Owner
Registration No.
Official No.
Vessel Name
Place Constructed
Year Constructed
No. of Masts
Type of Vessel

Length (ft)
Width (ft)
Depth (ft)
Gross Tonnage
Official Closure Year
Place of Closure
 

Job Brothers & Co.

701
Viking
Arendal, Norway
1881
3
Steam/Sail

154
31
18
310
1931
Horse Islands

The story of the S. S. Viking is another well known one in the Province but is also known nationally and internationally mainly due to what happened to the ship and the people that were on board in 1931.

The Viking had been used mainly for the seal fishery but in 1931 was enlisted to help Varick Frissell, an American film producer, carry actors and a film crew to the front for the filming of a movie titled, The Viking. It was during the filming of this movie that the ship met its tragic end and claimed twenty-four men, including Frissell.

While the vessel itself did not have a direct connection with Trinity as such, the link to this vessel is through a man named Otis Bartlett who was born in Trinity in 1909.

Mr. Bartlett’s connection to the Viking is that he was the Wireless Telegraph Operator working on Horse Island when the ship met its end. The Trinity Historical Society has on display in its Museum the telegraph key that was used by Mr. Bartlett for four days without a break to report this incident to the world and to keep them up-to-date on the happenings that were taking place. It was donated to the museum in 1968 by Mr. Bartlett.

Here you will get to read the transcribed newspaper clippings of the incident and rescue mission, read a summary of Clayton King’s (Wireless Operator aboard the Viking) first hand experience of the incident, read the transcribed telegraphs that were sent by Otis Bartlett reporting the incident and view pictures from the film set on the ice and the rescue mission.