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| Vilhelm (William) Tinus Hansen og Ane (Anna) Eline Marie f. Jensen |
Som for så mange unge danskere der kom fra fattige kår, lokkede USA, de mange muligheders land, også Vilhelm. Så i 1889, da han var 25 år, skulle det være. Han købte først en billet til New York og videre destination Audubon, Iowa, USA, med det danske dampskibsselskab Thingvallas "S/S Hekla", med afrejse fra København 21. februar og planlagt ankomst New York 8. marts 1889. Skibet afsejlede med 184 emigranter (fra Kristianssand), men ikke Vilhelm! For af ukendte grunde fik han byttet billetten til en med Thingvallas "S/S Danmark" med afrejse 21. marts (fra Kristiania) og planlagt ankomst New York 6. april 1889. Angivelser af passagertal plus besætning varierer mellem 738 (669 + 69), 721 (667 + 54) og 1050 passagerer alene! Ruten var normalt København - Kristiania - Kristianssand - New York. Men sådan skulle det ikke gå denne gang!
Da skibet var nået 4 dages sejlads væk fra Norge knækkede skrueakslen, og skibet drev hjælpeløst rundt i yderligere 4 dage i ude midt på Atlanterhavet. Da den knækkede skrueakse slog et hul i skroget, tog skibet vand ind og begyndte så småt at synke. Ifølge et brev hjem fra Karl Nielsen, Elkhorn, USA, var der tidligere også "gaaet ild i Kullene nede i Lasten, og deres Brandredskaber var i Uorden, så de ikke kunne slukke noget". ("Breve hjem - fra danske udvandrere 1850- 1950", Forum, red. af Jakob Holm, s. 36). Men heldigvis blev "S/S Danmark" opdaget af det amerikanske fragtskib "S/S Missouri".
Sådan skrev THE NEW YORK TIMES, APRIL 23, 1889:
Capt. Hamilton Murrell, the commander of the Missouri, makes this statement: "We left London with a general cargo for our first trip to Philadelphia on March 28. We had a fair passage up to 1:20 P.M. of April 5, when we sighted the steamship Danmark flying a signal of distress. The wind at the time was blowing strong from the west. We bore down on the steamer and found her disabled. Capt. Knudsen, her commander, reported that the tail end of his shaft was broken, and he wished me to take his passengers to New York. Owing to the state of the weather, and because of the fact that I was not prepared to accommodate such a number of people, I declined to accede to his request, but offered instead to tow his vessel to the nearest port. This offer Capt. Knudsen accepted, and at 3:20 P.M., or two hours after we first sighted the Danmark, we placed a tow rope on board that vessel and proceeded slowly, turning to the sea and wind, and heading northwest for St.John's, NF, which I considered he best port to make under the circumstances".
Gengivet her:
http://www.norwayheritage.com/articles/templates/great-disasters.asp?articleid=50&zoneid=1
Hele forliset og redningsaktionen er beskrevet til mindste detalje her:
Article from The Press - Tuesday Morning, April 23, 1889 - Transcribed by Mike Nelson, Aug. 2005 - The Rescue of the Passengers of the S/S Danmark - http://www.norwayheritage.com/articles/templates/great-disasters.asp?articleid=114&zoneid=1
En anden dansk emigrant fra Elk Horn fortalte ifølge bogen Elk Horn Community History, 2000, The Danish Immigrant Museum, Elk Horn, Iowa, om den videre redningsindsats:
Jens Otto Christiansen, was born on Christmas Day in the year 1864 in Denmark. He says that his childhood was uneventful. However, when he left the old country as a young man of 25 years for this country, the trip was one of the most eventful of any of his experiences, before or since.
Christiansen was one of the 1.050 passengers on the ill-fated SS Denmark, which left Copenhagen March 1889 for New York, but sank in a storm in the Atlantic Ocean. The propeller shaft of the steamship broke after the ship was four days out from Norway. It drifted helplessly for four more days, harassed by wind and wave.
Then it was picked up by an American freighter, the Missouri, which attempted to tow the crippled ship to the Azores. However, after a few hours, the howser snapped, and as the storm was brewing, it was decided to transfer the passengers and crew from Denmark to the Missouri. This was accomplished without loss of a single life, but the passengers had to leave all their possessions behind.
The trip to the Azores, according to Christiansen, was no picnic. The Missouri, naturally, did not cary ample provisions to feed the large number of rescued passengers, and for six days they had to subsist on a few crackers and water.
Christiansen said that they spent several days on the Azores before being picked up by another ship and carried to the United States. Life on the Azores turned out to be one big holiday. The islands are semi-tropical and afforded an abundance of fruit and vegetables. Wine could be purchased for a few cents per gallon. The diminutive Portuguese were as much a novelty to the Norsemen as were the Norsemen to the natives and, although they could not converse together, they all had a good time nevertheless.
The Danes and Norwegians wandered over the island and explored everything. They even broke up military maneuvers, according to Christiansen. The Portuguese garrison was drilling on the parade ground when a group of Danes who had served in the army came along. These Danes didn`t think much of the natives` ability as soldiers. So the visitors picked up sugar cane stalks and proceeded to execute the manual of arms and other exercises. This broke up the Portuguese drill, and they gathered around to watch the Norsemen play at war. (Side 334)
En anden immigrant der blev reddet syntes knapt så godt om opholdet på Azorerne:
Lauritz Jensen born 13.11.1869 in Voderup, Aero, Denmark left for America in 1889 abouard the ship Denmark, which sank in the Atlantic Ocean. Fortunately, the passengers, although losing most of their belongings, were rescued by the tanker Missouri which dumped its cargo to take the unfornunate travelers aboard. They were taken to an Island in the Azores where they lived on bananas and other fruit and experienced very poor living conditions until they were transported on to America. (Side 408)
(citaterne fra bogen er gengivet af Magne Juhl her: http://www.viborgslaegt.dk/bilag%20forskermj4.html
Jeg lader Karl Nielsen slutte af:
Denne Damper Missouri ..... sejlede os ned til de Assoriske Øer ..... og der blev saa Danmarks Mandskab og 320 af Passagererne landsat og Resten af os kom saa med til Philadelfia. Vi kan rigtignok sige, at vi har været paa Eventyr; men vi har da faaet noget sejlet for vore Penge og vi har da ogsaa set en Del mere end Folk ellers ser naar de rejser til Amerika, jeg har mistet alt mit gode Tøj; men ved en saadan Lejlighed tænker man ikke saa meget paa sit Tøj, saa tænker man jo kun paa Livet og jeg havde jo ogsaa saa mange Penge at jeg kunne faa noget Tøj igjen og det er jeg glad ved for der er mange her i vor lille By, som gaar og har ingen Penge og intet Arbejde. (Breve hjem, side 36)
Ifølge artiklen fra The Press var det primært kvinder, børn og tilknyttede mænd der kom videre med S/S Missouri til Philadelfia. Resten blev efterladt på øerne og kom videre til USA med et andet skib. Jeg antager at Vilhelm Tinus Hansen hørte til de sidste da han rejste alene, men jeg ved det ikke. Til USA kom han, og han kom kun tilbage til Danmark som amerikansk statsborger i 1897 for at finde en dansk kone. I 1901 vendte han tilbage til USA med hustruen Anne, født Anne Elene Marie Jensen. William og Anna (deres navne i USA) slog sig ned i staten Washington og fik en del børn, bl.a. R. Hansens far.
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