SS Tellus (1911)
Tellus was a steam cargo ship built in 1911 by the William Doxford & Sons of Pallion for the Wabanas Dampskibskompani, a subsidiary of Nova Scotia Steel & Coal Company and managed by Wilhelm Wilhelmsen. She was named after Tellus, the Earth goddess. Design and construction On 10 March 1911 it was reported that a new company "The Wabana Steamship Company" (Wabanas Dampskibskompani) with a capital of NOK 1,500,000 was registered in Nøtterøy with the purpose of transporting ore between Newfoundland and Europe. The new company was a subsidiary of the Nova Scotia Steel Company and was managed by Wilhelm Wilhelmsen. Two ships were leased to conduct the operations (SS Tellus and SS Themis) by the newly formed company for a period of 10 years. The ship was laid down in 1910 at William Doxford & Sons shipyard in Pallion. The vessel was launched on 31 January 1911 (yard number 417), and the sea trials were held on 8 March 1911 with the ship being able to reach speed of . After completion of her sea trials, the ship was delivered to her owner on the same day. On 10 March 1911 Tellus departed from Newcastle for Narvik where the