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Uller (ship, 1943)
The Uller (IMO No. 5372458) was a Norwegian salvage tug that served under various names from 1943 to 2008.
Construction, technical data and service in the Kriegsmarine
The ship was launched in 1943 with the number 107 at the Moss shipyard in Moss (Norway) with the name Topdalsfjord II. Sister ship was the slightly larger Gulosenfjord. Both ships were originally planned as whalers for the shipping company Sobral, but the construction delayed, as the shipyard had to arm whalers for the outpost and safety flotillas of the Kriegsmarine. The ship was completed as a tugboat and on the 1st. August 1943, immediately after its completion, requisitioned by the German Kriegsmarine and assigned to the Naval Equipment Office (MAST) Kristiansand-Süd. It was 37.85 m long and 7.60 m wide, had 3.63 m draught and was measured with 303 GRT and 95 NRT respectively. The drive consisted of a 3-cylinder triple expansion steam machine with 600 hp and a screw. The maximum speed was 11 knots.
Rescue tug Uller
After the end of the war in May 1945, the ship was taken over by the Norwegian government as a former enemy property and sold in 1946 to the Norsk Bjergningskompagni in Bergen, which renamed it after the Old Norse god of winter in Uller (call sign LLAD) and had it converted in 1949 to an ice-breaking ocean tug. The home port became Trondheim. The Uller was now 40.24 m long and 7.57 m wide, had 3.76 m draught and was with 319 GRT respectively. 101 NRT. The Uller became known to the public when it was released on 17. In October 1950, the Hurtigruten ship Kong Harald ran aground near Heggebåen near Florø and brought it to Trondheim. In 1960, the ship received new superstructures.
Migratory years
After almost 25 years of service as Uller with the Norsk Bjergningskompagni, the ship had a number of quickly changing owners and also frequently changing names in the following decades. In 1969 it was sold to Ivar & Kåre Refsnes in Stoksund am Stokksund. The new owners had the old steam engine taken out and had plans to convert the ship into a cargo ship, but then nothing more happened. In 1972 they sold the ship to Misje Mekaniske Verksted in Bergen, who renamed it Jomi, wanted to equip it as a weather ship and had a 780 hp diesel engine from Normo installed. When the Jomi was released from the slipway at the shipyard of Gravdal Skipsbyggeri near Bergen, it capsized, but was immediately lifted and towed to the shipyard of Mjellem & Karlsen in Bergen, where the ship was again completed as a tug (276 BRT, 34 NRT). The Normo engine was replaced by a 6-cylinder fourth-stroke diesel engine from Alco with 4140 hp, which enabled a speed of 12 knots. After completion of the conversion work, the ship was taken over by the parent company Kåre Misje & Co. in 1973. 1975 Wu