Onassis OLYMPIC CHALLENGER souvenir catalogue - Lardex

The Arts and Crafts of OLYMPIC CHALLENGER
Souvenirs, company gifts, and whaler folk art
from the Onassis whaling venture, 1950 – 1956
A special exhibition arranged for the
Eighth Cologne Whaling Meeting
13 – 15 November 2009
by Klaus Barthelmess
1

Introduction
One of the most dramatic chapters of modern whaling history was written by German whalers
under the aegis of the legendary Greek tanker tycoon Aristoteles Socrates Onassis (1906-
1975). Between 1950 and 1956 he operated a whaling fleet around floating factory OLYMPIC
CHALLENGER. Most vessels flew the flag-of-convenience of Panama, while some of the 16
catchers were registered in Honduras. Between 96% and 98% of the almost 600 crewmembers
were Germans, quite a few of them with experience from German pre-War whaling. For the
first three seasons 1950/51 to 1952/53, operations were managed by a Hamburg office of the
Erste Deutsche Walfang Gesellschaft (“First German Whaling Co”, founded in 1935), the last
two seasons 1954/55 and 1955/56 (the fleet did not whale in 53/54) by Onassis’ management
company Olympic Maritime Agency in Hamburg.
In five whaling seasons, OLYMPIC CHALLENGER processed more than 22,000 whales. Under
pressure from the management, the stipulations of the new “International Convention for the
Regulation of Whaling” (ICRW) of 1946 were systematically ignored. In one season, 95% of
the sperm whales taken were under the legal size limit, in another the humpback whale quota
was exceeded 14 times, and the resulting higher oil yield was masked by increased statistics
of blue and fin whale catches.
Panama had signed the ICRW, but did not ratify it for several years. In strictly legal terms, the
infractions of the Whaling Convention committed by OLYMPIC CHALLENGER were thus not
illegal during the first seasons. But they contravened the spirit of the Convention. The
German crew and the Hamburg whale biologists were concerned about their putative “illegal”
conduct, and after two seasons the German government discontinued dispatching scientists
from the Federal Institute for Fisheries Research with the Onassis whaling fleet.
What unfolded then, was a dramatic, international and very dirty action story, involving US
secret agents, Norwegian and German transport trade unions, the German Federal Fisheries
Research Institute, the Norwegian Whaling Association, the Peruvian navy, Lloyds of
London, the Erste Deutsche Walfang Gesellschaft in Hamburg, bribery, treason, court action
in Hamburg and Rotterdam, mutual confiscation of ships and whale oil cargoes, plus the
diplomatic efforts of at least half a dozen maritime nations in Europe and the Americas. This
was too much even for an unscrupulous business hardliner like Onassis. He sold his whaling
fleet to Japan in 1956. At the end of negotiaions with the Norwegian Whaling Association
about the damages which the Norwegian industry had sustained through his fleet’s infractions
of international whaling regulations, he conceeded to the Norwegian side to keep their face
and to release a faked message that he, Onassis, admitted the damage done by OLYMPIC
CHALLENGER.
Little concerned about his own reputation,
ruined as it was anyway, he even let them
spread the word that he paid a penalty of 3
million Dollars intended to build the House
of Whaling (hvalfangstens hus) next to the
harbour of Sandefjord. With Onassis’ known
sangfroid and toughness, however, it is more
than likely, that the Norwegian whaler
owners in fact were forced to spent this
money out of their own pockets.
2

Arts and crafts
As house flag, Onassis chose a pennant with a white cross on blue ground (the Greek
colours), with the Greek letter Omega – the initial of his name – on a yellow rhombus in the
cross intersection. On the funnel and house mark this pennant was framed above and beneath
by two curved chains of five interlocked rings in the Olympic colours, programmatic of the
vessel name and the challenge this name would pose to the established whaling nations:
OLYMPIC CHALLENGER. The house mark of Olympic Whaling Company is featured on many
of its give-aways and promotional gifts, but also on officers’ uniform parts and mess room
tableware.
Hunting the largest animal was a thing naturally fascinating a man like Onassis. He liked
whaling, not just the business side, but also the very idea of it. He took friends whaling off
Peru, and the furnishings of the bar on board his private yacht CHRISTINA were the gossip of
the yellow press in his time, for the hand rails of the bar were pairs of sperm whale teeth, and
the bar stools were covered with whale penis skin. The lighters he had made in the form of a
harpoon cannon were men’s toys, reflecting his own fascination with the whale hunt (page 6).
Hunting the largest animal also fascinates the common whalemen. Whalers with an artistic
vein often express their fascination by creating folk art. As with almost all folk art objects,
their works are unsigned. Once the artists, their shipmates, friends and relatives are dead, the
artistic expressions of their creativity will pass into anonymity for good.
In this exhibition, styles and hands can be discerned in the scrimshaw and related whaler folk
art. But in most cases, we have to resort to “Notnamen” (substituted names), for the real
names of their makers have already been lost in the oral transmission of the past half-century.
It is hoped that this exhibition stimulates research among the surviving crewmembers of the
Onassis whaling venture, so that at least some of the artwork can be salvaged from
anonymity.
Some Onassis scrimshander names are recorded, though:
- Richard Ehlers, engine room man on board OLYMPIC ARROW (boat 9) made scrimshaw
penguins.
- Kurt Mahler (* 1925), 1 st flenser on the factoryship, created various kinds of sailor folk
art incorporating whale bone and teeth. Though information is contradictory, he may
possibly be the “Onassis flat-S scrimshander” (see next page).
- Erich Reupke (1922-1999), radio operator on board OLYMPIC LEADER (boat 1) carved
some small pieces in whale bone and tooth.
- Walter Sievers (1912- ca. 2005), from OLYMPIC boats 1 and 6, made penguins and other
Antarctic scrimshaw; in the 1980s he turned to creating more challenging objects – esp.
harpoons and harpoon cannon models – from whale bone and teeth collected in the
1950s (page 15).
- Hans-Günter Worm (* 1918), whale worker on the factoryship, fashioned decorative
objects from whale ivory appealing to the wavey taste of the 1950s (page 12).
Some of these men may also have made scrimshaw work, for which we have to resort to
substitute names.
From the hand of the “Onassis flag painter” at least seven works are known, distinguishable
by flags (Panama, Honduras, Olympic Whaling Co.) and Olympic Rings, which are painted
on whale teeth and baleen slabs. Often, there are also commemorative inscriptions in German
(page 10). One shipmate in possession of one of his works claimed that the “flag painter” was
a steward on board OLYMPIC CHALLENGER.
3

At least seven whale teeth (or pairs) are known, which are engraved with very characteristic
icebergs, sun rays and bow views of whaling vessels. Several of them are inscribed in German
capital lettering with a distinctively shallow, ~ - shaped “S”. I have thus resorted to the jocular
substitute name “Onassis flat-S scrimshander” (page 11). There is a distant possibility that
he may be Kurt Mahler (see previous page).
Two decorative objects are re-united here for the first time since they were made in
connection with tanker OMIROS (belonging to Onassis’ Central American Steamship Co. and
managed by the Erste Deutsche Walfang Gesellschaft) rendezvousing with OLYMPIC
CHALLENGER in the Ross Sea from 20 February to 16 March 1951. In common they have the
use of wood and bright fin whale baleen, as well as an identical German inscription on the
baleen. Their unidentified maker has thus been termed the “OMIROS baleen scribe”. He may
have been Henry Lüchau (1921-1966), a Hamburg pre-war whaleman, who made that voyage
on OMIROS as a cook’s mate and from whose estate one of the two known pieces came (page
13).
At least two teeth engraved with tropical motifs – a bay with palms and some tiny whaling
vessels in the background – are known by a scrimshander affiliated with the second OLYMPIC
CHALLENGER whaling season 1951/52. The fact that one of them carries a label noting
“Aruba” and “Olympic 1951/52” has led to the substitute name “Onassis Aruba
scrimshander”.
A polychrome tooth by the “Onassis Aruba scrimshander” of 1951/52.
Compare with the piece illustrated on p. 10. From the internet.
4

Official Olympic Whaling Company promotional gifts,
tableware and uniform parts
Olympic Whaling Company lapel
pin.
Cast, bronze-like alloy and enamel.
Manufacturer unknown.
Barthelmess Whaling Collection
Olympic Whaling Company silver
ash tray.
Engraved inscription on the rim:
ANTARKTIS WEIHNACHTEN 1951
Silver mark BRUCKMANN (Hamburg).
Barthelmess Whaling Collection
5
Olympic Whaling Company officer’s
uniform button.
Ormolu (fire-gilt) metal, Ø 16 & 22 mm
Manufacturer’s mark “A”.
Barthelmess Whaling Collection
Olympic Whaling Company cuff links.
A stylized harpoon flanked by the Olympic
rings of the company house mark.
Silver, enamel. Harpoon length 14 mm.
Manufacturer unkown.
Bittlinger Whaling Collection

Olympic Whaling Company representational gift: a mechanical lighter in the
form of a model Bofors harpoon cannon.
Unidentified metal alloy. Total length when loaded 19.7 cm, gun barrel length 9.3 cm (approx
1:15 scale). On the conical gun base engraved presentation placque: “To W.F. Pascoe, O.B.E.
|| Christmas 1953 || Olympic Whaling Company || A.S. Onassis”. In the original blue cloth
and velvet presentation box.
These elaborate harpoon cannon models were made by a hitherto unidentified Hamburg
manufacturer in 1952 or 1953, possibly under the supervision of captain Sven W. Thienemann
(1912-2007). The “Baby-Mylflam” or “B 47” lighter mechanism was then built in at Mylflam
company in Offenbach by one Mr. Leibold. Rumour has it that some 150 or 200 harpoon
cannon lighters have been commissioned by the Olympic Whaling Company.
The lighter ignites when the “trigger” under the cannon handle is pressed. The gun can be
swivelled and inclined, the harpoon is detachable, the harpoon grenade can be unscrewed, the
barbs are moveable, and the cardan joint between harpoon head and shank works with a spring
mechanism.
Interestingly, OLYMPIC CHALLENGER did not whale in the 1953/54 season, when these
mechanical lighters were presented, so they were commissioned before the decision to employ
the floating factory as a tanker was passed.
Since the “Norwegian Whaling (Crew) Act” of 21 December 1945 forbade Norwegian
nationals to promote post-war newcomers to the Antarctic whaling industry, be it through
consultancy, hands-on expertise or supplies, Onassis’ whaling fleet – like the Dutch one in
1946 and some post-war Soviet whaling fleets – was not able to purchase the well-tested
Norwegian Kongsberg harpoon cannons, but had to equip their whale catchers with “model
46” harpoon cannons of the Swedish Bofors company. The Hamburg Kampnagel company
supplied harpoons to the Dutch and Onassis.
Dedecke Whaling Collection
6

Black plastic matchbook cover with
impressed company house mark.
Dedecke Whaling Collection
Brown plastic notebook cover with
impressed company house mark.
Vonk Whaling Collection
7
Brown leather wallet with impressed
company house mark.
Dedecke Whaling Collection
Photo album “OLYMPIC WHALING”
see next page

8
Representation photo album
“OLYMPIC WHALING”
n.p. [Hamburg], n.d. [1952]
Blue cloth, 29.5 x 21.5 cm, with impressed
gilt company supralibro, 42 album leaves
pre-printed with German captions in brown,
with ca. 260 b/w and colour photos glued in.
Whaleman Ferdinand Krügel (1925-2008)
furnished the pre-printed albums with prints
made from negatives submitted by several
participants in the 1950/51 and 1951/52
whaling seasons. Crewmembers could buy
albums with or without photos and would
then supplement them with their own photos.
Olympic Whaling Company also distributed
these albums as gifts.
There are said to exist a few representation
albums in larger de-luxe format.
Barthelmess Whaling Collection.
Illustrated are the title page, fol 25 verso-26 recto, and two colour arial photos on fol 10, taken
from the “Hiller 360” helicopter, which OLYMPIC CHALLENGER had on board in the 1950/51
season for ice reconnaisance and spotting whales. In autumn 1951 it was used for spotting
whales off the coast of Peru only.

Two Olympic Whaling Company promotional postcards.
Produced after the first season, they are captioned in German: “OLYMPIC CHALLENGER passing
through the North-Sea-Baltic-Canal” and “Provisioning the whale catchers in Montevideo
roadstead”.
Dedecke Whaling Collection
9
Olympic Whaling Company whiskey
and schnapps glasses.
Blown and cut glass with transfer-printed,
white company house mark.
10.2 and 5.8 cm high.
Olympic Whaling Company crew’s mess tableware.
Barthelmess & Dedecke Whaling Collections
Alpaca (German silver), embossed with company logo, marked “NEOVEDA ROSTFREI”.
Dedecke Whaling Collection

Scrimshaw and related whaler folk art
The Onassis flag painter:
Company house mark painted on a sperm
whale tooth mounted on whale bone
placque.
Tooth length ca. 15.5 cm.
Dedecke Whaling Collection
The Onassis flag painter:
Whale catcher OLYMPIC LEADER (boat No.
1) fast to a whale, flags of Panama, Olympic
Whaling Company, and Honduras, Olympic
rings, inscription: “Südpolarexpedition ||
Walfangflotte || „Olympic Challenger“”
painted on a sperm whale tooth, mounted on
wooden base.
Tooth length ca. 15.5 cm
Barthelmess Whaling Collection
10
The Onassis flag painter:
Company house mark painted on a piece of
sperm whale jaw bone.
Dimensions ca. 8 x 16 cm.
Vonk Whaling Collection
The Onassis Aruba scrimshander:
Engraved sperm whale tooth on wooden
base with square whale bone feet.
Tooth length ca. 20 cm.
Label underneath: “Aruba “Olympic”
1951/52”.
Vonk Whaling Collection

The Onassis ‘flat-S’ scrimshander:
Sperm whale tooth engraved with motif of
whale catcher OLYMPIC CHASER (boat No.
6) fast to a whale, icebergs and sun rays.
Inscription “ANTARKTIS 1955”
Tooth length ca. 17.5 cm.
Barthelmess Whaling Collection
The Onassis ‘flat-S’ scrimshander:
Sperm whale tooth engraved with motif of
whale catcher OLYMPIC PROMOTER (boat
No. 4) making fast to a sperm whale,
icebergs. Mounted on wooden base.
Tooth length ca. 16 cm.
Barthelmess Whaling Collection
11
The Onassis ‘flat-S’ scrimshander:
Sperm whale tooth engraved with motif of
whale catcher OLYMPIC LEADER (boat No.
1) in a heaving sea, iceberg and sun rays.
Inscription “WALFANG 1955”
Tooth length ca. 14 cm.
Dedecke Whaling Collection
Anonymous scrimshander:
Sperm whale tooth with deeply incised
inscription “Olympic || Challenger || 1953”.
Tooth length ca. 10.5 cm.
Barthelmess Whaling Collection
Anonymous scrimshander:
Sperm whale tooth, mounted on lathe-turned
whale bone stem on a foot cut from an
unpolished sperm whale tooth. Deep-cut
inscription “Walfang 55-56 || [house flag] ||
Olympic || Challenger”.
Tooth length ca. 15 cm.
Vonk Whaling Collection

Hans-Günter Worm:
Gull, petrel or albatros. Polished carving
from three pieces of sperm whale ivory.
Wing span ca. 16 cm.
Rosenbohm Whaling Collection
Hans-Günter Worm:
Fish. Polished carving from two pieces of
sperm whale ivory
Height ca. 8.5 cm.
Rosenbohm Whaling Collection
12
Hans-Günter Worm:
Sea horse. Carving, sperm whale ivory,
whale bone, tropical wood, toy glass eye.
Height ca. 15 cm.
Rosenbohm Whaling Collection
Hans-Günter Worm:
Gull, petrel or albatros. Polished carving
from three pieces of sperm whale ivory.
Mahogany base.
Wing span ca. 18 cm.
Rosenbohm Whaling Collection

The OMIROS baleen scribe:
Sail boat model, tropical wood, bright fin
whale baleen, string, metal fittings.
The baleen inscribed: “Walfang || 1950 – 51
|| im Ross Meer || 72° Süd || S.S. “Omiros””
Height ca. 29.5, length ca. 26.5 cm.
Dedecke Whaling Collection
13
The OMIROS baleen scribe:
Desk top, wood, polished sperm whale
tooth, polished rorqual earbone, humpback
whale barnacle (Coronula sp.), bright fin
whale baleen. The baleen with identical
inscription.
Height ca. 37, width ca. 30 cm.
Barthelmess Whaling Collection
Anonymous scrimshander (possibly Johann Henkel, Elsfleth):
Engraved and whitened blue whale baleen slab: harpoon gunner closing in on a whale, giving
steering commands with his right arm. The gun is a Bofors harpoon cannon.
Length ca. 80 cm
Rosenbohm Whaling Collection

Anonymous scrimshander:
Desk top, presumably from Captain Wilhelm Reichert’s shipboard office: mahogany, sperm
whale tooth carved in the shape of a penguin, whale bone feet, brass mountings.
Dimensions 27.6 x 15.2 x 11.8 cm
Underneath stamped with the ship’s seal and the facsimile signature of the captain.
Several penguins carved in the same style – allegedly by a whale worker of OLYMPIC
CHALLENGER - are hitherto known.
Barthelmess Whaling Collection
14

Walter Sievers:
Model of a Bofors harpoon cannon, scale ca.1:10. Whale bone, sperm whale ivory, tropical
wood, metal fittings. The harpoon is detachable, the cannon can be svivelled and inclined.
Total length 32.5 cm.
Barthelmess Whaling Collection
Anonymous artist:
Crossing-the-line baptismal certificates of the OLYMPIC CHALLENGER 1951/52 season. Note
the slight differences in the hand-drawn background, colouring and the last three typewriter
lines.
Barthelmess and Dedecke Whaling Collections
15

Anonymous artist (possibly
Ferdinand Krügel):
Pre-printed line baptismal certificate for the
OLYMPIC CHALLENGER 1952/53 season,
bound in the company’s album (see above),
fol 5 verso.
Barthelmess Whaling Collection
Afterlude
16
Paul Moehlke, printers, Hamburg:
Vessel-unspecific, whaling-unrelated, preprinted
line baptismal certificate, with
blanks filled in for the OLYMPIC
CHALLENGER 1954/55 season.
Vonk Whaling Collection
Showa Label Co., printers: Seasoned whale meat can label featuring the fourfunnelled
KYOKUYO MARU No. 2, ex-OLYMPIC CHALLENGER.
After the 1955/56 season, Onassis sold his whaling fleet to Kyokuyo Hogei KK (Polar Seas
Whaling Co.). Under Japanese flag, the factoryship whaled from 1956/57 to 1973/74 and was
then scrapped. The OLYMPIC catcher boats were renamed OTORI MARU (plus numbers).
Barthelmess Whaling Collection

Acknowledgements
I wish to thank
- Holger Bittlinger, Koldenbüttel
- Ralf Dedecke, Hanau
- Gert Rosenbohm, Brake
- Adrie & Ineke Vonk, Texel
for generously loaning their rare or unique Onassis whaling paraphernalia to this special
exhibition, for their willing cooperation on the catalogue, and their exhaustive replies to my
unnerving questions.
All whale products exhibited or illustrated here are certified pre-convention items under
CITES regulations and related national legislation.
Literature
17
Klaus Barthelmess, November 2009
Barthelmess, Klaus: „A Century of German Interests in Modern Whaling, 1860s - 1960s“, in:
Bjørn L. Basberg, Jan Erik Ringstad & Einar Wexelsen (Hrgg.): Whaling and History –
Perspectives on the Evolution of the Industry (= Kommandør Chr. Christensens
Hvalfangstmuseum, publikasjon 29). Sandefjord, 1993, pp. 121-138.
Barthelmess, Klaus: „OLYMPIC CHALLENGERs Verstöße gegen Walfangbestimmungen,
1950/51 - 1955/56“, in: Deutsches Schiffahrtsarchiv, 19, 1996, pp. 67-86.
Barthelmess, Klaus, Karl-Hermann Kock & Erich Reupke: „Validation of catch data of the
‘Olympic Challenger’ whaling operations from 1950/51 to 195/56“, in: International
Whaling Commission (ed.): Reports of the International Whaling Commission, 47, 1997,
pp. 937-940.
Barthelmess, Klaus: The arts of modern whaling (= Commander Chr. Christensen’s Whaling
Museum, Publication 32). Sandefjord, 2007.
Barthelmess, Klaus (in press): „Die Gegner der OLYMPIC CHALLENGER. Wie amerikanische
Geheimdienste, Norweger und Deutsche das Walfangabenteuer des Aristoteles Onassis
beendeten”
Bohmert, Friedrich: Der Walfang der Ersten Deutschen Walfang Gesellschaft. Ein Beitrag
zur Geschichte des Unternehmens Henkel. Düsseldorf, 1982. Also published in a shortened
and illustrated version as: Vom Fang der Wale zum Schutz der Wale. Wie Henkel Wale fing
und einen Beitrag zu ihrer Rettung leistete (= Schriften des Werksarchivs der Henkel
KGaA Düsseldorf, 14). Düsseldorf, 1982.
Winterhoff, Edmund: Walfang in der Antarktis (= Schriften des Deutschen
Schiffahrsmuseums Bremerhaven, 4). Hamburg, 1974.