The Seal Catcher
| Owner | 1916 Mikal Knutsen and Johan Thorvik, Ålesund 1925 Johan Torvik, Alesund |
| Ship type | Seal hunters |
| Reg. brand | M 142 A |
| Home port | Ålesund |
| Construction site | Knut Skaaluren, Rosendal |
| Year built | 1916 |
| Building materials | Three |
| Length, year of construction | 92,2 feet |
| Length measurements after conversion | 99 feet |
| Dimensions in width, year of construction | 21,6 feet |
| Dimensions in depth, year of construction | 9,7 feet |
| Tonnage | 111 GRT 113 GRT |
| Machine, original | Aalesunds MV 2 cyl. comp. 113 hp |
| Skippers | Johan Torvik (1920-1923) |
| Shipwrecked | Wrecked on 29 March 1927 at Cape Kanin |
| Additional information | First time on a seal hunt in 1917. The "Sælfangeren" was a large and modern ship when it was built. In 1927 they had problems while fishing in the White Sea on March 28th, they were near Cape Rabbit and the distance to land was about 15 quarter miles. The weather was fine and calm and there was no swell. The ship was in dense ice. But on the night of March 29th the ice suddenly began to break up.
Both machine bilges are started and work fine, but the ice continues to churn and the leak gets bigger. Suddenly the entire starboard side breaks. They realize that the ship is lost and put two fishing boats on the ice. The people take some food with them, but they did not manage to get any personal belongings and left the ship with the clothes they were wearing. At 2 am, the "Sælfangeren" sank with a catch of 2500 seals, just 45 minutes after churning began. The crew now focused on getting to "Buskø", which was also stuck in the ice. They took one boat with them, but soon gave up and continued without it. After a strenuous trip of a good 7 hours, they reached "Buskø", which got free a couple of days later. The crew of "Sælfangeren" stayed there aboard until they returned home. |
