Repairing the Gripsholm

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While growing up Dad would tell us stories about his service in the US Navy when something triggered his memory. Several times he told the story of his small part in repairing the engine on the MS Gripsholm. It was a Swedish ship that was used to repatriate Americans back to the US, return foreigners to their countries of origin and return POW's. The US government had leased it from the Swedish-American Lines for most of the war.

After V-E Day in 1945 Dad was returned to Norfolk, Virginia from England. Like everyone else he had been celebrating the victory with gusto. He was anxious to return to Paxton, which he left in 1943 and hadn't been back since. While he was in England in 1944, his mother had passed away from breast cancer after a long battle. So much to his surprise and anger he was given orders to ship to Palermo, Sicily where he would be doing a variety of mechanical repair work. He worked on an argon factory, raised sunken ships, fixed railroad engines as well as other things.
Robert R. Tavenner at his barracks at Palermo Naval Repair Yard, 1945.

The Gripsholm had docked in Naples, Italy on Oct. 22, 1945 with engine trouble. It was carrying people who were returning to Greece, Italy, Egypt and other places. It also carried American going to various posts throughout the Mediterranean. The passengers were put on another ship and sent on their way. On inspection they found that the engine had blow one of it's heads and it was damaged beyond repair. The ship and it's engine were unique. It was the first motor sailer ship to be used in transatlantic operation. That means it was powered by a diesel engine instead of steam. And the engine was, at the time it was made, the largest diesel engine in the world. They estimated that it would take months to repair the engine.
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The Gripsholm at Naples, Italy in 1945.            The Philadelphia Inquirer, 07 Nov 1945, Wed, Page 1

To fix the engine they had to get a replacement head which was in Sweden. It was decided to fly a B-17 Fortress to there to get the head to repair the engine as quickly as possible. When the bomber got Sweden they found the head was so big they had to jack up the bomber off the ground, slide the head under the bomb bay and lower the airplane down onto it. Then they secured the head to the B-17 with it's bomb bay door open. The next concern was if they could even take off with that much weight. Then the bomber had to fly south across Europe and cross over the Alps. The operation was doubtful but they decided to give it a try. The airplane was able to take off and completed it's mission.
Dad told that he had been working on the ship's engine and was astounded by it's size. To illustrated how big it was he said a small man could slide down the inside of the the valve guides inside the engine. The repair team got the head and had the ship going so quick that the ship was back in New York on Dec. 17th.
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Daily News, 17 Dec 1945, Mon, Other Editions, Page 325

It was great being able to take Dad's story and piece it together with historical fact. Some of his stories will probably never be confirmed but some have been. They are one man's small part of a very large piece of world history.



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