A/S Merilaid & Co. was an Estonian shipping company."A/S" denotes an incorporated public company with limited liability. The firm was founded in Tallinn, Estonia on 18 February 1930. There were seven founding shareholders, most of whom were related by blood or marriage as descendants of Peeter All. Of the 7 founders, 6 were ship captains and 5 had worked in the Far East, in Vladivostok and/or Shanghai, for many years, and had avoided the turmoil of the Bolshevik or Communist Revolution, prior to returning home to a free Estonia. Estonia had been part of the Russian Empire since 1721 when Russia defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War. After World War I, and concurrent with the Russian Civil War, Estonia defeated Russia in the 1918–1920 War of Independence and became an autonomous nation after almost 200 years of Russian rule.
Founding shareholders The three principal founders of Merilaid & Co. were Peter Mender, Paul Tever and Herman Soone. The seven founding shareholders and their shareholdings are shown below.
Founding shareholders OwnershipThe Estonian Historical Archives http://ais.ra.ee/ (%) Mender,His original surname of Mänder became anglicized to Mender, which was easier to communicate and spell. Similarly, Paul Tever's original surname was Teever. Peter (1883–1969) – a Master Mariner, and his wife Adelaide 24 Küll, Karl P. (1875–1937) – a Master Mariner, businessman, and husband of Peter Mender's older sister Rosalie 20 Tever, Paul (1870–1939) – an entrepreneur from Tartu, and his wife Luise 18 Kalmar, Johann (1884–1966) – a Master Mariner; Peter Mender's first cousin 12 Roos, Siim (1883–1934) – a Master Mariner and husband of Peter Mender's sister Albertine 12 Soone, Herman (1875–1942) – a Master Mariner 8 Mänder, Johannes (1896–1976) – a Master Mariner; Peter Mender's younger brother 6 Total 100
Aside from Tever and Soone, all founding shareholders were from Vilsandi Island or nearby islands.In 2010 a book called Vandiraiujate Maa Lugu, by Kalju Eerik, was published in Estonia. This book provides a history of the seafaring people and families who lived in and around Kihelkonna, a town on the large Estonian island of Saaremaa, and nearby islands, the largest of which is called Vilsandi. See http://www.raamatukoi.ee/cgi-bin/raamat?173335. A translation of the title is "The region of the forestay cutters". This maritime region of Estonia presents various hazards such as rocks, shoals and shallow waters. According to legend, early inhabitants, while helping to save the lives of shipwrecked mariners, often cut the forestays, backstays and shrouds that supported ships' masts so that ships couldn't leave and they could then plunder the ships' cargo. All of them except Küll and Mänder had lived and worked in Vladivostok. Mender, Kalmar, and Roos had also lived and worked in Shanghai.
Merilaid principally owned and operated four coal-powered steamships. SS Merisaar was acquired in 1930, SS Naissaar in 1933, SS Kuressaar in 1935 and SS Osmussaar in 1936. The captain of each of Merilaid's ships was usually one of the founding shareholders. Merilaid's ships carried cargos all over the world. Table 1 provides some information about each of the ships. The company also had interests in, and managed, various short-sea vessels.Source: Jordan, R., The World's Merchant Fleets 1939, The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships, Naval Institute Press, Maryland, 1999, . Merilaid's ships were painted black and their funnels, or smoke stacks, had a narrow blue band near the top.
Table 1 – Ships owned by Merilaid Except as otherwise noted, all information in Table 1 has been sourced from Miramar ship index and the Starke / Schnell registries. Name of ship (yr. acquired) Date built (mo./yr.) Shipyard Tonnage Length (ft.) Beam (ft.) Previous or subsequent names (yr.) Ultimate fate MERISAAR (1930) July 1900 ST Triestino, San Marco, Austria-Hungary 2,348 290 42 ANNA GOICH (1900) Attacked by U99 in July 1940 and sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft off the Irish coast a few days later at 51N 14W NAISSAAR (1933) Nov 1911 J. Crown & Sons, Monkwearmouth, UK 1,879 268 38 FORD CASTLE (1911) Expropriated by USSR in 1940. Sunk in Gulf of Finland in Aug 1941 after striking a mine & being bombed by Luftwaffe aircraft KURESSAAR (1935) Mar 1914 Mackay Bros, Alloa, UK 2,196 285 42.6 INVERAWE (1914) MERIDA (1941) ADONIS (1956) Sold to an Italian firm in 1956. Sunk in Feb. 1960 off Otranto, Italy (40.09.45N 18.31.30E) while towing a barge. OSMUSSAAR (1936) April 1909 Craig, Taylor & Co, Stockton, UK 2,173 287 44 MAGDALENA (1909) DUDDINGTON (1922) Expropriated by USSR in 1940. Broken up for scrap in 1964.
While Merilaid was the majority owner and operator of these four steamships, each ship also had minority shareholders that were individual investors. The names of people who held an interest in the Kuressaar, Naissaar and Osmussaar are shown in Table 2. The specific holdings of these individuals is unavailable, nor is similar information available for Merisaar. A personal visit to the archives of the Estonian ship registry is required for more information.
Table 2 – List of minority shareholders in the ships majority owned by Merilaid & Co. From the archives of the Estonian Maritime Museum SS Kuressaar SS Naissaar SS Osmussaar Harkman, Adelaide (Mender's daughter)
Jaldre, Mardo (Tever's nephew)
Klasen, Erika (Mender's daughter)
Koshemäkin,During the late 1930s to early 1940s ethnic Estonians were encouraged to change the surnames given to them by the Baltic-German Barons during the nation's feudal history. Harkman was changed to Harkna, Klasen was changed to Kaldveer and Koshemäkin was changed to Kalmar. Johann
Küll, Harry-William (K. P. Küll's son)
Küll, Karl Voldemar (K.P. Küll's son)
Mänder, Johannes
Roos, Albertine (Mender's sister and S. Roos's wife)
Sepp, Ellen (K. P. Küll's daughter)
Soone, Herman
Soone, Lydia (H. Soone's daughter)
Tauben, Johann
Teever,Aksel Teever (1998–1997) was the son of Paul Tever's older sister. Tever adopted the boy at age 10 when he was orphaned. Aksel ended up living in Connecticut until 1997. Aksel
Tever, Luise
Tever, Paul
Tõlk, Albert
Tuimaa, Selma-Anette (K. P.Küll's daughter) Jakobson, Maxim
Jakobson, Raissa
Klasen, Erika (P. Mender's daughter.)
Koshemäkin, Helmi (J. Koshemäkin's wife)
Küll, Karl Voldemar (K. P. Küll's son.)
Mänder, Johannes
Mender, Adelaide (Mender's wife)
Paal, Liine
Roos, Albertine (Mender's sister and Siim Roos's wife)
Sepp, Ellen (K. P. Küll's daughter)
Soone, Johanna (H. Soone's wife)
Tauben, Johannes
Tever, Luise Harkman, Erich (Mender's son-in-law)
Jaldre, Mardo (Tever's nephew)
Kelder, Ksenia
Koshemäkin, Johann
Küll, Karl Voldemar (K. P. Küll's son)
Lohk, Hans
Mender, Peter
Mänder, Johannes
Paal, Liine
Roos, Albertine (Mender's sister and Siim Roos's wife)
Soone, Herman
Teever, Aksel
Tever, Paul
Torpan, Herman (Merilaid's accountant.)
Tõlk, Albert
Details of ships Some pictures and other details about each ship are provided below.
SS Merisaar
The Merisaar was a 2,348-ton merchant steamer built in Austria-Hungary in 1900. She was 290 ft. long with a breadth of 42 ft. and 18 ft. of draught. Originally named Anna Goich, she was sold to Estonian interests after WWI and after Merilaid acquired the ship in 1930 she was renamed Merisaar. Merisaars home port of Tallinn is clearly seen in aft views of the ship.
On June 23, 1940, Merisaar left New Orleans for Cork, Ireland with a cargo of timber. In the North Atlantic Ocean, late in the evening of July 12, 1940, German submarine U-99 attacked Merisaar with one torpedo, which missed. About an hour later another torpedo was fired but this also missed, as the seas were very rough. The U-boat then forced the ship to stop by using its 20mm gun, and the German commander ordered the ship to proceed to Bordeaux, France, that was under German control.See Sanden, Einar, The Painter from Naissaar, 1985, Boreas, Cardiff, pp. 15-16 and 61-52, and Schmidt, E., Tormised teekonnad, Perona, 1993, pp. 183-185. A few days later, on the evening of July 14, Merisaar was strafed by a Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 bomber. The 26 crewmembers lowered the life rafts and abandoned ship, rowing away as fast as they could. On its next run the aircraft dropped a bomb on the engine room and the ship caught fire and sank off Queenstown, Ireland. The entire crew survived and was left with about 120 miles to row to shore. A French fishing trawler found them two days later and took them to Lorient, France. After three months' internment in a German camp the ship's captain, August Schmidt (1883–1974), and crew were released.August Schmidt's brother, Bernhard Schmidt (1879–1935), had invented, in 1930, a revolutionary photographic telescope that significantly improved pictures taken through telescopes. Schmidt cameras, as they came to be called, provided much greater light gathering power than ordinary cameras and became used in most sciences and in television. See Öpik, E.J., Bernhard Schmidt, The Irish Astronomical Journal, Vol. 3, No. 8, Dec. 1955, http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1955IrAJ....3..237O.
In 1991 Capt. Schmidt's son, artist Erik Schmidt (15.8.1925-18.4.2014), created a painting showing the German bomber attacking Merisaar and donated it to the Estonian Maritime Museum.This painting can be seen at the Estonian Maritime Museum in Tallinn and an image of the painting can also be seen on page 199 of the 2006 book by Vello Mäss titled Laevahukulood. See http://www.ester.ee/record=b2182757 Erik Schmidt's painting "Merisaarele" is donated by Einar Sanden to korp! Sakala's convent house in Tartu.
SS Naissaar
The Naissaar was built in Great Britain in 1911 and was originally named Ford Castle. After Capt. Roos returned to Estonia from China he helped Merilaid identify suitable ships to acquire, and the Ford Castle was purchased in 1933. The ship was renamed Naissaar and Johann Kalmar, who had returned from Shanghai to Estonia in 1932, became her captain.
After the Soviets annexed Estonia in 1940, Naissaar was expropriated by the USSR and was operated by the newly created Estonian State Shipping Company. On August 29, 1941, while in a convoy from Tallinn to St. Petersburg, she struck a mine east of Mohni Island, Estonia and was then bombed and destroyed by Luftwaffe aircraft.A timeline of events: 1939 - The U.S.S.R. secures some military bases on Estonian soil; June 21, 1940 - The U.S.S.R. invades and occupies Estonia; August 6, 1940 - The U.S.S.R. annexes Estonia, installs a communist government and nationalizes all commercial and industrial enterprises; June 13, 1941- The U.S.S.R. carries out mass arrests and deportations to Soviet camps. About 1% of the Estonian population is thus removed; June 22, 1941 - Germany invades the U.S.S.R. and German troops enter Tallinn by August 28, 1941. While the Soviet army retreats it destroys, plunders and forcibly conscripts tens of thousands of young Estonian men into the Red Army. Less than 30% of them will survive; January 1944 - The Soviet army returns to battle for control over Estonia and the other Baltic nations. Germany has suffered losses on various fronts and the Soviets re-take control by the fall of 1944. Estonians retreat with the Germans, stay put to await their fate or, if they are able to, flee to Sweden or Finland by sea; 1944 -1991 - Estonia is part of the Soviet Union as the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic.
SS Kuressaar
In 1935 Johann Kalmar went to England and, under Merilaid's authorization, found and negotiated the purchase of a suitable ship built in the U.K. in 1914 called Inverawe. Merilaid renamed this ship Kuressaar and Kalmar became her captain until early 1940 when he took the ship to England where Capt. August Tarius was to take Kuressaar to the U.S.