D/S Unique, Tønsberg

[Patricia Carlsen Mikkelsen]

My grandfather was Karl Gustav Karlsen, b 21 Sep 1886 Styrsvik, Nøtterøy. I just found his US naturalization papers. He stated that he arrived at the port of Baltimore on 23 Nov 1908 on the ship "Unque" (as a member of the crew), and that his previous residence was Tønsberg. In the 1900 Skipslistene, I found the D/S Unique:

 

http://digitalarkive...5&merk=265#ovre

 

Is there any way I can find more about this ship? Are there records of its voyages? What kind of ship is it? I searched the Baltimore passenger arrivals on Ancestry.com, but did not find any record for a ship of this name. So, I wonder if it is not a passenger ship.

 

Family lore was that he went to sea at the age of 14 (lied about his age) on a whaling ship. But in the 1900 Census, he is still living with his family in Tønsberg. See here:

 

http://digitalarkive...&merk=1203#ovre

 

I would appreciate any help...

 

mvh

Patricia

[Rolf Kristensen]

The Unique was a steamship buildt in 1896 in Sunderland for a company named A/S Unique, the head was Hjalmar Røed in the city of Tønsberg. Later in 1905-06 his brother Sigurd Røed was the owner. He lived at Tjøme, an island close to Tønsberg and Nøtterøy. In Norway you will probably find Karl Gustav Karlsen in what we call mønstringsprotokoller (seamens records). The records for Tønsberg are located in the National Archive of Kongsberg, you can try and contact them at: http://www.arkivverket.no/eng/content/view/full/738

 

regards Rolf

[Patricia Carlsen Mikkelsen]

Thank you Rolf! I will contact the National Archive. About the D/S Unique, do you know what kind of ship it was? Was it a passenger ship or something different?

 

Hilsen

Patricia

[Jan Weberg]

This ship was a regular drycargo ship.

 

http://www.sjohistorie.no/skip/u/1316759872.29

 

Unlucky you, it does not seems to exists a picture of this vessel. The source says that "Unique" was renamed "Haugastøl" in 1908, but in another source, (lardex.net) it says 1909.

 

mvh

jan w

[Patricia Carlsen Mikkelsen]

Thank you Jan!

 

This explains why there is no record of this ship in the Baltimore Passenger Lists on Ancestry. Since he arrived there in 1908, I also looked for Haugastøl, but found nothing. He must have had some kind of documentation of his landing. In 1920, an official from the Immigration Service at Ellis Island certified his arrival. See attached.

 

Thanks again...

 

mvh

Patricia