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Type: | Tugboat |
Star Sirius was a UT 734-class ocean-going anchor handling tug and supply ship berthed in Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland, throughout much of the 1970s. Today it is known as the Hua Shan. Star Sirius had an unusual career for a tug; it was attached to the Fishery Protection Squadron in the Cod War of 1975-76 between the United Kingdom and Iceland. [1] The tug was also involved in the Shetland oil disaster in 1993, where it had a role in attempting the rescue of the tanker MV Braer. The crew and ship were commended in the official report, which stated:
The Master and crew of the STAR SIRIUS displayed excellent seamanship and did all they possibly could to establish a tow. In the best traditions of the sea, the tugs and Lerwick lifeboat put out to sea without hesitation when asked to do so. Those who volunteered to return to the ship, especially the four who were landed on the stern, displayed bravery and determination in a very dangerous situation. [2]
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated in the Northern Atlantic, between Great Britain, the Faroe Islands and Norway.
The Cod Wars were a series of confrontations between the United Kingdom and Iceland on fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of the disputes ended with an Icelandic victory. The Third Cod War concluded in 1976, with a highly favourable agreement for Iceland; the United Kingdom conceded to a 200-nautical-mile (370-kilometre) Icelandic exclusive fishery zone after threats that Iceland would withdraw from NATO, which would have forfeited NATO's access to most of the GIUK gap, a critical anti-submarine warfare chokepoint during the Cold War.
Lerwick is the main town and port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010.
Sullom Voe is an inlet between North Mainland and Northmavine on Shetland in Scotland. It is a location of the Sullom Voe oil terminal and Shetland Gas Plant. The word Voe is from the Old Norse vagr and denotes a small bay or narrow creek.
USS Cod (SS/AGSS/IXSS-224) is a Gato-class submarine, the only vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the cod, the world's most important food fish of the North Atlantic and North Pacific.
RFA Wave Chief was a Wave-class fleet support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary that was built in 1946 as SS Empire Edgehil by Harland & Wolff, Govan, Renfrewshire, United Kingdom.
RMAS Typhoon (A95) was an ocean-going tug of the Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service (RMAS). She was designed for ocean towing, rescue, salvage and fire-fighting. She is notable as being the first ship to leave the United Kingdom ahead of the task force for the South Atlantic during the 1982 Falklands War, and for her fishery protection role in the Cod Wars.
The Shetland Bus was the nickname of a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Mainland Shetland in Scotland and German occupied Norway from 1941 until the surrender of Nazi Germany on 8 May 1945. From mid-1942, the group's official name was the Norwegian Naval Independent Unit (NNIU). In October 1943, it became an official part of the Royal Norwegian Navy and was renamed the Royal Norwegian Naval Special Unit (RNNSU). The unit was operated initially by a large number of small fishing boats and later augmented by three fast and well-armed submarine chasers – Vigra, Hessa and Hitra.
HMS Graph was a German Type VIIC U-boat that the British Royal Navy captured during World War II. Commissioned as U-570 in Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine in mid-1941, she was attacked and captured on her first patrol.
Brae is a village on the island of Mainland in Shetland, Scotland, United Kingdom.
The MV Braer was an oil tanker which ran aground during a storm off Shetland, Scotland, in January 1993, and nearly a week later broke up during the most intense extratropical cyclone on record for the northern Atlantic Ocean, the Braer Storm of January 1993.
MV Ross Revenge is a radio ship, the home of Radio Caroline, as well as having supported Radio Monique and various religious broadcasters. She was constructed in Bremerhaven in 1960, and initially served as a commercial trawler as part of the Ross Group fleet, notably taking part in the Cod Wars of the 1970s. Following her decommissioning, she was purchased by Radio Caroline and outfitted as a radio ship, complete with 300-foot (91 m) antenna mast and 50 kW transmitter. Her broadcasts began on 20 August 1983; her final pirate broadcast took place in November 1990. She ran aground on the Goodwin Sands in November 1991, bringing the era of offshore pirate radio in Europe to an end. She was, however, salvaged, and is now maintained by the Caroline Support Group, a group of supporters and enthusiasts.
HNoMS Nordkapp was the lead ship of the Nordkapp class of fishery protection vessels. She was launched 18 August 1937 at Horten naval shipyard, with yard number 123. She had one sister ship, HNoMS Senja. Nordkapp was named after the North Cape in Finnmark. As was typical of her class, Nordkapp was very unstable in rough seas and was viewed from the beginning as a second-rate vessel. Nordkapp sailed throughout the Second World War and saw service in several theatres.
Norröna is the Faroes' largest ferry. It sails between Hirtshals, Denmark to Tórshavn, the Faroe Islands and Seyðisfjörður, Iceland.
The Braer Storm of January 1993 was the most intense extratropical cyclone ever recorded over the northern Atlantic Ocean. Developing as a weak frontal wave on 8 January 1993, the system moved rapidly northeast. The combination of the absorption of a second low-pressure area to its southeast, a stronger than normal sea surface temperature differential along its path, and the presence of a strong jet stream aloft led to a rapid strengthening of the storm, with its central pressure falling to an estimated 914 hPa on 10 January. Its strength was well predicted by forecasters in the United Kingdom, and warnings were issued before the low initially developed.
The Fishery Protection Squadron is a front-line squadron of the Royal Navy with responsibility for patrolling the UK's Extended Fisheries Zone. The squadron, with headquarters at Portsmouth Naval Base, are equipped with five River-class patrol vessels; four are based in the UK, while HMS Clyde is based in the Falkland Islands.
Wave Ruler was a 8,138 GRT Wave-class oiler that was built in 1946 as Empire Evesham by Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Haverton Hill-on-Tees, Co Durham, United Kingdom for the British Ministry of Transport. In 1947, she was transferred to the Admiralty and commissioned into the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) as Wave Ruler. She was in active service until 1970 when she was hulked in the Maldive Islands, serving RAF Gan until 1975. She was sold in 1976 and scrapped in Taiwan in 1977.
The United Kingdom's emergency towing vessel fleet were a maintained fleet of emergency tow vessels (ETV) from 1993 through 2011. The vessels were privately owned and operated for Her Majesty's Coastguard. Four vessels were stationed around the UK coastline, while a fifth was held in reserve.
Robert Nisbet (1834–1917) was a Shetland sea captain. He was born on 15 October 1834 at Burravoe on the island of Yell, Shetland. He died on 3 May 1917 at Leith, Scotland.
Ronas Voe is a voe in Northmavine, Shetland. It divides the land between Ronas Hill, Shetland's tallest mountain, and the Tingon peninsula. It is the second largest voe in Shetland, the largest being Sullom Voe. The townships of Heylor, Voe and Swinister are located on its shores, and the township of Assater is under a kilometre away.