As I was visiting Tristan da Cunha a colleague of mine had told me there is a Finn buried over there. Before the port was the local cemetery so I requested our hosts to stop there to have a quick look.
Eventually I found the grave after some walking about the headstones and the slab said Arthur A Söderlund had been buried there after an accident working on the South African fishing vessel Frances Repetto.
Life and career milestones chronology:
1898 Born Hindersböle, Jomala, Åland Is, Finland (under the Russian Grand duchy)
1911 Started seafaring on a Baltic schooner as galley hand
1915 Signed on Lawhill as Ordinary Seaman
1917 Arrived Brest through blockade with grain cargo
1919 French Gov't seizes Lawhill
1920 - 1923 (?) Sailed on Norwegian vessels, 3 yrs
1926 married Elize (?)
1927 Sign on Lawhill as Chief Mate
1928 (or 1927) daughter, "Doris Hildegard" is born
1932-1933, Captain of Killoran
1932 collision with Polish tug Njemen, Capt was later acquitted as not guilty
1933 Sept, Captain of Lawhill
1939 Lawhill laid up in Glasgow
1939 took command of a steamer but was blown up in a minefield off Terschelling
1940 Jan - Feb, Captain of Killoran
1940 Lawhill in Åland Islands and family is signed on the ship
1941 Lawhill is placed under arrest in Port Elizabeth
1942 Lawhill is confiscated by South African Gov't but many crew continues with Capt Arthur
1945 Doris is studying in technical school Cape Town
1947 Nov, signed off Lawhill
1954 Died in an accident onboard Frances Repetto off Tristan da Cunha
Capt Söderlund was born in 1898 in Hindersböle, Jomala, Åland Is, so he was only 56 years of age. He had apparently fallen over and injured himself badly and died. According to another source, he was hit in the head by a cargo derrick whilst discharging into another fishing vessel, "Tristania". The incident occurred possibly in rough weather as they usually do and the consequences were fatal. However the incident happened, the result was final. The newspaper on Åland Is wrote that he was buried at sea according to his daughter, so I'm not sure if there was a body under the headstone. It could have been placed there because he had perished at sea close by Tristan da Cunha.
Graveyard in Calshot (Edinburgh of the seven seas)
Quoting text from the headstone below: "In ever loving memory of my dearest husband and father Captain Söderlund; for many years Captain of the 4-masted barque Lawhill; accidentally killed aboard his vessel the "Frances Repetto" off the Island of Tristan da Cunha, Born Åland, Finland 1898, Died 15th of May 1954."
Grave of Capt Söderlund
Arthur Alexander Söderlund had started at sea when he was 13 yrs of age (1911) as a galley hand and kept on sailing, in 1932 - 1933 he was Master on Killoran before he became Master of Lawhill. There is a 20 years gap between starting sailing and Killoran so I can only speculate that in the time in between he advanced through the ranks and attained possibly his first masters position in the late 1920's or maybe it even was Killoran that was his first command.
Killoran (courtesy of J.A.Mikkola)
Records on various sources shows Capt Arthur "jumping" between Lawhill and Killoran so maybe he was doing short stints and filling up where needed as the times were quite turbulent. He mentions in one interview that he also ran a steamer in 1939.
Lawhill print by robertcarter.com
Captain Söderlund had been appointed Master of the 4 masted barque Lawhill between 1933-1947. She was owned by the renowned shipowner Gustaf Erikson and was the largest sailing ship in the Finnish merchant fleet at the time. Captain Söderlund had his family, wife and daughter, onboard for 7 years during the war, they embarked in 1940 when the ship was visiting Mariehamn in Åland Islands (Finland) for loading cargo. Arthur had made an ultimatum to the shipowner that he'll resign lest his family could follow, the shipowner, Gustaf Erikson acquiesced on the condition that they get no preferential treatment.
Capture of Capt Söderlund & Mrs Elize Söderlund, courtesy of Australian Sunday times
Eventually Lawhill was arrested by South African Gov't in 1941 and then taken as a prize of war in 1942 and then traded on with the Finnish crew (apparently there was nobody else available as an option) along the southern African continent, South America and Australia until 1948 when she was intended to be turned into a sail training vessel but this was never realized and subsequently a year after she changed hands and was laid up in Mozambique by the new Owner who didn't have the wherewithal to restore her up to seaworthy sailing condition.
Above screenshot courtesy of Facebook by Robert Carter
In the 1950's Lawhill eventually had (or was) grounded in Matola river, Mozambique (Maputo) and rotted (or broken) down there by 1959. Various sources claim differently, some say she was ransacked by locals, others say she dragged her anchors and was broken up or that she just fell apart as a natural process of corrosion. So in essence Capt Söderlund lived the same time that Lawhill traded but she met her demise off the coast of Mozambique being abandoned. The Lawhill story ended about 10-12 years later forgotten up in a river creek off Maputo, quite sad actually for both the ship and the Captain. Although according to the History blog she was cut up and the scrap sent to Japan, which sounds better.
Lawhill (coloured by Frank Hellsten, courtesy of Flickr)
Lawhill in port (courtesy of J A Mikkola)
Frances Repetto (courtesy of Shipstamps)
According to shipstamps Frances Repetto was a wooden "mercy ship" built in Canada in 1944 and was then sold to South Africa in 1947 where she was converted to fishing and renamed "Voorbok", then in 1954 she was sold again and renamed "Frances Repetto". This time it was to Tristan Development Co and that's when Capt Arthur gets in the picture to his detriment. Frances Repetto continued working until 1971 when she sunk under tow off Robben Island. The vessel looks very much like the minesweepers built in the era.
Frances Repetto as "Voorbok" (courtesy of Tripadvisor)
Doris pictured in Australian Women's weekly 26 06 1943
It appears his daughter Doris (and wife Elize?) had moved ashore in South Africa by 1947. She never returned to Finland and died in March 2001 leaving property behind in Åland Islands, her parents native domicile. There was no surviving next of kin for the inheritance. I can't see any further (free public) record of the mother nor Doris apart from the Cap Horner gathering and when she passed away leaving property behind.
Doris Soderlund in South Africa with a visiting actor from Finland in 2000.
Photo courtesy of ENyan news
Doris Söderlund has also been mentioned in a gathering of old Cape Horners in Cape Town. In the article from Sea History edition no 093/2000:
Quoting: "Doris Söderlund who sailed in her father's four masted bark Lawhill for a dozen years, captured a table full of Picton Castle crew with her precise stories of her years under sail: escaping the Russians in Finland; sailing through mine fields; long howling passages to Australia; racing around Cape Horn in the teeth of hurricane-strength westerly; icebergs; injunctions to not associate (much) with the male crew of Dad's ship. In the end Doris captured all of us."
Capture from the Sea history article, Doris Söderlund standing left of the wheel
NEWS CLIPPINGS:
As ironical as it is, it seems there is more information documented of the Söderlund's family life in Australian news papers (at least publicly). Also judging of the amount of writing in different news papers it appears the ports of call have always been a great happening back in the day. I imagine Arthur has been very busy the first days in port when being bombarded by reporters and officials as well as Company admin & mail, provisions, fresh water, etc. Below are some news clippings showing the public interest in Lawhill and of her captain and crew.
Here in 1931 it is quite evident that the crew was quite young and multi national, although I believe the Captain was the one before Arthur as they shared the same name:
Adelaide News 05 02 1931
Quoting:
"FINNISH BARQUE -
Youthful Crew on Lawhill
Of the four sailing vessels now at Port Adelaide to carry wheat to Europe the Lawhill is the largest, but is manned by the youngest officers and crew.
That claim was made today by Mr. Alfred Ericsen (second officer), who is 22 years of age. He is the youngest officer on board. the third mate being two years older. The chief officer, Mr. W Nordström, is only 25 years. and Capt. Arthur Söderlund 32.
The sailmaker is the oldest. He is 35. E. T. Lindström, an apprentice, is the youngest, being 17. The average age of all on board is between 21 and 22.
The Lawhill is expected to complete loading tomorrow afternoon. when it will be towed to Semaphore anchorage to await a favorable wind."
*****
Also pleasantries did not only stop on land, here is mentioned a chance meeting (probably with some coordination via the wireless) in the middle of the Atlantic and visits were paid, the Captain before Arthur had the same surname as he did, the article has a typo. Perhaps Arthur, as Chief mate, was also invited to join in for dinner:
Times of Ceylon 13 06 1931
Quoting: "Courtesies when becalmed
London, May 29th
Within 45 minute the three-master Favell (111 days out of Wallaroo), the smallest windjammer in the fleet, and the four-master Lawhill (105 days out of Adelaide), the largest windjammer, arrived and anchored near to each other at Queenstown (Cork). While both were becalmed off the Azores on the voyage, Captain Lille and his wife from Favell rowed over to the Lawhill and had dinner with Captain Söderlund. The crew of the Favell captured a turtle in the North Atlantic and made it the ships pet.
[The steel barque Favell (1,334 tons) was built at Bristol in 1895, and the stee; barque Favell (2816 tons) was built at Dundee in 1892. Both are Finnish-owned.]"
*****Sighting of the missing training ship Kobenhavn wreckage on the high seas, Lawhill was making good speed, 12kts:
Liverpool Post and Mercury 19 04 1934
****
Here's an announcement in the papers about a dance onboard, I got to admit, Capt Arthur had style, and all for a good cause:
The Kadina and Wallaroo Times 09 02 1935
Quoting: "Ship's Dance at Wallaroo.—By kind permission of Captain Arthur Söderlund, master of the s.v. Lawhill, a public dance will be held- oh the Lawhill, 1 now at Wallaroo, on Wednesday next, February 13. The dance is being arranged by the Wallaroo Hospital Auxiliary committee in aid of funds for Wallaroo Hospital comforts. The officers' and staff of the Lawhill are preparing and decorating the boat for the dance, and a thorough good time is anticipated. Good music is assured, including piano and drums. The admission charge is 1/, and supper will be obtainable on the boat. Dancing from 8 p.m. till 1 a.m."
*****
I am quoting below the text from the article (with some spelling mistakes corrected) from the Australian Sunday Times article from 9th March 1943 by Tora Beckinsale:
Captain Takes His Family To Sea To Escape Bombs
They Feel Safer on Romantic Barque Than in Finnish Home
The four-masted barque Lawhill sails hazardous wartime seas as she plies between Australia and South Africa, but for all that she has meant home and safety for three years to her captain's wife and daughter from bomb Wrecked Finland.
"If we go down, we all go down together" said Captain Arthur Söderlund when he brought his lovely ship into an Australian port the other day. "Last time I went to Finland, in 1940, 1 found my wife and daughter practically living in bomb shelters. That was no good, so I asked them to sail with me."
- So, from their modern flat in a town in Åland Island, came Mrs Söderlund and Doris to make their
wartime home on the most romantic type of ship there is.
Tall and beautiful, with a half century's salt in her timbers, she lies today dappling an Australian wharf with the shadow of her rigging, and rides tomorrow in full sail, exulting in . the boisterous winds of the wide seas.
To this new life Mrs. Söderlund brought her knitting...
In fact, she brought to her new home afloat all the interests and occupations of life ashore, the cares of wife, mother, and homemaker.
She and Doris live their lives aboard just as the captain's wife and daughter. They take no part in actual sailing activities.
"But, of course, they do not just sit and make up their faces when there is an emergency," said the captain. "If my sailors get knocked about in a storm, they put on overalls and gum boots and sou'wester caps, and get hot water and bandages and help me to doctor the injuries."
Not long ago the ship ran into such a bad storm that she was under water for 18 hours, and it was touch and go with her. This was one of the few times when the women had to lend a hand.
They bailed water out of their own quarters. "But they were not frightened," said Captain Söderlund, proudly. 'It takes a lot to frighten a woman."
Doris can climb the rigging.
"But I do not allow it," said her father. "I like her to be a lady.
"It is no life for a woman in a sailing ship," he added, ruefully. He said a few words in Swedish to Mrs. Söderlund, who nodded her head firmly.
She does not speak English, but Doris does, and Swedish, too. "My father says it is safe enough for us to sail with him, and so we just don't worry," she said. "But I'll be glad when the war is over and we can live on shore again."
However, in the Lawhill, which is owned by the South African Government, they are very happy and comfortable.
Captain Söderlund has seen that their quarters, although small, are snug and cosy. A small bunk has been fitted in what was previously the skipper's writing room for Doris' bedroom. It is a charming little room, with flowered chintz curtains at the porthole and screening off the bunk. There is a fixed table and a small locker for her belongings.
Her mother and father sleep in the adjacent cabin. Most of the time of Mrs. Söderlund and Doris is spent sewing their own clothes or knitting for the captain. "Sailors wear out their woollen clothes very quickly," said Captain Söderlund. He's a typical sailor, and has been at sea since be was 13. He started as a cook boy in a Baltic schooner, and his people were seafaring people for generations back.
His wife also comes of seafaring stock. She has to look after their clothes with especial care because sea air is ruinous for clothes. There is sometimes a shortage of fresh water to make difficulties with washing.
Doris, who wears her light brown hair in a long, fluffy bob to her shoulders, has become, under her mother's tuition, a clever little needlewoman.
Her father showed with pride a huge suppercloth embroidered by her, and pointed out two little tapestry pictures which she has worked.
The Söderlunds have a family of pets - aboard. Bella, the Scottie, is very valuable. "She came from Glasgow, where GBP800 was offered for her mother, but the owner, would, not sell," said the captain, with a pat for Bella.
"This is Ronnie. That's a girl's name in our country," said Doris, introducing a big, lively brindle bitch, which is a great favorite with the family
"Ronnie sleeps in the box we have for the dogs until all is quiet. Then she creeps out and jumps on my bunk and sleeps there for the night," said Doris.
Peacefully asleep on the captain's bed was Tassie, the black cat, called after Tasmania, which is a favorite stopping place of Doris.
Then there are Tip and Tap, the tortoises, who calmly munch lettuce or hard-boiled eggs in a corner of the saloon.
"When it is rough we put them in a box," said Doris.
Mrs. Söderlund has no actual housekeeping to do aboard. Cooking is done by chief cook Leo Nielsen, who came from Denmark, and the assistant cook. Fred Arenase, of South Africa.
Menus depend on the time between ports.
"We have been as long as 78 days," said the captain, "and then we cannot have fresh food."
Daily meal routine for the Söderlunds is breakfast in the mess room at 7.30, dinner at 12.30, and tea at 7.30. They have coffee between meals. Cleaning, washing and scrubbing are done by the steward and cabin boy.
Most important of all Mrs. Söderlund's tasks aboard is Doris education. She attended the school for boys and girls at Mariehamn, her home town.
"You know, Finland was the first country to have mixed' schools," said the captain. "My daughter was very fond of sports, especially skiing and basketball, and always acted in the school plays."
Although Doris' ordinary schooling has been interrupted, her mother is training her in all the womanly arts, and she is going through the grand finishing school of travel.
She has splendid poise for such, a young girl, and talks well.
Mariehamn, on Åland Island, was the birthplace of both Captain and Mrs. Söderlund. They were married there, and Doris was born there.
This island, which has a population of about 27,000 people, is under Finnish law, but is an independent State with its own small Parliament It is about 20 miles by ll miles in size, and is one of a group of no fewer than 8000 islands.
Doris wears the shield of her home State on a pendant hung round her neck.
*****
Here Lawhill has made landfall, the crew looks very happy to arrive after weeks at sea:
Townsville daily bulletin 17 08 1944
Quoting: Upper picture "RELIC OF THE DAYS OF SAIL, Through a world of grey mechanised sea war, the four-masted barque "Lawhill" a rare relic of the days of sail, arrived in Sydney after 41 days voyage from South Africa. On board were a crew of 45 and as passengers the wife of Captain Arthur Söderlund and their 17-year old daughter, Doris. The barque was in Glasgow when the war broke out, flying the Finnish flag. When Britain went to war with Finland she was taken over by the British."
Lower picture: "Some of the crew of the four-masted barque "Lawhill" wave a cheery greeting as their ship is towed to anchorage in Sydney Harbour after a 41-day voyage from South Africa."
*****
Another article I came across from Australia, this time from The Sydney Morning Herald from 9th of May 1946 by Pamela Eriksson by airmail from South Africa, in the long summary of tall ships and their fates during WWII she she shortly mentions Lawhill as follows:
"The "Lawhill" long nicknamed "coffin" and the oldest ship that Gustaf Erikson owned, being his first, buy", (and incidentally the foundation of his fortunes) is still sailing the seas, cement boxes and all under the flag of the South African Government. She visited Australia during the war and has carried well over 50,000 tons of cargo.
She arrived in Capetown a few weeks ago from Bunbury and will probably be sent to South America on her next trip.
Captain Artur Söderlund has sailed in her for donkeys years - before the mast, as mate and then as skipper, and even a world upheaval could not part him from her or his family.
The last time he and the "Lawhill' were in Finland, just before war broke out, he said that he would no longer sail her unless he could take his family with him. So they came on board, and there they have been ever since. I suppose his daughter Doris is the only modern girl who has grown up on board a sailing ship, and Captain Söderlund is certainly the only skipper who has sailed throughout the war with a wife and daughter on board."
It seems the condition of her hull was not great, the mention of cement coffins are an old way to fix leaks onboard cargo ships, have done a few myself over the years.
*****
In Womens News section featured Doris Söderlund and her life onboard, one would understand that the family already have a house in South Africa:
Daily Telegraph 09 08 1944
Quoting: "Doris Söderlund, daughter of the captain of the barque Lawhill, with the 19-year-old third mate, James Barrett and Ronnie, one of the ships dogs.
Spends Life Aboard Sailing Ship
The first purchases which pretty, fair-haired Doris Söderlund will make in Sydney when she comes ashore from the four-masted barque Lawhill, which arrived yesterday, will be gramophone records.
Doris who is 17, and her mother, Mrs Arthur Söderlund, wife of the captain f the ship, have made it their home for the last four years.
When Mrs Söderlund and her daughter were met in their comfortable cabin, Doris was completing a list headed "Records I shall buy." Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters are among her favorites.
During each trip we play our newest records until they are worn out.
"We have to use the gramophone because we can't have the wireless on very often" she said.
No rationing
Mrs Söderlund asked about coupons, "At our homeport in South Africa, shopping is difficult. There is no rationing, but one has to be first to buy the things which are needed."
Doris who looks younger than her 17 years, explained that she and her parents are Swedish-Finns. They come from Mariehamn, an Island off Finland near Sweden/
Mrs Söderlund does not speak much English, and Doris acted as interpreter.
"Learning English is the only schooling I have" said Doris.
"I've been onboard since I was twelve. Life is monotonous at times but mother and I always keep ourselves busy with knitting or sewing and when I am very bored I polish the brass."
*****
Quoting: "THE LAWHILL
Last Voyage From Sydney
Quoting: "Veteran Schooner Left To Rot
Arthur and Lawhill, also his history with North Sea steamer and how he was blown up in a minefield off Terschelling. He also talks about when he started as a galleyboy and when he was 13 as well as the arrest in France.
Examiner 16 08 1945
Quoting: "Reminiscent of historic seafaring days is the four-masted Finnish barque, Lawhill, with the picturesque rigging, which recently visited Hobart for the second time during the war.
The Lawhill has a proud record of over 50 years on the high seas. She has a capacity of 4500 tons and was built by W H Thompson and Co Ltd engineer and shipbuilders at Dundee Scotland for the Anglo-Indian jute trade. In 1911 she was purchased by Mr G Erikson of Mariehamn, between Finland and Sweden for £8500. Mr Erikson is the worlds largest owners of sailing ships.
During the first World War the Lawhill traded between England, South America and Australia, but was laid up in 1918 as storeship for the US forces in France. In 1919 Mr Erikson secured a valuable contract with the French Government for two voyages to Australia for the Lawhill and the Woodburg, a smaller ship. In 1921 the Lawhill ran aground just outisde Port Lincoln, in Boston Island is a Bay since known as Lawhill Bay. Until sold to Finland the Lawhill sailed regularly out of Liverpool. She traded with case oil out from New York to the Far East, returning to Britain with jute.
For the duration of the war the Lawhill was operated by the South African Government, and on her recent visit flew the flag of the Union [of South Africa].
Fresh meat supply
The Lawhill is equipped with steam for secondary tasks. In addition she has electric lighting and a motor boat. By carrying her own pigs and sheep the vessel ensures a continuous supply of fresh meat at sea.
The Finnish master, Capt A Söderlund has been described as one of the finest navigators afloat. He first sailed on the Lawhill in 1915 as an ordinary seaman. At the outbreak of war in 1939 the Lawhill was laid up for a period in Glasgow and Capt Söderlund took charge of a steamer in the North Sea. In November 1939, the steamer ran into a German minefield off Terschelling (Holland) and was blown up. The crew was rescued by a Dutch lifeboat.
Asked why he prefers a sailing ship to a steamer Capt Söderlund admits that he enjoys the matching how wits with the sea. "The Sea" he says :"is like a game of chess. You never know what the next move is going to be" Although Finnish, the Söderlund family is all Swedish speaking, like all Finns on the Islands and coastal districts of the Baltic.
Family aboard
Mrs Söderlund has accompanied her husband on the Lawhill since 1940, when they left Finland for England at the time of the Russian attack on Finland. Their 16 year old daughter sailed with them until recently, when she (remained in) Capetown to study domestic science. There is a lovable family of dogs onboard, who make themselves at home in the Captains cabin.
Although the majority of the crew are South Africans and Scandinavians there are seven Australians serving on the Lawhill. Of those young, T Broughton, of Hobart, is one. He enjoys the variety of his life at sea, and speaks warmly of the crew's friendly cooperation with each other.
During the war the Lawhill has covered about a quarter of a million miles. She has battled through storms which no steamer would survive, her decks swamped at times with raging seas. The Lawhill made two fast passages. On one round trip, which tool only 7 months 15 days, she cleared about £120.000.
While in Hobart the Lawhill unloaded a cargo of cocoa beans for the Cadbury-Fry-Pascal factory."
*****
Arthur recounted his experiences during WWI blockade and how he signed off to go sailing on Norwegian vessels.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate 21 02 1945
Quoting: "THEY CALLED the Lucky Lawhill - that four-masted top gallant barque which lay alongside the wharves in Newcastle for many weeks.
Young people viewed the raking masts and riggings with some curiosity, but for older people the masts and spars turned back pages of history.
The Lawhill has probably reached her destination on the other side of the world .
The Captain knows and loves his ship. He has been master of one or two steamers, but when the chance came he returned to his old love.
"I am not too old yet to enjoy a battle with the elements. When I grow old and feel I want to take it easy I'll go back to into steam" he told a "Herald" reporter.
The captain was A.B. in the Lawhill in the last war. It was then she acquired the title "Lucky Lawhill." When other ships failed to get through the submarine and mine blockade off Brest in 1917 the Lawhill reached the harbour with a cargo of Australian wheat. She remained at the wharves, chartered as an American warehouse, until 1919. The captain left her at Brest and sailed for three years in Norwegian ships.
In 1927 he rejoined the Lawhill as Chief Officer. He assumed command in 1932. Under his command the barque made about seven to Australia but seldom reached the east coast. The captain's wife and daughter have been traveling the world aboard the Lawhill since 1940.
Work on the sailing ships, according to the captain, is almost as hard as on the olden days. men still have to go aloft on the 168 foot masts as they did in Nelson's day. They still have to furl sail and make repairs, check over the ropes. A steam donkey engine eliminates loading and unloading by hand. It also supplies steam heat for the cabins. A small diesel engine is used for hauling sail.
A couple of very fat and very friendly dogs greeted strangers when they climbed aboard the ship. The only indication of modern appliances was the donkey engine hauling cargo from the holds in small baskets. In every other respect the ship was similar to the hundreds which sailed from the port in the 80's. The old wooden capstan worked by manpower, the strange settings for the navigation lights, the steering wheel in the open, with binnacle an compass; hundreds of ropes - an apparent tangled network against the sky - stays and braces, coils of rope varying n size, creaking masts and small figures tenaciously clinging to yard arms.
But down below in captains quarters was a modern touch. Grained wood, much like cedar, lined the walls. A mantel radio was playing a popular air. Australian waratahs were in vases on a magnificent velvet table cloth. Thick carpet covered the floor. Chairs and settee were upholstered in blue leather. A kerosene lamp swung from the ceiling, and a bronze plaque of Mr Churchill looked down on it all. There was another fat dog in the cabin. he was wearing a tartan collar. A live turtle, said to be very old, was placidly feeding from a handful of lettuce leaves.
The ship carried a crew of 43. There were eight cadets from South Africa and six Australian boys.
The Lawhilll was towed to sea when she left Newcastle. A tug took her well over the bar into a favorable trade wind. Slowly the sails were unfurled. The ship heeled to the breeze. One of the last of the windjammers sailed away."
*****
Here it is revealed Capt Arthur has applied for naturalization so possibly he was having a Union of South Africa citizenship by then, also his daughter had been left behind to attend college in Cape Town:
Townsville Daily Bulletin 17 11 1945, whole article below:
Last Voyage From Sydney
The stately four-master Lawhill, the last of the windjammers, has lately sailed from Sydney Harbour, on her last trip out of tbe port. Built at Dundee, Scotland, 52 years ago, the Lawhill is the largest full-rigged ship afloat (length 311 feet, beam 46 feet). In full sail she carries 52,000 square feet of canvas, there are miles of rope in her rigging and running gear. Old sailors who have served their time before the mast will admire everything about the Lawhill except one thing—
They'd be a bit contemptuous of the modern conveniences which the Lawhill's master. Captain Arthur Söderlund. has built below deck. For the Lawhill is more than a ship to Captain Söderlund; it has been home, too, for him, his wife, and 18-year-old daughter Doris since 1940. Doris isn't aboard this trip: she remained in Capetown to attend a technical college. Attractive, medium-built Mrs. Söderlund, who spoke, broken English, admitted that life on a sailing ship is sometimes monotonous. 'But most times there is plenty to do,' she said. 'There is the usual housework, the cleaning of brass, and attention to be given to our pets— three dogs, two parrots, two small tortoises, and Peter, the monkey.
'The cooking, thank goodness, is done by the ship's cook. 'Whenever we touch port, especially Sydney, there is shopping to be done, but, like shore people, coupons bother me, too.' There are no 'old salts' aboard the Lawhill. Present crew of 44 are all young men. most of them seeking adventure. Eight of them are Australians . Youngest is 15-year-old Arthur ('Tich') Holgate, deckboy of Capetown. At every port adventurous youths—and girls, too — apply for cadetships on the barque; there is a waiting list of 150.
Captain Söderlund, himself, is only in the mid forties, though he has sailed the seas in windjammers for 33 years, the last 18 in the Lawhill. A Finn by birth, he has recently applied for naturalisation as a British subject. When World War II broke out the Lawhill was in Glasgow flying the Finnish flag. But when Britain went to war with Finland the Lawhill was taken over by the British authorities. She is now in the employ of the South African Government, and will begin a regular run between Western Australia, and Capetown carrying Jarrah railway sleepers for the South African Government. South Africa needs 15,000,000 sleepers (landed cost 27) said Captain Söderlund. So It doesn't look as if the Lawhill will be out of a job for a long time."
*****
Feature of Lawhill under arrest in France after breaking the blockade and a write up of her history until the day, bit like an eulogy as she made only one more transoceanic voyage after she was taken over by Portuguese interests in Mozambique. As we now know, Erikson did not buy her back:
The Evening Telegraph 10 01 1947
Quoting: "WINDJAMMER LAWHILL HAD ALL THE LUCK
The Lawhill, last of the Dundee windjammers, has been offered for sale at Cape Town.
Opinion among ship lovers is that there is little chance of saving her form the scrappers. She is 56 years old, and her owners, the South African Government, cannot find profitable cargoes for her.
Her main hope of reprieve is repurchase by her former owner, Captain Gustav Erik Erikson, of Mariehamn, Finland. In 1939 he was the largest owner of sailing ships in the world.
The Lawhill was seized at East London in 1941 when Finland came in to the war. In the her five years of trading under the South African flag, she has covered 188,000miles, carried nearly 50,000 tons of cargo, mainly grain, sleepers, steel, lead and sawn timber,
Only about half a dozen "full ships" have survived the war, and Lawhill is the veteran of the party.
There as nothing in her early career to indicate that she would eventually become one of the most famous ships afloat.
A four-masted barque of 2816 tons gross, she was launched from the Caledon yard in 1892, by W.B. Thompson & Co., Ltd. She and the slightly smaller Juteopolis, built the previous year, were typical windjammers of the nineties-wall sided floating warehouses of large carrying capacity with no pretensions to speed.
Feared lost
Both were owned by Captain Charles Barrie, who later became Lord Provost of Dundee, and was knighted.
The Juteopolis became the Garthpool, of Montreal. When she was wrecked on the African coast in November 1929, the shipping world mourned the loss of the last deep-sea square rigged ship to fly the "Red Duster" of the British merchant navy.
The recent mourning proved it was premature. In addition to the Lawhill, the Finnish barque, Pamir fell into British hands as a prize, and is still being operated by the New Zealand Government.
The Lawhill was overdue in 1898 on a passage from Nagasaki to Chittagong, and there were fears she had been lost in a typhoon. She turned up undamaged after a long passage. Her trip home to Dundee with jute - 165 days - was equally tedious. Incidentally, this was the only time she visited her homeport with jute. The Juteopolis, despite her name, never came back to Dundee after her launch.
Both ships were sold to the Anglo-American oil company in 1899, and spent many years as case oil carriers between America and the Far East.
The Lawhill's career did not get really interesting until she passed under the Finnish flag just before the first world war.
The spring of 1917 saw the climax of the U-boat campaign, and most windjammer owners kept their ships well clear of the danger zones.
The Lawhill's owner was an exception. She cause quite the stir by getting into Brest with Australian grain when steamers were being sunk on all sides.
Re-Hoisted Finnish Flag
This escapade earned her the nickname "Lucky Lawhill" which has stuck ever since. It was certainly lucky for her owner. She had cost him £8500 in 1914 and she sold for £77,000 in Decemebr 1917.
At the end of teh war she was till at Brest, rigged down for conversion into a motor vessel. This project was abandoned, and in 1919 she re-hoisted the Finnish flag unde rthe ownership of Capatain Erikson, then a comparative newcomer to ship owning.
Dundee ships played a big part in the career of this world-renowned windjammer man. His last command before investing in a ship of his own was the old Lochec, of the Dundee Clipper Line, built by Stephens at Marine Parade in 1874.
"Lucky Lawhill" founded his fortunes as a shipowner. Of scores of windjammers seeking cargoes on river Plate, she alone got a freight. She developed passage making propensities rarely shown in her early years. In 1924 she went out to Australia in 70 days, which would have been reckoned a good performance for a clipper.
She survived two serious accidents in 1932 - stranding in the Mersey, and colliding with the Polish steamer Njemen off the Swedish coast. The steamer was sunk. The following year she dragged her anchors during a gale in the Downs, and thousands of people in Deal watched the struggle to save her. She was brought up a quarter of a mile from the beach.
When war broke out in 1939, she was in the Clyde. She was sent down to Rothesay Bay to lie up while her crew went to fight in the war between Finland and Russia.
Record Trip
Since hoisting the South African flag she has maintained her reputation for good luck. In her trips between South Africa, Australia and South America she has kept clear of raiders and U-Boats. In 1943 she the 11,500mile run from Melbourne to Cape Town in 5 5 days at an average speed of 9.2 knots.
She has remained in of her Finnish master, captain A Söderlund, who joined her as a seaman many years ago and worked his way up. His wife and daughter travel with him.
In Australia, a land of ship lovers, the Lawhill attracted a lot of attention.
She was the first windjammer seen in Sydney for 21 years, and thousands of sightseers swarmed to view her,
She has been laid up at Cape Town since October."
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The news article about converting Lawhill to a sail training ship but this never realized it seems. The tone of the write up sounds almost defiant stating there was no difficulty finding crew and a charter. Perhaps with the 31 men of which 5 were cadets they really scraped the bottom of the barrel as the signs of the end were there, earlier articles mentions crew complements of 40+ in happier days:
The Evening Telegraph 21 03 1947
Quoting: "The Training ship Lawhill
A 20,000 company to be known as Lawhill (Proprietary), Ltd, has been formed in South Africa to run the last Dundee windjammer as a training ship.
The ship, after being fitted with a new main top-gallant yard at Cape Town, has sailed for Durban to drydock. She will afterwards load coal for the Argentine.
No difficulty was found in obtaining a crew with experience in sail. Most of the 31 men who have signed on for the maiden voyage had previously served under Capt. Arthur Söderlund, who has resumed command. He has been in the ship for many years as second mate, mate, and master, first under the flag of his native Finland and since 1941 under the Red Ensign.
Four cadets from the South African training ship General Botha have joined the Lawhill. As experience is gained and more cadets become available, the complement of the ship will be increased to maximum of 45.
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Epilogue from Iraq giving evidence on her bad condition and whereabouts, I guess money and interest in her had run out, can't imagine there was a lot of ship yard facilities around in those days:
The Iraq Times 27 09 1954
Lourenco Marques, Portuguese East Africa, Sunday
The veteran four-masted schooner Lawhill after lying six years a the head of the harbour of Lourenco Marques, has been towed to the bank of the Matola River outside the bay - and left to rot.
Six years ago the maritime authorities refused her a seaworthy certificate as her steel hull had rotted and she was slowly taking water. The owners found that repairs would be too costly.
Lawhill made her last voyage to Lourenco Marques from Durban, South Africa, in 1948 after registering under Portuguese flag. She had been at sea for 50 years, her 28 great sails having carried her to most parts of the world."
*****
As an interesting footnote, the crew of Lawhill lived on and the ex Chief Officer Capt Nankin ended up establishing a merchant marine training program in South Africa. Indeed today there is in Simon's town a training centre carrying the name of Lawhill maritime centre (established in 1995).
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