Sank following collision with the SS. WILLIAM MASON, of Glasgow. Year Built: 1876 Boilers: 1 Crew: 14 Crew Lost: 0 Passengers: 0 Date of Loss Qualifier: A Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index. Board of Trade WW1 Wreck Abstract Pt.II p36(1)

Ex. KEPLER; ex. MAAS.

Name given as ROLF II. Sank following collision with the SS WILLIAM MASON, of Glasgow. (1)

Named as the ROLF II. (2)

Iron steamer. 494 tons gross, 277 net, 175.5 x 25 x 12.4 feet.

Built as the MAAS for P A Van Es & Co., Rotterdam, sold and renamed KEPLER in 1903, sold several times, renamed ROLF 2 in 1916, sold to D/S A/S Rolf 2, M Jacobsen & Co. Later that year they were taken over by Torvildsen & Co., Kristiania (Oslo). On 20-OCT-1917 she collided with the steamer WILLIAM MASON outside the entrance to the anti-U-boat nets off Folkestone. She was bound from Hartlepool to Rouen with coal. (4)

NB: Source (1) gives voyage as Hartland (Devon) to Rouen, lost near Folkestone Gateway; source (2) as West Hartlepool to Rouen, lost Falmouth. The position of loss in each version therefore appears to contradict the accompanying voyage details. However, West Hartlepool to Rouen was a recognised coal export route, so it is likely therefore that this was the direction of the voyage, and that the place of loss was Folkestone, since Folkestone would have been passed on that voyage. This appears to be borne out by source (3)

Built: 1876 (1)(3); 1886 (2)(4)
Builder: G Howaldt (1); Georg Howaldt (3)
Where Built: Kiel (1)(3)
Propulsion: Screw driven, 2 cylinder compound engine (1)(3)
HP: 59 (1)(3)
Boilers: 1 (1)
Machinery: by Howaldt, Kiel (3)
Master: O P Pederson (1)
Crew: 14 (1)
Owner: Dampsk. A/S Rolf II (1); D/S A/S Rolf 2, taken over by Torvildsen & Co., Kristiania (Oslo)

Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss

Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
BOT.WWI Wreck Abstract Pt.II p36(3): LR.1917-8 No.653®

<1> United Kingdom shipwreck index, Page Nos. N/a (Bibliographic reference). SKE6340.

<2> L. von Munching, 1968, Merchant shipping losses of Allied, neutral and central powers during and shortly after World War I (Bibliographic reference). SKE31907.

<3> Norwegian Maritime History Society, Skipet, 1917 (Website). SKE31908.