Kalevi Olkio
AMMV Museum
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Kalevi was born in Viipuri, Finland, in 1920. He left to go to sea at age 16 on a Finnish steamer SS KARIN THORDEN and following year changed to a Swedish ship, MS SIGYN. Both of these ships traded with lumber and coal summertime and in Winter they went to West Africa or Mediterranean.

In 1938 Kalevi signed on as an Ordinary Seaman on a Swedish cargo liner MS VALPARAISO, on which ship he stayed for two years, signing off in San Pedro, California. (On her second trip with war cargo VALPARAISO was torpedoed and lost with all hands.)

From San Pedro Kalevi signed on a new Norwegian tanker MT OLE JACOB which traded Far East, Australia, New Zeeland and Indonesia. Late 1940 Kalevi was hospitalized for minor surgery in Singapore. Two days later after he left "OLE JACOB" the ship was captured by the German raider ATLANTIS.

Kalevi signed on another Norwegian tanker, the MINISTER WEDEL, which traded Port Said, Abadan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Australia, New Zeeland, Fidji Islands, Tahiti, San Pedro, California and the Atlantic area. The ship was part of a nine tanker convoy thatleft Trinidad in January 1943 for Gibraltar and perhaps Malta. Eight of the ships were torpedoed, including MINISTER WEDEL. Only the smallest tanker made it to Gibraltar. By that time she had five escorts. Kalevi ended up in Glasgow where he signed A.B. on a Bull Line Liberty Ship SS TRISTRAM DALTON, making two trips to the Mediterranean with bombs.

After that Kalevi got his 2nd mate's license in New York and signed as 3rd mate on the old GREAT WESTERN, an Army Transport ship now named SS GENERAL GEORGE SIMMONS; next was another ATS ship the SS EXCELSIOR being converted to carry troops.

For political reasons, by the end of 1943, Kalevi, being a Finnish citizen, had become technically an enemy alien and was not permitted to sail as a watch-keeping officer on an American ship. He signed as Bosun on a Waterman Liberty SS JOSPH N. NICOLLET, which was being fitted with double radiators. The day before sailing Kalevi was taken off by immigration officials from the convoy anchorage. They told him that in Murmansk the Russians would take him off the ship and put him in prison. Russia and Finland were at war against each other at that time.

Kalevi then went back to navigation school and took all the degrees available and then signed as 3rd mate on a neutral Swedish ship MS FREIJA, which traded between New York and Brazil.

A year later things had relaxed and he signed as 3rd mate on the largest cargo ship in the world at time, the MS SVEALAND of 23,000 tons. This ship carried grain in convoys from Portland, Maine, to Liverpool until the end of the war.

After the war she carried iron ore from Cruz Grande, Chile, to Sparrows Point in Baltimore. Kalevi stayed on this ship altogether for three years until he gave up sailing in 1947 and emigrated to Baltimore.

Kalevi became a member of Project Liberty Ship in 1978 while the SS JOHN W. BROWN was still in New York.

Kalevi served on the Board of Directors of Project Liberty Ship from 1988 until 2008. For a number of years he was also the curator of the Merchant Marine Museum on board the ship.

Kalevi operated a ship chandlery business in the Port of Baltimore for 50 years, starting in 1949. After he sold his business he published a 400-page, 380-picture documentary book about people on Norwegian ships during their golden era 1960-1970, which has been well received in the Norwegian-speaking world.