CHAPTER XVIII
The Norwegian Collier Storstad
DIMENSIONS OF THE STORSTAD—A RECENT RESCUE—PERSONALITY OF CAPTAIN ANDERSEN—INSURANCE
THE Storstad, a twin-screw steamer, was built in 1910 at Newcastle, England, by Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., for A. F. Klaverness & Co. Her registered home port is Christiania, Norway, and she steams under the Norwegian flag. She is 440 feet long, 58 feet 1 inch beam, and has 24 feet 6 inches depth of hold. The Storstad is a craft of 6,028 tons, with triple-expansion engines.
A RECENT RESCUE
A brusque man is Captain Thomas Andersen, who commands the Storstad. It was scarcely three months before the collision with the Empress of Ireland that Captain Andersen with his vessel and crew was the means of rescuing six fishermen who had been fishing off Atlantic City, New Jersey. After they had fished for several days they decided to put further out to sea.
Their engine was started and they sailed away. They had gone only a few miles, when their engine broke with a snap. They drifted on at the mercy of the sea, for nearly a week, the food supply almost gone.
When their hope was about to give out they saw a passing steamship, which appeared as a speck upon the horizon. When she got near, the fishermen saw leaning over the side of the steamship a large man, smiling broadly, but with an expression of determination to land those in distress safely upon his vessel.
PERSONALITY OF CAPTAIN ANDERSEN
This man was Captain Andersen, master of the Norwegian steamship Storstad. Two days later he landed the men he had saved.
Captain Andersen is a typical captain of a tramp steamer. Modest and unassuming, he tells quietly of what he is asked to, his simple story of bravery being entirely without varnishing by him.
INSURANCE
The insurance of the Storstad, carried wholly by Norwegian underwriters, was as follows:
| Storstad | $325,000 |
| Storstad (cargo) | 60,000 |
| Grand total | $385,000 |