''Stjernen'' (''The Star'') a motor launch owned by the

King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty king ...

and used for short sea transport on official occasions. The

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

-hulled boat was designed by Richard Gustav Furuholmen and built in 1935 by Anker og Jensen in

Asker Asker (), also called Asker proper (''Askerbygda'' or ''gamle Asker'' in Norwegian), is a district and former Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus, Norway, located approximately 20km southwest of Oslo. From 2020 it is part of the ...

for merchant Nicolay Eger who named her ''Estrella''. She was confiscated by the Germans during the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

and put at the disposal of Reichkommisar Josef Terboven. King Haakon VII of Norway had been promised a

royal yacht A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head. The royal yacht is most often c ...

when he accepted the Norwegian throne in 1905, but this would not come through for many decades. In 1945 the Royal Court acquired ''Estrella'' as an interim measure, and named her ''Stjernen'' after the previous '' Stjernen I'' which had also been confiscated by the Germans but was returned as a wreck. In 1947 the King was gifted he the HNoMY ''Norge'' as a proper royal yacht. The present ''Stjernen'' is still in use by the King and his family and, like ''Norge'', ''Stjernen'' is crewed by sailors from 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 ...

. The crew consists of three seamen and one junior officer who live aboard 14 days at a time. She was originally powered by a 75 hp Penta P62 but is now powered by a 320 hp

Volvo Penta Volvo Penta is a Sweden, Swedish marine and industrial engine manufacturer, a joint stock company within the Volvo, Volvo Group. Volvo Penta evolved from a foundry in Skövde 1907, when the first marine automobile engine, marine engine, the B ...

motor. The nomenclature of the two ''Stjernen''s has evolved over time. From 1899 to 1940 the original ''Stjernen'' was named just ''Stjernen''. In 1945 this boat was no longer operational and was no longer called ''Stjernen''. This freed up the name for the present ''Stjernen'' which is also simply named ''Stjernen''. When the old ''Stjernen'' was restored she was renamed ''Stjernen I'' and is also called ''Stjernen av 1899''.

Sources

* * * * * * 1935 ships Royal and presidential yachts Ships built in Norway World War II auxiliary ships of Germany Ships of Norway {{Norway-mil-ship-stub