Boats
”New Viking boat lands in the USA” Eesti Post, October 17, 1951
The newspaper was published in Geislingen Displaced Persons Camp, Germany,1945-1953
Walprio
The Walprio, also known as the Walfrid or Valfried, was the last refugee ship to leave Sweden for the United States in 1951. The Walprio was a 64-foot (19.5 meters), two-masted wooden schooner. In 1948, Villem Ilves, a sailor, bought the sunken vessel, raised it, and repaired it.
On July 22, 1951, Captain Ilves and 10 Estonian passengers sailed out of a small yacht harbor near Helsingborg, Sweden. To be as inconspicuous as possible, they kept their destination a secret, even to their close friends. Because the group feared being hijacked by Soviet ships, they pretended to be only embarking on a short trip and did not load food for the ocean voyage until they reached Denmark. Afterward, the Walprio stopped in Madeira and the Dominican Republic before arriving in Fort Pierce, Florida, on October 4, 1951.
The Walprio encountered severe storms in the Bay of Biscay and also around 1,000 nautical miles off the North American coast. The boat took on a lot of water, which the passengers had to constantly pump out. When the Walprio landed in Florida, immigration authorities reported that the boat was leaking dangerously and completely unfit for a sea voyage. A Miami newspaper noted that, despite the boat’s condition, all passengers on board were well dressed and carried good quality luggage.
Similar to previous unauthorized arrivals, the Estonians were detained on Ellis Island in New York City. Congressman James G. Donovan, D-NY, who had assisted other Baltic boat refugees, was instrumental in helping the Walprio’s passengers obtain permission to remain in the United States.
Crew and passengers:
- Captain Villem (William) Ilves, 48, Alide, his wife, and children, Helgi-Mare, 9, and Eva Marie, 8
- Eduard and Elvine Ilves
- August Voldemar Raudsepp, Sofia (Zofia), his Polish wife, and their son, Jakob-Toivo, 5
- Voldemar Raudsepp, student
- Askold (Eskold) Kalme, metal worker
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Winston-Salem Journal, October 4, 1951
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