PS ''Skibladner'' is the world's oldest

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

in timetabled service, and the only paddle steamer operating in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, sailing on lake

Mjøsa Mjøsa is the largest lake in Norway and the fourth deepest in Norway and Europe. It is located in the southern part of Norway, about north of the city of Oslo. Its main tributary is the river Gudbrandsdalslågen flowing in from the north; the ...

. ''Skibladner'' is a side-wheel paddle steamer, and her maiden voyage was on 2 August 1856. Originally built to provide passage from the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the munic ...

to the towns of

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

Gjøvik Gjøvik () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Gjøvik (town), town of Gjøvik. Some of the villages in Gjøvik include Biri, Norway, Biri, Bybrua, ...

, and

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

along Mjøsa, she still operates the same route, but now offers sightseeing tours, dining, entertainment and cultural events during the summer months. She was built by

Motala Verkstad AB Motala Verkstad is one of the oldest engineering companies in Sweden. The company was founded in 1822 during the construction of Göta Canal. Motala Verkstad has also built about 400 ships, 800 bridges (e.g. Västerbron, Skeppsholmsbron, ...

in Sweden and transported in pieces by rail and horse carts to

Minnesund Minnesund is a village in the municipality of Eidsvoll, Norway. It is located at the southern end of lake Mjøsa Mjøsa is the largest lake in Norway and the fourth deepest in Norway and Europe. It is located in the southern part of Norway, abo ...

, where she was assembled and riveted together. She was originally equipped with twin-cylinder oscillating steam engines. In 1888, she was extended by 20 feet to provide more space and to allow for the installation of triple-expansion diagonal paddle engines built by Akers Mek. in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, increasing her power to 606 h.p. She was then the fastest vessel in Norway with a top speed of 15

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot or knots may also refer to: Other common meanings * Knot (unit), of speed * Knot (wood), a timber imperfection Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Knots'' (film), a 2004 film * ''Kn ...

. She was converted from

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

to oil-firing in the 1920s, and received new

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

s in the 1980s. Today she is still powered by steam generated with fuel- oil burners in her twin boilers, and her normal operating speed is now 12 knots. The ship sank twice while laid up for winter, the first time in 1937, and again in 1967, due to heeling caused by her

mooring A mooring is any permanent structure to which a seaborne vessel (such as a boat, ship, or amphibious aircraft) may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to ...

s. On both occasions she was raised and underwent significant renovation with strong support from the Norwegian public. The ship is often referred to locally as ''Mjøsas Hvite Svane,'' which translates to ''The White Swan of Mjøsa.'' The ship’s home port is

, where she is also laid up each winter beneath a specially built glass-covered construction. Her sailing season is from May to September, and the timetabled season is from late June to mid August. On 14 June 2005, the

Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage The Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( or ''Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning'') is a etat, government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, it mana ...

made ''Skibladner'' subject to a preservation order. This was the first time in Norway that an operating vehicle had been listed. The steamer is named after ''

Skíðblaðnir ''Skíðblaðnir'' (Old Norse: , 'assembled from thin pieces of wood'Simek (2007:289).), sometimes anglicized as ''Skidbladnir'' or ''Skithblathnir'', is the best of ships in Norse mythology. It is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in th ...

'', the ship of

Freyr Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested Æsir, god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, prosperity, fair weather, and good harvest. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was ...

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

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Skibladner fremstilles som «slaveskip» i amerikansk dokumentarserie
kibladner portrayed as «slave ship» in an American documentary(28 January 2021) {{coord, 60.798389385, N, 10.696885585, E, display=title 1856 ships Paddle steamers Passenger ships of Norway Ships built in Norrköping Water transport in Innlandet Gjøvik Steamships of Norway Ships of Norway Cultural heritage of Norway

See also

Citations

References

External links