page_title: Swedish American Line
section_title: 1939–1946
hierarchical_section_title: Swedish American Line / History / 1939–1946
caption_attribution_description: Notera Av dokumentationsskäl har originalbeskrivningen från Riksantikvarieämbetet behållits. Tillrättalägganden och alternativa beskrivningar bör införas separat från nedanstående information. Felaktigheter kan även anmälas till denna sida. Stigbergskajen där Sverige Amerika Liniens båtar lade till, med terminalen "Amerikaskjulet". Vy från Sjöfartsmuseet. Återfotografering år 2011: se bild nr ND34278a English: Stigbergskajen quay in Gothenburg where the steamers of the Swedish American Line moored, and the port terminal "The American Shed" Svenska: Stigbergskajen i Göteborg där Svenska Amerika Liniens båtar lade till, med terminalen "Amerikaskjulet"
context_page_description: Swedish American Line is a Swedish passenger shipping line. It was founded in December 1914 under the name Rederiaktiebolaget Sverige-Nordamerika, beginning ocean liner service from Gothenburg to New York in 1915. In 1925 the company changed its name to Svenska Amerika Linien / Swedish American Line.
  The Swedish American Line was amongst the first companies to build liners with provisions for off-season cruising, as well as the world's first company to build a diesel-engined transatlantic liner. Increased operational costs and stronger competition from aeroplanes forced the company to abandon passenger traffic in 1975, but cargo operations continued until the 1980s.
context_section_description: Due to World War II breaking out in Europe, the Kungsholm made her last transatlantic crossing in October 1939, after which she was used for cruising around the West Indies until 1941. Also due to the war the Gripsholm and Drottningholm were taken out of service and are laid up on 24 November 1939 and March 1940, respectively. Meanwhile, the construction work continued on the third Stockholm in Italy, and she was launched on 10 March 1940. In October 1941 the ship was ready for delivery, but due to the war SAL had no service to place her on. As a result, the ship was sold to the Italian government on 3 November 1941 and converted to the troopship MS Sabaudia. The Sabaudia eventually sunk outside Trieste on 6 July 1944. Had the Stockholm ever entered service for SAL, she would have been the largest ship ever operated by the company.
  In December 1941 the US Government confiscated the Kungsholm while she was in New York. After negotiations with the Swedish American Line, the company agreed to sell the ship to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) for $6 million which renamed the ship John Ericsson for operation under WSA contract by United States Lines with allocation first to the State Department and then in January 1942 to Army troop transportation until 1945 when she was laid up. The Drottningholm meanwhile was chartered by the US government 4 March 1942 for use as a repatriation vessel, to exchange official personnel between the United States and the Axis powers. As Sweden was a neutral country during the war, the Swedish-flagged ship could be used to transport passengers between the warring nations, under the command of Sea Captain John Nordlander. The Drottningsholm made two exchange trips for the US government, after which she was chartered for similar use by the British government. In June 1942 the Gripsholm was also chartered to the US government for the same use as the Drottningholm. For this purpose the Gripsholm was managed by the American Export Lines but kept her original Swedish crew and flag. Unlike the Drottningholm, the Gripsholm was chartered to the US government until 1946. Together the Drottningholm and Gripsholm made a total of 33 repatriation voyages during the war.
  In October 1944, before the end of World War II, SAL placed an order with the Götaverken shipyard in Gothenburg for a cargo/passenger liner of 12,165 gross register tons (GRT).
caption: Stigbergskajen quay in Gothenburg where the steamers of the Swedish American Line moored, and the port terminal "The American Shed". Shown in 1944.
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