establishment of new routes, and by the mid-1920s, the fleet consisted of 124 ships with a combined tonnage of . Second World War The Second World War saw further losses to the company, with nine ships lost before the German invasion of Denmark in April 1940. A large number of DFDS ships fell into British hands after the German invasion, and they were used as troopships. German forces commandeered a total of 21 DFDS ships during the war. One DFDS ship, the Kronprins Frederik, was under construction when the war began. To prevent her usage by the Germans, vital engine parts were "lost", only to be discovered after the end of the war. Ships, representing about a fourth of the total Danish tonnage, sought refuge from seizure by belligerents in neutral ports. Those ships sat idle with orders not to depart neutral ports and for their seamen not to sign on with other ships. In the United States orders for their seizure were issued on 30 March 1941 and 40 ships were seized and placed under the control of the War Shipping Administration which registered most in Panama for diplomatic reasons and assigned commercial companies for operation. Several were assigned to either the U.S. Army or Navy. Two of the DFDS ships are examples. became the U.S. Army Transport Sicilien which was sunk by torpedo in June 1942. survived the war as USS Aquila (AK-47) and was returned to Denmark with the other surviving ships after the war. In total, DFDS lost 31 ships during World War II, with a further three ships lost due to hitting mines after the end of the war. In 1948, 48 people drowned when Kjøbenhavn hit a mine. Five people lost their lives in the mine explosion of Ivar in 1949 and, as recently as 1950, Frigga sank, without loss of life, after having hit a mine. To replace some of the lost ships, several almost-completed motor ships, which had been laid up awaiting the end of the war, were made ready. Gradually, the routes that had been discontinued since the beginning of the war, were reopened. Between the Wars DFDS created a sensation when they launched the world's first motor-driven short-sea passenger ship in 1925, from Helsingørs Jernskibs of Maskinbyggeri A/S. The first of four sister vessels built between 1925 and 1932, the M.V. Parkeston ( ) made her maiden voyage from Esbjerg