The ships “Dagny” and “Teddy” were part of the East Greenlandic Company (Østgrønlandsk Kompagni). “Dagny” was sent on an expedition from Copenhagen in June 1920, and safely reached the station Cape Philip Broke on Shannon Island on August 5th. Tragically, “Dagny” sank only three days later on August 8th 1920. The young crew member Broer Sandberg, who was 15 years old at the time, kept a diary during this expedition. He wrote:

"Søndag 8 August. Om Formiddagen, da vi laa ved Iskanten, hvor vi havde lagt os den Foregaaende Aften ca. 35 Sømil Øst for N. enden af Shannon Ø. Omkring kl. 11. Begyndte det at Skure paa engang. Falsø og Mig var paa Dækket. Vi purede Skipperen [Ferdinand Hansen] ud, og prøvede paa at slæbe hende et Stykke frem, men det var forgæves. Hun blev mast, og jeg sprang ned i Lukaffet og purede de Sovende ud og raabte: Bjerg hvad I kan Folkets, vi Bliver skuret ned. De farede nu allesammen op i Skjorte, undtagen Sørensen, han vilde ikke tro paa det, men da han hørte at det Bragede i Hende, farede han paa Hoved ud af Køjen." (transcript, p. 18)

The members of the crew saved themselves and reached land on August 14th. Sandberg wrote:

“Vi drog saa paa Vej S. over, ned til Stationen der ligger paa Cape Philip Broke. Og efter en ca. 5 Timers Gang kom vi til Stationen. De var endnu ikke staaet op da vi kom, men de kom snart ud af Fjederne, da de saa os komme ind i Hytten. De var straks klar over hvad der var sket, da de saa os i den Paaklædning.” (transcript, p. 27)

Sandberg, Captain Hansen, and the rest of the crew had to spend the winter in Greenland.

On Christmas Eve, December 24th, Sandberg wrote:

"I gaar aftes klippede Nielsen Mig, bagefter vaskede jeg mig, og tog rent Tøj paa. Til Middag fik vi Haresteg, dertil Vin, Æblekage og Frugt. Senere fik vi Chokolade med Julekage og Kaffe, ved Kaffebordet blev vi saa fotograferet. Da vi var færdig med at drikke Kaffe fik vi Nødder og Musik dertil. En Juleaften paa Grønland er ogsaa god, men her vanker der jo ingen Presenger, ikke andet end vi selv giver os." (Sandberg's diary. Mentioned photograph depicted in Mikkelsen, 2019, p. 213)

On New Year's Eve, December 31st, Sandberg wrote:

“(...) Til Middag fik vi Haresteg og Brunede Kartofler med Vin. Og til Aften Kaffe og Kage. Kl. 12 Skød vi det nye Aar ind med vores Bøsser, 3 Skud Hver. Madsen gav saa et Nummer paa Fingelinen Bagefter. Om Eftermiddagen vaskede vi, for at gaa rene ind i det nye Aar.” (Sandberg's diary)

In July 1921, Captain Gustav Thostrup reached Greenland on the ship “Teddy”. The “Dagny”-crew sailed back to Copenhagen with Thostrup and his crew. They reached Copenhagen on September 1921. Fate would that “Teddy” sank in the summer of 1923 during an expedition with captain Henning Bistrup in command. This became the end of the East Greenlandic Company (Østgrønlandsk Kompagni).

This material contains eyewitness accounts from a.o. the young Sandberg, and offers a unique insight in the historic events of the ship “Dagny”. The private photographic collection depicts several of the mentioned crew members in Sandberg's diary together with the crew of the other historic ship “Teddy” i 1921, e.g. the captains Ferdinand Hansen and Gustav Thostrup – even the sled dog Buster was photographed.

Literature: Mikkelsen, Peter Schmidt (2019): Nordøst-Grønland 1908–60. Fangstmandsperioden – og dens spor i dag. Gylling. + Tutein, Peter (1973): Dramaet i Storisen - Teddys forlis. Vintens forlag. + Møller, N.C.Th. (1939): Historiske Meddelelser om A/S Østgrønlandsk Kompagni. Copenhagen. + Denstoredanske.lex.dk.