SS City of Flint (1919)

The City of Flint, under the command of Captain Joseph A. Gainard, first became involved in the war when she rescued 200 survivors of the torpedoed British passenger liner Athenia on 3 September 1939.[7] Athenia had been torpedoed by the German submarine U-30 commanded by Kapitanleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp south of Rockall Bank that afternoon, and sent out a distress signal.[10] City of Flint, the Norwegian freighter Knute Nelson, the Swedish yacht Southern Cross and the destroyers HMS Electra and HMS Escort responded to rescue survivors.[10]

The Captain of HMS Electra, Lt Cdr Sammy A. Buss, took charge as senior officer present. He sent the destroyer HMS Fame on an anti-submarine sweep of the area, while Electra, another destroyer HMS Escort, Southern Cross, Knute Nelson, and the City of Flint rescued the survivors. Between the ships, about 981 passengers and crew were rescued. City of Flint rescued more than 200 and the provisions for American passengers leaving Europe embarked at Glasgow contributed to the welfare of the survivors.[7] 112 people were killed, and Athenia sank the next morning.

In October 1939, City of Flint was carrying a cargo of tractors, grain and fruit to Britain. On 9 October, the German pocket battleship Deutschland seized the City of Flint, declaring her cargo to be contraband and the ship a prize of war. A German prize crew was put on board the ship to sail her back to Germany.[11][12]

To avoid the Royal Navy and obtain water, the prize crew headed for Tromsø, arriving on 20 October 1939.[13] The Norwegians, neutral at the time and disturbed by the sinking of the merchant SS Lorentz W. Hansen, refused entry to the Germans, giving them 24 hours to leave.[13] The Norwegian destroyer HNoMS Sleipner escorted the City of Flint out of Norwegian territorial waters at 1620hrs the next day.[14]

The prize crew then sailed for Murmansk arriving 23 October.[15] Claiming havarie (the privilege of sanctuary for damage caused at sea).[7] the ship lay in Murmansk harbor under the control of the German prize crew for several days and was eventually sent out by the Soviets, who stated that if the Germans claimed havarie, the American crew could not be prisoners of war. The Soviets interned the German prize crew on 24 October but restored them to control on 27 October under the principle requiring a ship to leave in the same condition as on entry.[7][16] On 28 October the ship sailed for Norway under German control without Captain Gainard, who was an inactive United States Naval Reserve officer, having been allowed to communicate with United States Embassy officials.[17]

In the several weeks that elapsed, the United States ordered many US merchant ships to register with other countries, so as to continue supporting the Allies without violating the US's nominal neutrality. The Royal Navy began closing on the captured ship.

The prize crew then tried Norway again, proceeding to the port of Haugesund. The Norwegian government again refused entry, describing the German crew as kidnappers. The approaching Royal Navy left the prize crew no choice, though; on 3 November they entered the harbor.

The ship anchored in Norway, and no one could claim the ship was making her right for passage. In consequence the Norwegian Admiralty dispatched the minelayer HNoMS Olav Tryggvason and boarded the City of Flint with its second in command, captain Bernt T. Dingsør and thirty armed sailors, who on 6 November returned City of Flint to Captain Gainard's command. He unloaded his cargo in Bergen and set sail in ballast for the US. The German prize crew was interned at Kongsvinger Fortress.

City of Flint continued in service in the Atlantic until she was sunk on 23 January 1943 by the German submarine U-575.

• "Voyage of the Flint" (LIFE Magazine, 4 March 1940: Article by Captain Joseph A. Gainard)
• Joseph Freer and Raymond Trumpe Papers, 1927–1988 (bulk 1939–1943) MS 244 held by Special Collection & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy