One of the first bits of advice you receive when beginning your genealogy journey is to be wary of family stories. Passed down from generation to generation, family stories may be true, but more often they contain a kernel of the truth and sometimes they are mere wishful thinking (doesn't every family want to claim a First Nation "princess" or King Harald Fairhair in its bloodline?).
A story I heard from Grandma-the-Great was that her grandfather, Hans
Rasmussen, and his son "went down with his ship", that his wife (on her first sea voyage) and older daughter survived the wreck while younger daughter and young son, Hans Gabriel (G-the-G's father), were in school and had not been on the voyage.
I was able to fill in the details: Captain Hans Rasmussen's wife was Ane Gurine Gaudesdatter, their children were Rasmus, Serine, Olava and Hans Gabriel (another son and daughter died in childhood). The ship was Favoriten and sank on 19 January 1869. One source said the ship went down in the Korsfjord (near Bergen); church records said only that Hans and Rasmus died along the Norwegain coast. A letter from Olava's daughter to G-the-G confirmed the story of Ane and Serine surviving the wreck and added that grandmother Ane never recovered from the experience and died a few years later.
So our family story was true, but don't you wonder how it happened, where, how did Ane and Serine survive, were they alone or did others survive with them, how many people were lost? A story like this must have generated a newspaper account, at least in Stravanger.
It did. And it took a trip to Stavanger to find it. While visiting the Stavanger Maritime Museum, I happened to see a book in the gift shop entitled, Skipsforlis i Bergensleden fra Bømlahuk til Holmengrå (Shipwrecks [roughly, on the way to Bergen] from Bømlahook to Holmengrå). Paging through the book, I felt I had found treasure, when I saw the account of the last journey of Favoriten, The author, Erik Bakkevig, used information from the book Stavanger Maritime History and an article in the Stavanger Amtstidene and Adresse to tell the heart-wrenching tale:
Favoriten
11 men lost.
The brig was home based in Stavanger and was owned by the trading house, J. A. Kohler & Co.
Description/History
Favoriten was built of wood at the Kjerringholm shipyard in Stavanger in 1848 under the leadership of master shipbuilder, Peter Gjesdal. The ship's capacity was 187 kl, about 383 net registered tons. The ship was commissioned by the renowned merchant J. A. Kohler in Stavanger and was one of the city's largest. To the tune of Sons of Norway the ship slid into the water on March 17th 1848. The incident was something of an event in the city and is featured in the book Stavanger Maritime History. Many onlookers had turned up both on land and in hundreds of small boats outside the yard. The ship was praised for its light and elegant construction and excellent sailing characteristics. It was said the company spared no expense.
The ship's first master was captain J. S. Westergaard and the crew consisted of 13 men besides him. The ship's maiden voyage was to the Mediterranean bringing a load of salt on the return trip. In May 1849, the brig sailed from Stavanger to New York with 187 emigrants and also made a similar trip the next year with 225 passengers. In July 1852, the ship had an accident sailing from Stavanger to Stockholm with a load of herring. For an unknown reason she ran aground at Hå rocks and had to return to Stavanger with a large leak. Two years later, Favoriten was traveling from Stockholm to South America. The captain was H. Henriksen and on this trip he and 3 other crew members died of yellow fever. The master papers were then given to J. J. G. Kielland. Later masters were Peter Kaurin, A. Svendsen and Hans Rasmussen.
Favoriten was a good long distance ship. She traveled to China, Australia, East India, North and South America as well as the Black Sea. She was their hometown pride and one of the most famous Stavanger ships in the mid 1800's.
Shipwreck History
On December 12, 1868, Favoriten sailed from Trapani (Italy) with a cargo of salt for Bergen. Captain Rasmussen had with him his wife, a daughter of 15 and son of 18 years*. The journey went well until they approached the Norwegian coast where they met a tempest. At 2100 hours, 19 January 1869 the ship went aground on the island of Løno on the west side of Sotra. Immediately a smaller boat set out and in it went an officer, 3 sailors and the captain's wife and daughter and all these arrived safely ashore. The rest of those on board, 11 men, proceded to put out a larger boat, but this failed and all were lost including Captain Rasmussen and his son.
The Officer's Report
Styrmann Ellingsen, who was the only ship's officer who survived, told of the dramatic shipwreck in the Stavanger Amtstidene and Adresse newspaper on 1 February 1869. Here we get a glimpse of what windjammer sailors had to contend with when the rigging failed in a storm and they had no propeller to push them safely forward.
Sunday, 18 January the ship made landfall off the Norwegian coast at Hidra outside Flekkefjord and here a course was set for Egerøy where there had been a lighthouse since 1854. The wind was now coming up in a storm from the SSW, the evening drew near and it was hazy. Like many of his contemporary navigators, Styrmann Ellingsen complained about the lack of lighthouses along the coast. A lighthouse here would have made it safe to follow the coast northwards at a suitable distance. In Obrestad came such a light in 1872, in Kvassheim, first in 1912. In storm and darkness therefore, Captain Rasmussen chose, with greatly reduced sail (lowered topsails) to sail westward to keep clear of the coast.
The ship fared well for a time in inclement weather, but then accidents started to happen. First the bobstay jerked in such a way that the bowsprit broke and was dragged by the ship. Several stays snapped and the sails began to blow out of line. Portions of the rigging went overboard. The main sail was set on what was left of the rig. All night and much of the next day was spent in cutting away the damaged rig. They were now turned eastward toward land again, but with the distressed rigging there was little speed and poor maneuverability. Worse was when the control line broke but with much hard work it was repaired. They now steered ENE hoping to hit Skudefjord but the wind aft caused them to make only 5-6 knots. It was again evening and dark, but fortunately visibility improved. The course was now changed to ESE and this was maintained for some time. One now had a desperate need to get a lighthouse in sight to determine the ship's position and reach safety. Using contemporary means and without certain accurate observations it was pure guesswork. As we shall see the brig came considerably further north than expected and sailed toward destruction.
At 2100 hours 19 January, it was suddenly discovered breakers ahead on the leeward and aft. An effort was made to turn into the wind, but it was too late. The ship had already passed several shallows which, according to the officer, broke at 18 fathoms. The waves would have been enormous. Captain Rasmussen saw where it would now end and decided to set out the boats before the ship hit and was crushed. A small gigg (jig) hung ready in the davits and this was immediately lowered. On this the captain ordered his wife and daughter, the officer and three sailors. The son was also sent to the boat, but he climbed aboard again to be with his father. The officer rated chances to get safely ashore in this shell of a boat so small that he gave his watch to those who remained behind. He assumed they would be safer when they got the larger boat in the water. Today such an act is obviously ridiculous, but once a gold watch was a precious asset. The waves were soaring and to the officer's horror the plug was missing so that water rushed into it (the gigg). A bucket was thrown from the brig but missed and floated away. Without being told, the 15 year old girl started to bail with her sou'wester while the sailors rowed toward the shore and kept lookout. The brig had already disappeared in the dark.
In the east the dark barely alight, they rowed therefore a bit west and then north for over an hour before they sighted an island. After some difficulties and with the boat half full of water, they managed to get in the lee behind the island with the current so heavy that they dared not land there, but continued inward until the little boat was washed up on the shore of a small bay. The place seemed to be completely uninhabited. Wet as they were and with their teeth chattering in their mouths, the castaways huddled close together in an attempt to keep warm. The captain's wife had just a stocking on one foot. At daybreak they found their way to the nearest settlement and were able to enter a house. It turned out they had come ashore on Algrønya (Algerø) on the west side of Sotra. Here they were warmly greeted and the officer particularly commends a Ms Garman who showed them kindness. In the morning the officer went out with people in a passenger boat to look for the rest of Favoriten's crew. In a cove on the west side of Løno island they were met with a pitiful sight, the wreck was broken in two pieces and debris floated everywhere. The main mast and pieces of wood had drifted ashore. They saw nothing of lifeboats nor the people on board. Two dogs which had also been on board were not found.
Wreckage
Divers at Løno about 10 years ago found a mangled ship's bell with the name Favoriten.
*Ane Gurine Gaudesdatter, Serine Hansdatter and Rasmus Hansen. Rasmus was likely part of the crew. This was Ane's first trip sailing with her husband and probably Serine's as well. Two other children, Olava and Hans Gabriel, were left at home to attend school. Ane's nephew, Tønnes Gaudesen, 24, was also one of the lost crewmen.
Skipsforlis i Bergensleden fra Bømlahuk til Holmengrå by Erik Bakkevig, self published Haugesund, 2005, pp 65-67. Translation and added notes by C Love, 2017.
Now we know exactly where Favoriten lies. Løno, no longer inhabited, is a rocky barren looking island that must bear the brunt of Atlantic weather. We know the tragic circumstances of the crew's last hours and the heroic effort made to bring the ship safely to land and, later, to rescue the occupants of the little boat.
Recent contact with an historian for the Fjell Kommune, who has written a history of Fjell from 1700-1910 published last fall that includes a chapter about the wreck of Favoriten, has added more information. He has identified the Ms Garman as "probably Georgine Garmann daughter of a local merchant and innkeeper on the island Lokønya". The bell retrieved by divers is in the Maritime Museum in Bergen (how disappointing that we did not include that in our visit). And he has kindly sent some newspaper articles that mention the incident including one (awaiting translation) of items that washed ashore from the wreckage.
How fortunate we are to find our family story is true as well as to have documents that fill in some of the details.
