HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen (1930)
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''Fridtjof Nansen'' was the first ship in the
Norwegian armed forces The Norwegian Armed Forces () are the armed forces responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Norwegian Coast Guard, Coast Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air ...
to be built specially to perform
coast guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...
and fishery protection duties in the
Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...
. She saw service in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
with the
Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...
until she ran aground on an unmarked shallow at
Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...
in November 1940.


Construction

''Fridtjof Nansen'' was constructed with yard number 118 at the Royal Norwegian Naval Yard at
Karljohansvern Karjohansvern (''Karljohansvern Orlogsstasjon, KJV'') at Horten was the main base for the Royal Norwegian Navy from 1850 to 1963. Background In 1818, it was decided to establish a naval base in Horten. It was first called ''Hortens verft'', ...
in
Horten Horten () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Horten (town) ...
. She was launched on 5 November 1930, and command was assumed on 29 May 1931 by Commander Ole A. Blom.


1933 sinking

On 21 December 1933 ''Fridtjof Nansen'' departed the port of
Hammerfest Hammerfest or Hámmárfeasta is a town/cityIn the Norwegian language, the word ''by'' can be translated as "town" or "city". that is also the administrative centre of Hammerfest Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the nor ...
on her way to her patrol areas in eastern
Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...
. While passing through Vestervågen in
Måsøy Municipality Måsøy (; ) is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Havøysund. Other villages include Bakfjord, Gunnarnes, Ingøy, Måsøy, Slåtten, and Snefjord. The municipality i ...
, she ran aground and sank the next night. She was raised the next year and taken to Horten for repairs.


War service


Norwegian Campaign

At the outbreak of war in Norway with the German invasion on 9 April 1940, ''Fridtjof Nansen'' was posted to the Finnmark detachment of the 3rd Naval District covering
North Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...
. When the German invasion began ''Fridtjof Nansen'' was operating from the port of
Honningsvåg Honningsvåg is the northernmost cities and towns, northernmost city/town in mainland Norway. It is located in Nordkapp Municipality in Finnmark county. Honningsvåg was declared a city in 1996, despite its small population. The town has a po ...
in Finnmark.


Escape abroad

After surviving several air attacks without damage during the Norwegian Campaign ''Fridtjof Nansen'' was one of the thirteen
Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...
vessels that made it to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, as she escaped westwards at the dawn of the 10 June 1940 mainland Norwegian capitulation. On 8 June 1940 she took on board in
Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...
Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...
Henry E. Diesen, foreign minister
Halvdan Koht Halvdan Koht (7 July 1873 – 12 December 1965) was a Norwegian historian and politician representing the Labour Party. Born in the north of Norway to a fairly distinguished family, he soon became interested in politics and history. Sta ...
and General Carl Gustav Fleischer, in addition to some other refugees.Sivertsen 2001: 139 Among those who escaped on ''Fridtjof Nansen'' were some 20-25 anti-Nazi German refugees. One of the Germans fleeing with his family on ''Fridtjof Nansen'', was
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...
ist painter
Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist. He was born in Hanover, Germany, but lived in exile from 1937. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including Dadaism, Constructivism (a ...
. She arrived at
Tórshavn Tórshavn (; ; Danish language, Danish: ''Thorshavn''), usually locally referred to as simply Havn, is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of th ...
on the
Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
on 13 June and sailed on at 0600 on 16 June to
Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...
in Scotland in the company of six other Norwegian warships. The Norwegian vessels were escorted from Tórshavn by the British destroyer HMS ''Veteran'', the destroyer HMS ''Kelvin'' and two trawlers joining the convoy later during the journey. After her arrival at Rosyth on 18 June work began on making ''Fridtjof Nansen'' war ready.


In exile

From 29 August 1940 she was posted as a
patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they ...
in
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
to reinforce the British naval forces there. On 8 November she ran aground on an unmarked shallow off the south coast of the Norwegian Arctic island of Jan Mayen and sank. The crew of 67 all survived the shipwreck.Thomassen 1995: 228 After the loss of their ship, the crew reached land at the
Eggøya Eggøya ("Egg Island") is a peninsula of Jan Mayen island of the Arctic Ocean. It is located on the southern side, in the central part of the island, east of Sørlaguna, and defines the northeastern extension of the bay Rekvedbukta (Jan Mayen), R ...
peninsula, and took shelter in the abandoned Norwegian radio station on Jan Mayen. The shipwrecked crew made preparations to send a boat to Iceland to retrieve help. Help arrived before the boat could leave, when the naval trawler HNoMS ''Honningsvåg'' came from Iceland four days later, responding to the emergency messages the crew had sent before ''Fridtjof Nansen'' had to be abandoned. The crew was brought back to Iceland.Barr 2003: 149


Citations


Bibliography

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External links


Naval history via FLIX: ''Fridtjof Nansen''
retrieved 17 March 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fridtjof Nansen 1930 1930 ships Norwegian Coast Guard Ships built in Horten Patrol vessels of the Royal Norwegian Navy World War II patrol vessels of Norway World War II shipwrecks in the Norwegian Sea Maritime incidents in 1933 Maritime incidents in November 1940 Ships sunk with no fatalities Fishery protection vessels