SS Nordnorge (1923)
Nordnorge in Bodø in 1928
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History | |
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Name | Nordnorge |
Namesake | Northern Norway |
Owner | Ofotens Dampskibsselskap |
Port of registry | Narvik |
Route |
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Builder | Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted |
Yard number | 186 |
Laid down | September 1922 |
Launched | 12 September 1923 |
Completed | 17 January 1924 |
Acquired | 18 January 1924 |
Identification |
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Captured | by the Germans on 7 May 1940 |
Fate | Sunk by Royal Navy warships on 10 May 1940 |
General characteristics | |
Type |
|
Tonnage |
|
Length |
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Beam | 9 metres (30 ft) |
Depth |
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Installed power | 1,000 indicated horsepower |
Propulsion | Triple expansion steam engine |
Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Capacity | 270 passengers |
Armament |
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SS Nordnorge was a Norwegian steamship built in 1923–24 by
The ship was located in 2021, and was filmed later that year.[1]
Construction
Nordnorge was ordered by Ofotens Dampskibsselskap to serve the company's Narvik-Trondheim route. She was built at Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted in Trondheim, Norway. She was laid down in September 1922 with yard number 186, and was originally intended to be called Solstrålen, although the name was changed before launch. She was launched on 12 September 1923, and completed on 17 January 1924, being delivered to her owners the next day.[2][3][4] Nordnorge was considered a beautiful vessel, and was one of the last of the traditional coastal cargo liners to be built in Norway.[2]
As built she had a tonnage of 873
Early coastal service
For the first 12 years of her existence, Nordnorge sailed between Trondheim and Narvik. She would depart Trondheim at 12:00 on Tuesdays and carry passengers and cargo to the coastal towns on her way north to Narvik and back again. She corresponded with Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskap's Lødingen-Tromsø route.[2] Until the delivery of Nordnorge, the Trondheim-Narvik route had been served by the older and slower steamer Barøy, without the call in Lødingen.[4] In 1930 she was assigned the code letters LDHR.[5] By 1934 these had changed to LENR, and remained so until at least 1939.[6][7]
Rebuild and Hurtigruten service
In the fall of 1935 Ofotens Dampskibsselskap began negotiations with the Norwegian
During 1936 Nordnorge was rebuilt at Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted. She had her hull extended by 20 feet (6.1 m), making her a 991 gross register ton/556 net register ton ship. The Third Class section was moved amidships and expanded, and a refrigerated cargo room was added. The bridge was moved up one deck. Nordnorge was fitted with an
Nordnorge departed Bergen on her first Hurtigruten voyage to Kirkenes on 3 November 1936. When she was introduced into the service, the build-up of the Hurtigruten was complete, with daily departures from all the ports of the route.[2]
Second World War
Following the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Nordnorge continued to sail the coast of Norway. On 13 December 1939 she rescued a survivor from the British steamer Deptford, which had been torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat U-38. The Norwegian patrol boat HNoMS Firda rescued a further four survivors from the sunken steamer's 36-man crew.[9]
Invasion and mothballing
When Nazi Germany invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, initiating the 62-day Norwegian campaign, Nordnorge was in dry dock undergoing the final day of her annual maintenance work. During her maintenance period, one of the company's smaller steamers, Barøy, stood in for her on the Hurtigruten service. She was supposed to re-enter service on 10 April, an event which was postponed due to the German invasion. Instead Nordnorge was mothballed at Nyhavna in Trondheim.[2]
Operation Wildente and loss
On 7 May 1940 the German occupiers of Trondheim confiscated Nordnorge and replaced her Norwegian crew with
At 09:50 on 10 May, the Norwegian military in Mosjøen was alerted that Nordnorge was sailing north, escorted by two German aircraft. The report, from observers in Rørvik, was forwarded to the British military, who after some initial hesitation, at 11:55 ordered the cruiser HMS Calcutta and the destroyer HMS Zulu to intercept and sink Nordnorge. Delayed by German air raids on the Royal Navy base in Skjelfjord in Lofoten, the British warships only got under way at 15:00, too late to intercept Nordnorge.[11] Nordnorge was spotted again at 12:00, by a Norwegian observation post as she passed Lyngvær. The post transmitted their sighting to the military communications central in Bodø.[17] As it was uncertain where Nordnorge was headed, Norwegian militia and army units were alerted along the coast of Hålogaland.[18]
Nordnorge arrived at Hemnesberget at 18:30 on 10 May 1940, after a 40-hour journey. Flying the
At 20:15, Calcutta and Zulu finally reached Hemnesberget. Nordnorge was immediately sunk by gunfire and two torpedoes. The ship exploded and sank stern first in deep water.[11] As she went down, Nordnorge capsized and tore down the quay to which she was moored. The ammunition that had been unloaded on the quay was hit by gunfire and exploded.[24] Sixteen houses were destroyed in the British shelling of Hemnesberget, and one Norwegian civilian was killed.[25] Several of the wounded on board Nordnorge perished when she sank.[26] As Calcutta and Zulu left the scene, they sank the small Norwegian steamer Ranheim.[27] Before Nordnorge was sunk, the Germans had managed to unload the two mountain guns, while the other supplies lost in the sinking were replaced the next day by seaplanes.[28]
The German capture of Hemnesberget was followed by an unsuccessful Norwegian counter-attack from nearby Finneid on 11 May. During the initial advance of the counter-attack the Norwegian forces captured three of the German naval personnel who had manned Nordnorge, before being pushed back. On 13 May the British and Norwegian forces in the area retreated northwards. The Germans continued their advance on 14 May, while two Royal Navy ships bombarded Hemnesberget the same day, destroying around 160 houses.[29][30][31]
Following the success of Operation Wildente, the Germans made another attempt at bypassing the Allied front lines in Nordland. On 19 May the German-manned cargo ship Albion attempted to bring supplies to the German forces advancing in Nordland. When Albion was spotted by Norwegian lookouts early on in her voyage, she was intercepted and sunk by the Norwegian warships HNoMS Honningsvåg and HNoMS Heilhorn.[32]
Aftermath
Having suffered the loss of Nordnorge, Ofotens Dampskibsselskap continued to use Barøy on her route.[Note 1] Barøy was herself torpedoed and sunk by a British aircraft on 13 September 1941.[34] In total, Ofotens Dampskibsselskap lost four ships during the war years, three to air and naval attack and one in a grounding.[35]
References
- Notes
- ^ Nordnorge was one of five Hurtigruten vessels lost during the 1940 Norwegian campaign, and the only one of the five to be sunk by Allied forces.[33]
- Citations
- ^ "Ble kapret av nazistene for 82 år siden – her er de aller første bildene". 27 April 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bakka 2003, p. 95
- ^ a b "Nordnorge (5606227)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ a b Svanberg 1990, p. 265
- ^ a b Register of Ships (1930–31 ed.). "Scan of page 'Nor'" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
- ^ Register of Ships (1934–35 ed.). "Scan of page 'Nor'" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
- ^ a b Register of Ships (1938–39 ed.). "Scan of page 'Nor'" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
- ^ Svanberg 1990, p. 282
- ^ Kindell, Don (7 April 2012). "Naval Events, December 1939 (Part 1 of 2) Friday 1st – Thursday 14th". Naval-History.net. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
- ^ Finnbakk 1995, p. 10
- ^ a b c d e Finnbakk 1995, p. 11
- ^ Lunde 2009, pp. 388–389
- ^ Haarr 2010, p. 282
- ^ Hauge 1995, p. 123
- ^ a b Hauge 1995, p. 124
- ^ Skogheim 1990, pp. 73, 76
- ^ Sandvik 1965, p. 85
- ^ a b Steen 1958, pp. 180-181
- ^ a b Haarr 2010, p. 283
- ^ Sandvik 1965, p. 87
- ^ Sandvik 1965, p. 90
- ^ Derry 1952, p. 180
- ^ Finnbakk 1995, p. 12
- ^ Sandvik 1965, p. 91
- ^ Lunde 2009, p. 390
- ^ Pettersen 1992, p. 38
- ^ Derry 1952, p. 181
- ^ Sandvik 1965, pp. 91–96
- ^ Hauge 1995, p. 125
- ^ Derry 1952, p. 182
- ^ Skogheim 1984, p. 230
- ^ Bakka 2003, p. 103
- ^ Bakka 2003, p. 109
- ^ Svanberg 1990, p. 284
- Bibliography
- Bakka, Dag Jr. (2003). Hurtigruten – Sjøveien mot nord (in Norwegian) (2nd, revised ed.). Bergen: Seagull Publishing. ISBN 82-91258-17-1.
- Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
- Finnbakk, Torstein; Breivik, Karl Kr. (1995). Hemnes i krig 1940–1945 (in Norwegian). Hemnes: Hemnes Municipality. ISBN 82-993491-0-9.
- Haarr, Geirr H. (2010). The Battle for Norway – April–June 1940. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-057-4.
- Hauge, Andreas (1995). Kampene i Norge 1940 (in Norwegian). Vol. 2. Sandefjord: Krigshistorisk Forlag. ISBN 82-993369-0-2.
- Lunde, Henrik O. (2009). Hitler's pre-emptive war: The Battle for Norway, 1940. Newbury: Casemate Publishers. ISBN 978-1-932033-92-2.
- Pettersen, Lauritz (1992). Handelsflåten i krig 1939–1945: Hjemmeflåten - Mellom venn og fiende (in Norwegian). Oslo: Grøndahl og Dreyers Forlag A/S. ISBN 82-504-1897-2.
- Sandvik, Trygve (1965). Krigen i Norge 1940 – Operasjonene til lands i Nord-Norge 1940 (in Norwegian). Vol. 2. Oslo: Forsvarets Krigshistoriske Avdeling/Gyldendal Norsk Forlag.
- ISBN 82-10-02582-1.
- Skogheim, Dag (1990). Fiender og mennesker: krig over Sør-Helgeland (in Norwegian). Brønnøyund: Brønnøysund bokhandel. pp. 63–66. ISBN 82-90963-00-9.
- Steen, Erik Anker (1958). Norge sjøkrig 1940-1945 – Sjøforsvarets kamper og virke i Nord-Norge 1940 (in Norwegian). Vol. 4. Oslo: Forsvarets Krigshistoriske Avdeling/Gyldendal Norsk Forlag.
- Svanberg, Erling (1990). Langs vei og lei i Nordland – samferdsel i Nordland gjennom 3000 år (in Norwegian). Bodø: Nordland County Municipality. ISBN 82-7416-021-5.