Saxon Prince was the first steamship to be built for James Knott, a successful owner of collierbrigs. She was also the first ship to which Knott gave a name ending in "Prince", which became a characteristic of his future Prince Line.[1]
In 1895 Knott restructured his business as Prince Line (1895) Ltd and sold Saxon Prince to Christian Salvesen. In 1896 Salvesen renamed her Glitra and registered her in Leith.[2][4][5]
Capture and sinking
On 20 October 1914 Glitra was en route from Grangemouth to Stavanger in Norway laden with coal, iron plate and oil when U-17, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Johannes Feldkirchener, stopped and searched her 14 nautical miles (26 km) west-southwest of Skudenes, Rogaland, Norway, in accordance with prize law. Her crew was ordered into the lifeboat(s),[6] and once all were safely off the ship a German boarding partyscuttledGlitra by opening her seacocks.[7][8]
^ ab"Saxon Prince". Tyne Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
^Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen (1882). Mercantile Navy List. Board of Trade. p. 128. Retrieved 1 February 2021 – via Crew List Index Project.
^Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen (1898). Mercantile Navy List. Board of Trade. p. 147. Retrieved 1 February 2021 – via Crew List Index Project.
^Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Glitra". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
^Note: sources disagree as to whether Glitra's crew left in one lifeboat or more than one.
Hegland, Jon Rustung; Lilleheim, Johan Henrik (1998). Norske torpedobåter gjennom 125 år (in Norwegian). Hundvåg: Sjømilitære Samfund ved Norsk Tidsskrift for Sjøvesen. ISBN82-994738-1-0.