Tonnage: 1392 gt

Delievered from Sir Raylton Dixon & Co. Ltd., Middlesbrough in Apr. -1905 (510). nt 789; 244' pp x 32.8' x 21.1'; triple-exp. 1500 ihp, 243 nhp - 13.5 knots. Placed in service to England, later to Hamburg (1927-1931), then in Hurtigruten from 1931. Rebuilt that year and again the following year.

WW II:

In the express cargo/passenger service (Hurtigruten) between Bergen and Trondheim. Sunk off Kristiansund on Febr. 13-1944 by Norwegian MTB-632 (or MTB 627?) and MTB 653. 61 died, incl. 25 passengers (numbers vary according to source). See also D/S Henry.

The book, "Norsk presse under Hakekorset" (The Norwegian Press under the Swastika), Vol. II, 1946 by Gunnleik Jensson, which is a collection of newspaper articles from the war years, has a long article on the sinking of Irma and Henry. As the newspapers were under German control, they are full of propaganda and anti-British (anti-"bolsjevic") sentiment, so the account of this sinking is rather one-sided, and not necessarily based on the truth. One of the mates on D/S Henry says (in an interview) that Irma passed them at around 6:30 in the afternoon and shortly thereafter an enormous explosion was heard. They saw that she had been hit by a torpedo amidships, which broke her in 2, then immediately afterwards by another one. Henry's lifeboats were lowered, but while doing so an intense shelling occurred from the attacking torpedo boat, making it impossible for them to do anything. Then Henry too was hit by a torpedo, and as she started to sink right away they had to launch the rest of the boats, still under continuous shelling. While they were rowing away they succeeded in picking up some of the survivors in the water. Detailed, horrible scenes are described in this article. He goes on to say that one of the boats landed at Tjønnøy and another at Svaggsundet, where the survivors were well taken care of before being sent to Kristiansund. The article says that 25 survivors have arrived Kristiansund, 9 of whom are crew members, the rest passengers. It gives the names of some of the survivors and casualties from Irma and mentions Jason as one of the rescue vessels. It adds that 13 were rescued from Henry, while 2 were missing; Captain J. Dommersnes and Stoker Johan Larsen.

The following names are given in the article (probably incomplete):

Rescued
Captain Sophus Strømberg	1st Mate Rolf Andreassen	1st Engineer Kristoffer Mødsen	Steward Granaas-Hansen	Mess Boy Johan Steira	2nd Cook Henry Heitmann
Coastal Pilot Apprentice Nordhus	Coastal Pilot Apprentice Andreas Øvsthus	Pilot Arne Holm	Harald Ananiassen	Sigurd Andreassen	Herman Ure
Sigvard Hævre	Albert Langbo	Finn Bjerkhol Nilsen	Walter Syrstad	Pilot Wilhelm Torgersen	Otto v. Ubeck
Kirsten Hansen	Muriel Vold Pettersen	Reidar Nordstein	Willy Karl Gilbert	Finn Monsen	Steward Johan Utne
Captain of Jason Nils Innstadnes
Casualties / Passengers
† Henrik Olsen	† Oscar Andersen	† Michael Nilsen	† Anna Sørensen	† Michael Sivertsen	† Rolf Richardsen
† Roal H. Hansen	† Harald Weden(?)	† Anna Hagen	† Erling Grønneberg	† Einar Djupstein	† Ragna Gjerder
† Karsten Sekkevåg	† Johan Almar Indreeide	† Aksel Nordahl?
Casualties / Other
† Pilot Herman Jentoft Svendsen	† Pilot Johan Våkenæs	† 2nd Mate Geir H. Thomsen	† 3rd Mate Reidar Haugland	† Radio Operator Loni Benzen Bentung	† Boatswain (Pilot?) Johannes Holm
† Carpenter Ditlev M. Kalaas	† Able Seaman Kåre Rødbotten	† Able Seaman Robert M. Vinje	† Able Seaman Eilif F. Karlsen	† Able Seaman Håkon M. Birkeland	† Able Seaman Garman B. Holte
† 1st Engineer Øystein B. Jordal	† 2nd Engineer Laurentius Johannessen	† 3rd Engineer Einar J. Ingebrigtsen	† Donkeyman Alf Martin Thorsen Hagen	† Stoker Martin Hagen	† Stoker Ole B. Olsen
† Stoker Åge Olsen	† Stoker Finn Pedersen	† Stoker Odd Solheim	† Stoker Ingvart Wangberg	† Stoker who signed on in Måløy (Toralf Oliassen? Olafsen?)	† Trimmer Kåre Odmund Brekken
† Trimmer Albert J. Møreland (Morland?)	† Oiler Walter Jansen	† Oiler Harry Wolter	† Pilot Harald O. M. Pettersen	† Galley Boy Edmund Karlsen	† Galley Boy Frithjof Tranaas
† Saloon Girl Andrea Sundbotten	† Cabin Girl Ingeborg Edvardsen	† Waitress Ester Lovise Hagen	† Mess Girl Åsta Langseth	† Steamship Girl Anne Karin Jonassen	† Postal Clerk Christian Solem
† 1st Class Girl Klara Pauline Hepsø	† 3rd Class Girl Elin A. Olsson	† 3rd Class Girl Hjørdis Lie	† 1st Cook Konrad Berg Arntzen

Related external links:
Casualties - 41 are commemorated here (the Memorial for Seamen at Stavern, Norway). The Norwegian text for Irma says she was "torpedoed and shelled at Hustadvika by the Norwegian MTB 627. She was sailing with the Haugesund ship Henry, which was also sunk. 61 Norwegians from Irma were killed, only 25 rescued and taken to Kristiansund. Irma had a Norwegian crew of 43, 35 died. Additionally she had about 100 Norwegian and German passengers (anti-aircraft gunners?). Later, some of those who were rescued also succumbed to the trauma. The tug Hoplafjord came to assist and rescued 10 people, while an additional 12 were rescued by the vessel Sveggøy. Irma was hit by a torpedo amidships which broke her in two, and immediately afterwards by another torpedo. Henry lowered lifeboats and succeeded in saving several before she too was torpedoed and sunk. This is characterized as a tragic mistake. The Norwegian MTB group stationed on Shetland had standing orders not to attack civilian coastal steamers sailing alone. One explanation could be that they may have thought they had encountered a convoy, because Henry and a tug were sailing nearby".

The Irma (and Henry) Tragedy - A very detailed account on the sinking, text in Norwegian (facts and personal opinions, pictures).

Back to Irma on the "Homefleet Ships starting with I" page.

Norway had another steamer by the name Irma in the early 1900's, originally delivered in 1890 as James Speir (Cardiff), 536 gt. Purchased from England by D/S A/S Irma (M. H. Kongshavn), Haugesund in 1907 and renamed Irma. Became the Danish Hekla in 1921. Bergenske D/S also had an Irma later on, built in Glasgow in 1954. Sold in 1968 to Piræus and renamed Virma. Broken up in 1974.