Letters

Searching for a ship called the "Odin"

Hi,

I have been searching for a ship called the "Odin".  I believe it was built in Liverpool, UK, sometime before 1920, by Camel Laird (this information might not be entirely correct).  My great-grandfather sailed
on her in 1920 or 1921 and said (in his journal) it was her 2nd voyage (again don't know if that is true).  I can't seem to find any information about this ship, however, around that time I have been able to find out
about a HMS Odin, that was built in 1901 (?).  You have mentioned it briefly a couple of times on your site:

http://www.ahoy.tk-jk.net/MaraudersWW1/Wolf.html
http://www.ahoy.tk-jk.net/MaraudersWW1/Raiders.html

I wondered if you could provide any more information,

Thanks in advance,
Lucy Mathers.


Lucy,

I am not able to find any reference to a ship named Odin.

I have been through the complete list of ships built by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead, and they numbered 1416 ships built in their yard from 1829. They did build a Submarine HMS Odin, over 1959/1960. It was ship No. 1291, but there is no merchant ship named Odin in their list.

Would you know the name of the shipping company that Odin belonged to, is there any entry in your great grand father's Journal about his company? If we had that name we might then find your ship.

I have tracked down a book called: Ships of the World. An Historical Encyclopedia. by Lincoln P. Paine.

Your local library may just hold a copy. It is reported as covering over a 1,000 different ships. It may have your Odin listed.

I am usually able to track down a specific ship, but in this case no, not a sniff of any vessel by that name around the 1920's Should I find something for you, naturally I will contact you again.

Sorry, I am unable to assist you in this case.

Regards,
Mac.


Hi,

Thanks for the very long reply. Having spoken to my mother last night, she unravelled the mystery. The journal was largely written in pencil, and sometimes the handwriting was hard to interpret. What she thought was Odin to sail at 3pm, was actually O. due to sail at 3pm. 'O.' standing for the ship he actually sailed on - the Oropesa (this was mentioned later on)!

Typical that we sort the problem after I spend quite some time searching - but at least we know now.

Thanks again for your help.
Regards, Lucy.


Hello Lucy,

Glad you were able to sort out your OLD SHIP.

I thought it was unusual that I could not find the slightest mention of one named Odin. I am usually able to turn up someting on a specific ship, either through my contacts on the Web, or the list of ship sites I keep on my computer.

But alls well in the end.

Regards,
Mac.


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