted the skin to take it home. The next day we took a walk into the mountains to look for foxes, blue foxes, and maybe come across a hare again.

            We could hardly thank the Russians enough for what they did for us. They outdid themselves in making it pleasant for us. When I returned from the hunt, my feet were wet and I had no prey, but the man I was staying with brought a pair of rags and boots made of reindeer skin. But their cleanliness was poor. When we sat at the dinner table, the chickens walked around us and did their business. In the kitchen there was a small corner where they had a black lamb walking. Under the stove the chickens were placed. It was not surprising that it became unhealthy for us who were not used to this. But we did not want to complain, as long as we could stay healthy.

            A reply telegram came from Vardø saying that we had to turn to our shipping company for assistance. That meant they were leaving us to an uncertain fate. The Norwegian state cared so little about its citizens, while the Russians had mostly had two men to look after us and see that we were not missing anything. They even telegraphed for a boat to come and pick us up on March 28th. The Russians were also devastated by the telegram we had received.

            On March 25th I was up at 5 am. I brought food with me and had a long walk into the mountains. I came back at 16 pm, but had not shot more than one grouse.

            On March 26th, the Russians had again arranged a dance. They were very drunk and their ladies were not free to do so either. I again took a walk in the mountains, and this time I shot a hare. But it was a strange hunt. I first chased the hare when it was only four meters away from me. But as soon as I pressed the button, I fell backwards, and the shot went straight up into the air. I got to my feet again, but by then the hare was 100 meters away. I whistled at him, and then he sat down. Peder Linge also shot a hare, he used Arthur as a dog. Some of the others had shot grouse, and so we had fresh meat.

            On March 27th, there was a snowstorm and a snowstorm.

            Solem and I sat inside and sewed shoes together with the man in the house. I took Ruben with me hunting, even though it was snowdrift and difficult to see, I couldn't keep up. It was bitterly cold too. we shot at a large sea eagle, but we missed two. when we got back home, there was good news. Two telegrams had arrived, one from Brandal and one from the police chief in Vardø.

            Now it had finally become possible for us to escape from this den of robbers. A warm friendship had grown between us and the sergeant and the corporal, and that day we had continued with the exercises that they had taught us. We looked upon them more as brothers. We sent a reply telegram that we could follow a boat to Murmansk either on the 28th or 29th of March. From there a boat went to Vardø. That day Oskar and the skipper had sinned against the medicine chest again.

            On March 28th, there was bad weather, and we had to stay indoors. The weather was getting long. But I was constantly busy cutting both Norwegians and Russians.

            On March 29th it was Sunday, the man of the house and I were lying on the bunk, and he showed me pictures from the war, where he had been a soldier, but had come out unscathed. I got some money with him, but it was completely worthless. Then a telegram came that the boat was waiting at 16 pm, spirits were high, and we were happy that we would now leave this captivity. But once again we were disappointed. The boat had not been able to leave because of a storm. But we hoped that the next day would be the big day when we could leave this rag hole.

            On March 30th I was up at 5 o'clock, I couldn't sleep any longer because I had a toothache. There was a storm and snow outside, so it was difficult to open my eyes. There was probably no hope of a boat in this weather. We soon became so used to disappointment that we were completely lethargic. I thought a lot about them at home during those days. But I couldn't get any further, just pondered and pondered endlessly. I went to bed and slept for three hours, but then the toothache came back, I tried to write in my diary, but I gave up.

            In the evening I went to bed with the firm belief that the boat would come the next day. But there was a storm that day too and rather worse than before, so we could only stay in the same place. Solem and I had to move, when the storm blew in a whole window where we were sleeping. The family themselves had to move too, so now we are all sleeping in a different house.

            Then we were finally on our way home.

            It happened so suddenly. As soon as we had eaten, we got a phone call saying the boat would be here in half an hour. It was quite a task to get our things on board. We first had to go to the patrol boat to borrow a small boat and then back to shore to pick up the cargo. On the first trip, the boat was almost full of sea, so our sailor bags were lying around. I was also completely soaked.

            But it didn't matter, because now we were finally on our way home. When we got on board, I sat on the engine rack and was going to write, but the boat was working so hard in the seas that it was impossible. We got some food on board and had a good time. But it was blowing more now than before. Now it was coming from the southwest.

            On March 31st we had to go into a small fjord and lie there because of the storm. But at 4 o'clock we could go again and soon we would be in Murmansk. It is a city with 6000 inhabitants. But how we were going to get out of there, we didn't know.

 

Finally we are on our way home.

Yes, we were finally in Murmansk.

            Oskar and I went ashore, and there was a lot of strange things to see. They had a large industrial operation there, and at the railway station there were hundreds of wagons loaded with all sorts of goods, we also saw herring from Norway there. But with every train there were guards with guns. When we got back down to the boat, there were four senior officers waiting for us, they gave us very rough words because we had gone ashore without permission. It was strictly forbidden, so they now put guards on deck with loaded revolvers.

            Then we moved uptown, and there we lived in a large railway hotel that had about 150 guest rooms. There was even a barbershop.

            Before we left the boat, Peder and I were allowed to swim on board. My undershirt was completely worn out because I had to lie on such a hard surface. When we got off the boat, we took our suitcases with us. Unfortunately, I had six packs of ammunition in mine. When we got to the railway line, there were six officers who were going to search us, so we were both pale and bloodless. All the ammunition was of course taken from us immediately. They even took a deck of cards that Oskar had in his suitcase. As soon as they saw that we had ammunition, they called the police, so in the end we were mostly surrounded by armed guards. I must admit that our lives were not worth much at that time. But we were then given an explanation as to why we had both guns and ammunition, and otherwise we had done nothing wrong.

            Soon we were back in our hotel and it was both warm and nice. But it was expensive for the Norwegian state. It would have probably been better to send "Heimdal" after us. The hotel room cost 14 kroner per day, which was 169 kroner for everyone, and we had to stay there for at least three days. Then came the food.

            For supper we were given coarse, almost black bread without butter. Then some sausage slices and tea. This cost 20 rubles, or 60 kroner. There was a very large dining room with 64 tables and room for 250 guests. Liquor, vodka and beer were served to everyone. It was not a particularly pleasant environment to eat in. There were Chinese, Japanese and Russians all over the place, and everyone was more or less intoxicated by alcohol.

            A large railway train with 32 carriages arrived, and we also saw a passenger train leaving the station. There were four of us in our room, Peder Sjåstad, Edvard Mork, Solem and I. It was still difficult for us to pay for our food, they kept demanding payment. But the skipper arranged this for us at the police station. We were fed three times a day. Breakfast at 9 o'clock with tea and 4 small pieces of cake with meat on it, but without butter. This was about the same as a slice of bread at home. We had dinner at 15 o'clock, which was a plate of soup, a thin slice of ham and two pieces of stew. Dinner at 9 o'clock was the same as breakfast.

            I began to doubt more and more when we would be allowed to leave here. The police were with the skipper and were going to arrange a day for us to return home, because we were not allowed to leave when we wanted to. We were suspected of being smugglers of weapons, ammunition and literature. It could therefore be a long time before we were allowed to leave here.

            One can imagine a country like Russia that had recently gone through a bloody civil war, where the workers had won power. They then tried tooth and nail to hold on to their power, and they didn't take much to shoot those who were suspected of working against them. But we figured that if we ever got out of there, the Norwegian state would take care of things.

            We had now arrived at April 3rd, and again it had been a long day. We had a walk around the town, and there was much strange to see. I particularly noticed a gallows standing in an open space. Next to it was a grandstand. This grandstand had been exposed to bullets once, otherwise you wouldn't have had to go that far to look closely for bullets. There were also bullet holes in the door paneling of our hotel room.

            On April 4th we went on board the boat to get socks, breadcrumbs and butter. But then the police came and wanted to take it from us, because they thought we were going to sell it. But we managed. When we got back to the hotel, they had cut our rations, so that we were now only getting 50 kopecks a day. That was just for dinner. But the skipper managed to get hold of some money so that we could buy some stew and tea.

            A telegram came from the police chief in Vardø that we were to follow a boat that was leaving on Tuesday, April 7. It was a Russian cargo ship that was on its way to England. They were to take us to Honningsvåg.

            Sunday, April 5th, was a beautiful day, sunny and mild. Solem and I went for a long walk in the city, we bought cigarettes. First I got a note on the box I wanted, then I had to go to the cashier and pay, then I had to go back with the note to get the box. The shops weren't closed on Sundays here either. Pigs, sheep, goats and cows walked freely with the people, and it seemed that everyone was happy with that. It was rare to see women dressed in dresses, like the Norwegians wore. The women wore high felt boots, even the waitresses at the hotel wore them.

            The sergeant who had been keeping watch over us left us on March 31. He was seen ashore at a small place called Persika. He thanked us for our company. I went with him up on deck to see his home. When he was about to go ashore, he took both my hands and said: "Farewell, good comrade." When we were in Sakrabotni, he was the one I liked best of all. He knew a little Norwegian, and we often sat in the twilight and talked while the others played cards. When he was tired of talking, he sang to me. He did what he could to get us out of the country safely.

            Life was going on happily at the hotel. We had had dinner one day and sat listening to their chatter. There were about 100 people in the dining room, and most of them were drunk, so there was a lot of activity. In the room next to us they were having a party, they started at 17 pm, and it probably didn't end until 2 am.

            In the dining room I met two northerners, and it was refreshing to talk to Norwegians. A large Bergen cargo ship had arrived, they came from America with a cargo of cotton, and they were supposed to have flour with them. The ship was supposed to stay there for two weeks.

            One evening there was a concert in the dining room. The accordion player was barely sober, but the pianist was good.

            We were offered to hire a German cargo ship that was lying at the quay.

            On April 7th we were ordered to get our things on board the boat that we were to be on. The mood immediately lightened, but the day went by, it was 17 pm, and we heard nothing more. This was also a disappointment. We were about to lose hope of getting home for Easter. But finally we were able to leave Rome at the hotel and sleep on board.

            On April 8th we were on our way home. We had said goodbye to both the hotel and the cockroaches.

            We got our guns and ammunition back. The boat had sailed away. But the whole time there were police and a soldier on the dock watching us. If we had made the slightest mistake, we would have been finished.

            The crew on board the boat were nice to us. The first gunner spoke good Norwegian. It was a big boat, 3500 tons. I got the second engineer's berth. But it was infested with cockroaches, so there was little sleep.

            The accident still haunted us. The boat suffered mechanical damage. A gasket had blown out, and they had to blow off the shoal to make repairs. We were in a small bay called Aleksandrovits.

            The damage was repaired, and we were able to leave there from 22 p.m.

            When I came aboard this boat, I thought it would be cozy here. But strangely – there were not only cockroaches, 5 large rats were also living in the cabin. I had lost the desire to sleep, and it was too cold on deck. But I had the consolation that soon we would see the Norwegian coast. We had nice weather, but with big swells.

 

On Norwegian soil again.

April 8th was Maundy Thursday. We celebrated Easter in a different way than we had imagined.

            I set out at 4 in the morning, unable to stand looking at the misery any longer. We were now in the middle of the Varangerfjord, and we could barely see land.

            At 8 o'clock we passed Vardø. The fresh wind died down a bit, but there was a big sea. When we passed Tanafjorden and could see Norway's northernmost jewel, it increased to a storm again, so now the boat was only making 7 miles. We passed North Cape at 6 o'clock. The storm increased, and the boat worked hard, because we got the seas right in the bow.

            On Good Friday, April 10th, we arrived in Honningsvåg, we went ashore and were finally on Norwegian soil. We bought food at the Maritime Cafe, outside it was snowing and snowing. The Hurtigruten was supposed to leave south at 15 pm. We hadn't tasted food since 19 pm the night before, but now we had a delicious meal of Norwegian food. It tasted good after all the sour stuff. But it cost us 30 kroner.

            We left Honningsvåg at 16 pm, an hour late. Then we had dinner, fried halibut and potatoes, with coffee and cakes on top. The boat was called "Finnmarken", and it did 12 miles.

            We had gotten ourselves a third-class cabin and were warm and cozy. We arrived in Hammerfest at 22 p.m. and stayed there until 12 p.m. We arrived in Skjervøy at 6 a.m., and then we went directly to Tromsø. We arrived there at 24 p.m.

            Together with the engineer, with whom I became good friends, we boarded the ship "Brattvåg", which was in Tromsø with a full load. There we were well received, as the engineer knew the skipper from before. We both got a toddy with cigars and coffee on top. The Hurtigruten left at 17 pm, and arrived in Finnsnes at 20 pm, with Harstad as the next destination. A man named Åkervik came down to our cabin and treated us to two bottles of beer, much to our surprise.

            In the evening a dance was arranged on the promenade deck, and we were invited. But there was a quarrel between the stoker and two strong men from Målselv. They had choked him, but we then managed to separate them. The same men brought Oskar and another man down to the cabin and bought them drinks. They also wanted to test Oskar's strength, and there was a hand-to-hand fight. But he took these men as nothing. But then they got angry and thought of mixing alcohol in the port wine, so Oskar got dead drunk and made a lot of noise.

            When we arrived in Harstad, Oskar couldn't find his way around, so we got him down to the cabin and into bed with him. Immediately afterwards, the police came on board and asked for Oskar Lingås. But the mate had to calm things down. The captain gave orders that they had to behave properly, otherwise they would have to go ashore.

            On April 12th at 3 o'clock we left Harstad. We passed Risøyhamn, Sortland, Stokmarknes, Svolvær and Bodø. There I met three guys from Hildre quite by chance. One of them was a threesome with my wife. Since the boat was going to be at the dock for two hours, we went ashore and looked around.

            On April 13th, I woke up to the third-place girl bringing us coffee. We were living like royalty now.

            In Sandnessjøen we met two people from Eidsdalen who were heading south. They had been fishing in Lofoten.

            When we got to Brønnøy, Olav and I went up to Nils Grønningsæter. We had little time and had to be quick, but we had to have coffee. They were happy and grateful for the visit. When we had walked another half hour, we passed Torghatten. I was asked if I could play the fiddle, and I was stupid enough to say yes. So I had to play three numbers. Afterwards I had to sit down with three nice gentlemen from Harstad. There was whiskey, pints and Madeira. Then I had to tell our story of suffering from Russia. One of the guys was the editor of Tromsø Tidene, and he wrote down everything I said.

            On April 14th we arrived in Trondheim. We went ashore and walked around the whole city. We went up to the cathedral, but we didn't get in, then we went up to the fortress, but we didn't get in there either. The boat was there from 8 am to 18 pm. We ran into Ludvig Berdal, Olav Omenås and Ole J. Grønningsæter. They were very surprised to see us, even though they knew about the shipwreck.

            Here I end my diary.

            I expect that we will be in Ålesund the next day, then we will probably have a hard time getting home to our families. There will probably be great joy in all the homes we left from, when they now welcome us home safely.