Sif – Collision in the Kattegat

Britannia, a steamer from Gävle, was approaching Sif at full speed as she lay adrift near Fladen’s lightship. Like Sif, Britannia transported wood to England and coal back to Sweden. She was now on a journey north through the Kattegat strait. When Sif’s crew spotted Britannia, it appeared that she would sail aft of Sif. But suddenly she veered to port and came straight towards Sif.

On board Sif, some of the off-duty crew were sitting up since the heat made it difficult to sleep. Suddenly, they heard the mate who was keeping watch on the bridge shout, “We’re being overtaken? överseglade”. Britannia’s bow collided with Sif, making a huge hole in the side of the hull. Interestingly, Britannia’s captain did not reverse the engines but proceeded forward, which probably safeguarded Sif’s crew.

From Sif’s deck, they managed to climb up Britannia’s anchor and onto the steamer’s foredeck. Once up on Britannia, the mate counted the number of men and realised that one man was missing, the steersman. Despite the collision, he had not woken up. Sif’s captain jumped down onto the deck and rushed to the steward’s cabin to wake him up. At the last moment, the two made it to safety on Britannia.

When Britannia’s captain immediately reversed the engines and slipped away from Sif, the brig sank almost immediately. Sif’s crew made their way to the bridge, where they were told that Britannia had sustained a large hole in her bow. To prevent water from hitting/slå in i the hole, she had to travel very slowly to Gothenburg.

At the subsequent maritime enquiry, Britannia was deemed to have caused the accident.