Sukha SS

Wreck Information

Date Lost: ca. 1968-70

Fate: Broke moorings & sank

Year Built: 1929 Smith's Dock Co. Middlesbrough, England

Nationality: British

Type: Steel whale catcher

# Onboard: ca. 12

# Died: 0

Location: Conception Harbour

SS Sukha was a steel whaling ship built by the Smith Dock Company in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England in 1929 for Christian Salvesen & Company, Leith, Scotland. It hunted whales for 11 years based at South Georgia Island in the southern Atlantic. In 1940, it was requisitioned by the Royal Navy to serve as a minesweeper in World War II. It joined the 161st Minesweeping Group, based at Scapa Flow, Scotland. After the war, it returned to whaling with the South Georgia Company, and hunted the ocean near Antarctica.

The photo above shows a sister ship of Sukha called Sumba whaling at South Georgia Island around 1930.

In 1948, Sukha was catching whales for the Polar Whaling Company, based at Hawke Harbour in southern Labrador. In 1956, it was sold to the Hawke Harbour Whaling Company (owned by Johan Borgen) and remained catching whales in southern Labrador. The Hawke Harbour whaling station burned down in 1959 and Sukha ended up in Harbour Grace until 1960. It was berthed in Conception Harbour during the 1960s. Between 1968 and 1970, Sukha broke its moorings and sank beside the wharf in Conception Harbour, where it remains today.

In 2013, the Shipwreck Preservation Society surveyed the three whaling shipwrecks in Conception Harbour and identified this ship as Sukha. This wreck is underwater and not visible from shore. It lies just beside the wreck of Southern Foam, which is also underwater.

  • Historical Photos

  • Shipwreck Photos

Historical Photos

Specifications / Other:

Owner: Hawke Harbour Whaling Company

Gross Tons: 251

Beam: 24 feet

Draft: 13.5 feet

Propellers: 1

Speed: 12.5 knots

Captain: Johan Borgen

Length: 122.25 feet

Horsepower: 750

Boilers: 1 coal/oil

Engines: 1 steam triple expansion

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