Confusion of names: Greenland whaling = Spitsbergen/Svalbard whaling and Davis Strait whaling= Greenland whaling

Boiling whale oil, probably Amsterdam Eiland, Spitsbergen. 

Mountain left probably Jan Mayen-eiland (Beerenberg).

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. Cornelis de Man

People in the 17th and 18th centuries held a different geographical view than people today. This means that when we speak of “Greenland whaling”, “the term “Greenland” actually refers to Svalbard, whereas “Davis Strait” refers to whaling off the coast of present-day Greenland. The Davis Strait is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. 

Dutch Greenland commandeur Gilles Dingemans van der Os 1721-1725

Bookkeeper Teunis van der Os, Zierikzee

1721

Whales 3 Barrels blubber 105

1722

Whales 1.5 Barrels blubber 65

1723

Whales 1/4 Barrels blubber 20

1725

Whales 1 Barrels blubber 60

1725

Whales 2/3 Barrels blubber 16

Totals

Whales 6 5/12 Barrels blubber 266

Source

Alphabetische naam-lyst van alle de Groenlandsche en Straat-Davidsche Commandeurs die sedert het jaar 1700 op Groenland en sedert het jaar 1719 op de Straat Davis etc. Gerret van Sant. Published by Johannes Enschede, Amsterdam 1770, with hand written notes until 1794.

People in the 17th and 18th centuries held a different geographical view than people today. This means that when we speak of “Greenland whaling”, “the term “Greenland” actually refers to Svalbard, whereas “Davis Strait” refers to whaling off the coast of present-day Greenland. The Davis Strait is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. 

Dutch Greenland commandeur Gerbrand Thomasz 1723-1726

Bookkeeper Pieter Kool, Beverwijk

1723

Whales 0 Barrels blubber 0

L724

Whales 2 Barrels blubber 104

1725

Whales 3 Barrels blubber 170

1726

Whales 0.5 Barrels blubber 30

Totals

Whales 5.5 Barrels blubber 304

Source

Alphabetische naam-lyst van alle de Groenlandsche en Straat-Davidsche Commandeurs die sedert het jaar 1700 op Groenland en sedert het jaar 1719 op de Straat Davis etc. Gerret van Sant. Published by Johannes Enschede, Amsterdam 1770, with hand written notes until 1794.

People in the 17th and 18th centuries held a different geographical view than people today. This means that when we speak of “Greenland whaling”, “the term “Greenland” actually refers to Svalbard, whereas “Davis Strait” refers to whaling off the coast of present-day Greenland. The Davis Strait is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. 

Dutch Greenland commandeur Gerret Kragt 1715-1726

Bookkeeper Lourens Visser, Amsterdam

1715

Whales 3.5 Barrels blubber 180

1716

Whales 3.5 Barrels blubber 105

Bookkeeper Jacob Visser, Amsterdam

1717

Whales 1 Barrels blubber 40

1718

Whales 2 3/4 Barrels blubber 130

1719

Whales 0 Barrels blubber 0

1720

Whales 2 Barrels blubber 140

1721

Whales 3 Barrels blubber 110

1722

Whales 5 1/4 Barrels blubber 150

1723

Whales 0 Barrels blubber 0

1724

Whales 2 Barrels blubber 80

1725

Whales 3 Barrels blubber 90

1726

Whales 0 Barrels blubber 0

Totals

Whales 26 Barrels blubber 1,025

Source

Alphabetische naam-lyst van alle de Groenlandsche en Straat-Davidsche Commandeurs die sedert het jaar 1700 op Groenland en sedert het jaar 1719 op de Straat Davis etc. Gerret van Sant. Published by Johannes Enschede, Amsterdam 1770, with hand written notes until 1794.

People in the 17th and 18th centuries held a different geographical view than people today. This means that when we speak of “Greenland whaling”, “the term “Greenland” actually refers to Svalbard, whereas “Davis Strait” refers to whaling off the coast of present-day Greenland. The Davis Strait is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. 

Dutch Greenland commandeur Gerret Abrahamsz Hoogerwerf 1707-1719

Bookkeeper Jacob Koning, Rotterdam

1707

Whales 1.5 Barrels blubber 80

1708

Whales 6 Barrels blubber 120

Bookkeeper Jacob Beyerman, Rotterdam

1709

Whales 2 Barrels blubber 70

1710

Whales 1 Barrels blubber 45

1711

Whales 2 Barrels blubber 60

Hnedrik van Esterweegen, Amsterdam

1717

Whales 0 Barrels blubber 0

1718

Whales 1 Barrels blubber 50

1719

Whales 0 Barrels blubber 0

Total

Whales 13.5 Barrels blubber 425

Source

Alphabetische naam-lyst van alle de Groenlandsche en Straat-Davidsche Commandeurs die sedert het jaar 1700 op Groenland en sedert het jaar 1719 op de Straat Davis etc. Gerret van Sant. Published by Johannes Enschede, Amsterdam 1770, with hand written notes until 1794.

People in the 17th and 18th centuries held a different geographical view than people today. This means that when we speak of “Greenland whaling”, “the term “Greenland” actually refers to Svalbard, whereas “Davis Strait” refers to whaling off the coast of present-day Greenland. The Davis Strait is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. 

Dutch whale oil boilery, probably at Amsterdam Island, Spitsbergen/Svalbard around 1639

Cornelis de Man 1639. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Netherlands

 Mountain left probably Jan Mayen-eiland (Beerenberg)

Norwegian Coast Guard icebreaker annex offshore patrol vessel N0CGV Svalbard (W303) 2001-

Svalbard/Spitsbergen 7 July 2023. Photo with the permission of Ovanes Agaryan

Norway-flagged, homeport Sortland, IMO 8640387, MMSI 259040000 and call sign LBSV. Laid down by Tangen Verft Shipyard, Kragerø on 9 August 2000, launched on 17 February 2001, fitted out by Langsten, Tomrefjord,baptized on 15 December 1901, delivered on 18 January 2002 and commissioned mid 2002. Displacement 6,375 tonnes and as dimensions 89 (waterline)-103,7 (over all) x 19.1 x 8.3 x 6.5 metres or 292-340.2 x 62.6 x 27.2 x 21.3 feet. Armament 57mm Bofors gun, 12.7mm/0.50” machine guns, able to carry one Simbad surface-to-air-missile system and capacity for 2 helicopters since 2009 of the NHlindustries NH90 helicopter type. Crew numbers 50 men divided over 3 shifts of which always 2 on board. Propulsion consisted of 4x3,390 kW Rolls-Royce Bergen BRG-8 diesel generators and 2x5 MW ABB Azipod V11500A units allowing a speed of 17.5 knots

Icelandic offshore supply ship Polarsyssel 2014-

Svalbard/Spitsbergen May 2023

Photos made by Ovanes Agaryan with our thanks for allowing us to publish

Norway-flagged, homeport Longyearbyen, IMO 9690949, MMSI 257564000 and call sign Lier. Built by Cemre Shipyard, Altinova, Turkey in 2014. Owned and managed by Fafnir Offshore, Seltjarnames, Iceland.

Norwegian Coast Guard icebreaker annex offshore patrol vessel N0CGV Svalbard (W303) 2001-

Svalbard/Spitsbergen 13 June 2023

Photo with the permission of Ovanes Agaryan

Norway-flagged, homeport Sortland, IMO 8640387, MMSI 259040000 and call sign LBSV. Laid down by Tangen Verft Shipyard, Kragerø on 9 August 2000, launched on 17 February 2001, fitted out by Langsten, Tomrefjord,baptized on 15 December 1901, delivered on 18 January 2002 and commissioned mid 2002. Displacement 6,375 tonnes and as dimensions 89 (waterline)-103,7 (over all) x 19.1 x 8.3 x 6.5 metres or 292-340.2 x 62.6 x 27.2 x 21.3 feet. Armament 57mm Bofors gun, 12.7mm/0.50” machine guns, able to carry one Simbad surface-to-air-missile system and capacity for 2 helicopters since 2009 of the NHlindustries NH90 helicopter type. Crew numbers 50 men divided over 3 shifts of which always 2 on board. Propulsion consisted of 4x3,390 kW Rolls-Royce Bergen BRG-8 diesel generators and 2x5 MW ABB Azipod V11500A units allowing a speed of 17.5 knots. 

Senegal-flagged fishing trawler (ex- Fragana 1974-2000, Lootus II 2000-2009, Armastus 2009-2016?) Campelo-1 2016-

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Islas Canarias, Spain 7 December 2022

Senegal-flagged, IMO 7407659, MMSI 663144000 and call sign 6WLK. The DAK1239-6WLK. Laid down by Construcciones Navales Santodomingo S.A, Pontevedra, Spain with yard number 423 on 2 December 1974,  launched on 10 July 1975 and completed in January 1976. Between 27 October-20 November 2005 used for an Estonian Svalbard Exploratory survey by the Estonian Fisheries Administration with as purpose collecting age structures and biological data from Greenland habitut and Atlantic cod and distribution and abundance of commercially important groundfish species. The Lootus II was earlier used for Spanish bottom trawl surveys in the slope of the Svalbard area. Gross tonnage 554/555 tons, net tonnage 166 tons, deadweight 378-379 tons and as dimensions 45.72-52.32 (over all) x 8.52-8.7 x 4.05-6.15 metres. As Armastus (EK0110, ESPU) Senegal-flagged, homeport Dakar, owned and managed by MFV Lootus Teine OÜ, Tallinn, Estonia. As Lootus II MMSI 276428000, call sign ESPU, official number IF00L75, Estonia-flagged and homeport Tallinn, Estonia

German Greenland whalers of Bremen returning home according to the Dutch newspaper Amsterdamse courant dated 7 September 1709

An item dated Amsterdam, Netherlands 6 September reported the arrival at Bremen, Germany of a convoy consisting of 14 Greenland whalers with 83 whales 2,500 barrels blubber which left Spitsbergen [Svalbard] on 13 August. 

The Soviet naval icebreaker Iosef Stalin 1937-

Belonged to the Leader-class with a displacement of 11,000 tons as dimensions 351 x 75,5 x 30,5’. The two steam engines with diesel electric propulsion and ten boilers supplied 10,500 hp allowing a speed of15 knots. The coal bunker capacity was 3,000 tons. Her crew numbered 142 men minimum. The armament consisted of 2-13cm guns, 4-7,62cm anti aircraft guns, 2 machineguns and maximum 3 small floatplanes. She was built in 1937-1938 at the Ordzonikidze yard at Leningrad.

In 1938 was she for the first time used in an Artic expedition. On 18 January 1940 freed she the Russian icebreaker Sedov between Greenland and Svalbard. The Sedov was at that moment used as a Drifting Polar Station. In 1940 she and the Lenin assisted the German merchant raider Komet which ship went from Gotenhafen via the Artic Ocean passages and the Bering Straits towards the Pacific. The Komet was in advance disguised as the Soviet icebreaker Semyon Dezhnev and was later renamed Donau.

roodbaard1958's avatar Whaling Spitsbergen-Svalbard 1900-1920

 

Norsk Teknisk Museum

Photo of Severin Worm-Petersen (1857-1933)

Whaling Spitsbergen-Svalbard 1900-1920

 

Norsk Teknisk Museum

Photo of Severin Worm-Petersen (1857-1933)

Italian troop transport Paganini lost by fire according to the Dutch newspaper De Banier dated 12 July 1940

An item reported that in the morning of 28 June on a distance of 20 kilometres of Durazzo fire broke out on board of the Italian steamship Paganini underway from Bari towards Durazzo. Her crew numbered 30 men and further more were 920 soldiers on board. The Italian headquarters reported the death of six Albanian officers and 214 Italian and Albanian non-commissioned officers and soldiers.

The Soviet naval icebreaker Iosef Stalin 1937-

Russian icebreaker Iosef Stalin

German auxiliary cruiser Komet

Belonged to the Leader-class with a displacement of 11,000 tons as dimensions 351 x 75,5 x 30,5’. The two steam engines with diesel electric propulsion and ten boilers supplied 10,500 hp allowing a speed of15 knots. The coal bunker capacity was 3,000 tons. Her crew numbered 142 men minimum. The armament consisted of 2-13cm guns, 4-7,62cm anti aircraft guns, 2 machineguns and maximum 3 small floatplanes. She was built in 1937-1938 at the Ordzonikidze yard at Leningrad.

In 1938 was she for the first time used in an Artic expedition. On 18 January 1940 freed she the Russian icebreaker Sedov between Greenland and Svalbard. The Sedov was at that moment used as a Drifting Polar Station. In 1940 she and the Lenin assisted the German merchant raider Komet which ship went form Gotenhafen via the Artic Ocean passages and the Bering Straits towards the Pacific. The Komet was in advance disguised as the Soviet icebreaker Semyon Dezhnev and was later renamed Donau.(1)

Note
1. See also the url http://warshipsresearch.blogspot.nl/2011/09/german-merchant-or-auxiliary-raider.html