SS ''Hestmanden'' (''The Horseman'') is a Norwegian steamer, which since 2017 is the travelling

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

Norsk krigsseilermuseum (the Norwegian War Sailor Museum). ''Hestmanden'' is the only preserved

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

that has sailed in convoys during both

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It is the only remaining ship of the more than 1,000 that were part of the

Nortraship The Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship) was established in London in April 1940 to administer the Norwegian merchant fleet outside German-controlled areas. Nortraship operated some 1,000 vessels and was the largest shipping company ...

fleet during World War II, and therefore represents a central part of Norway's war history and maritime history. Called "the lucky ship", as it survived convoys in two world wars, ''Hestmanden'' is considered Norway's most valuable veteran ship.D/S «Hestmanden»
Krigsseilerregisteret (in English)DS «Hestmanden»
Norsk Veteranskibsklubb (in Norwegian)

World War I service

''Hestmanden'' was built in

Laksevåg Laksevåg is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough is located in the western part of the municipality. Historically, the area was called ''Laxevaag'', and it was a separate municipality until 1972 when it was m ...

for the

Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab was a Norway, Norwegian shipping company that operated ferry, ferries in Northern Norway. The ferry service was founded by Richard With on 10 November 1881 at Stokmarknes in Nordland, Norway. That same year, the ship ...

(VDS) in 1911 and was used on this company's costal cargo route between

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

and

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

until 1915, when it began transporting coal between United Kingdom and France. In 1917, ''Hestmanden'' was leased by the British

Shipping Controller Shipping Controller was a post created by the Lloyd George Coalition Government in 1916 under the New Ministries and Secretaries Act (6 & 7 George 5 c.68) to regulate and organize merchant shipping in order to supply the United Kingdom with the m ...

and given a British crew. As such, the ship sailed in British coastal waters, but also in convoys to France as well as to Arkhangelsk in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, to support the

Allied intervention Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War or Allied Powers intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions which began in 1918. The Allies first had the goal of helping the Czechoslovak Legio ...

in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

World War II service

From 1924 to 1940, ''Hestmanden'' once again transported goods along the Norwegian coast for VDS, from

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

all the way up to

Kirkenes Kirkenes (; ; Skolt Sami: ''Ǩeârkknjargg;'' fi, Kirkkoniemi; ; russian: Киркенес) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town ...

. When Germany invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, the ship was on route northwards and was commandeered by the Norwegian Navy to transport soldiers and equipment to northern Norway. A month later, ''Hestmanden'' was in

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

loading coal, when it was ordered, like all Norwegian ships not in German controlled waters, to sail to the United Kingdom, where it was put into service for

. Due to its age and relative small size, the ship mainly went in convoys in British waters during the war. It was back in Norway in June 1945.

After World War II

Between 1947 and 1955, ''Hestmanden'' was once again used as domestic coastal freighter for the owners. In 1955, VDS sold the ship to a

ship breaking Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...

company, which renamed it ''Vegafjord'' and used it for transporting scrap metal from broken up German war ship wrecks located in Norway, such as ''

Tirpitz Tirpitz may refer to: * Alfred von Tirpitz (1849–1930), German admiral * German battleship ''Tirpitz'', a World War II-era Bismarck-class battleship named after the admiral * Tirpitz (pig), a pig rescued from the sinking of SMS ''Dresden'' and ...

'' and '' U-843''. In 1964, the ship breaking company retired and moored the ship near

Sandnessjøen Sandnessjøen is a town and the administrative centre of Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Sandnessjøen was granted special trading privileges in the late 1600s and it received town status in 1999. Sandnessjøen is located on ...

Sailing museum

In a rather dilapidated condition, ''Vegafjord'' was bought by the Norsk Veteranskipsklubb (a Norwegian club for veteran vessels) in 1979. In 1995 the restoration work started at the Bredalsholmen Veteranship Shipyard in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

. The idea was to turn the ship into a sailing museum, travelling along the coast of Norway as a memorial of the Norwegian wartime sailors. In September 2011, she was "re-launched" from the yard and re-baptised ''Hestmanden'', with Kristiansand as its home port. During the baptism ceremony, King Harald was present, together with 240 wartime sailors. After 2011, further restoration and upgrading has been carried out. In 2021, ''Hestmanden'' was frequently used for on-board and sailing scenes during the shooting of the Norwegian feature film

War Sailor ''War Sailor'' ( no, Krigsseileren) is a 2022 Norwegian war drama film directed by Gunnar Vikene. Synopsis Based on the true stories of the 30,000 Norwegian civilian sailors who participated in the Allied convoys during the Second World War, ...

, which was released on cinema in 2022 and on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

in 2023.

Timeline

*1911: Delivered to Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab (VDS). *1913: First international transport. *1917: (World War I) Leased to the British authorities. *1919: The lease terminated, the ship returned to VDS. *1940: (World War II) Sailed to Scotland in June and was incorporated into

. *1947: Repaired and modernised at

Akers Mekaniske Verksted Akers mekaniske Verksted (often abbreviated ''Akers mek. Verksted'' or ''Akers Mek.'') was a workshop, later a shipyard which was established in Fossveien by the Aker River in Oslo in 1841. In 1854 the company moved to Holmen on the west side of P ...

, Oslo. *1955: Sold to

company Høvding Skipsopphugging and renamed "Vegafjord". *1965: In mooring. *1979: Purchased and saved by the Norsk Veteranskibsklubb, funded by

Petter Olsen Petter Halfdan Rudolf Fredrik Olsen (born 7 February 1948) is a Norwegian businessman, billionaire and member of the Olsen shipping family, who own Fred. Olsen & Co. He is the younger brother of the current leader of the company, Fredrik Olsen. P ...

. *1982: Towed to

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

, up to and including 1986 conservation project to stop further decay. *1992: Towed to Bredalsholmen in

. The work started with the granting of money for restoration. *1995: The

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

(The Norwegian Parliament) gave SS Hestmanden status as a war memorial. *1996: The ship was made a cultural heritage site by the

Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage The Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( no, Riksantikvaren or ''Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning'') is a government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of the Environm ...

and Stiftelsen Hestmanden took over the ship.Hestmanden
Kulturminnesøk, Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage (in Norwegian) *2002: The hull is completely restored. *2008: Restoration work stopped at the end of the year due to lack of funding. *2011: Re-launched and renamed after restoration, both exactly one hundred years after the first time. *2012: A documentary about SS Hestmanden was finished in November. *2017: Officially opened as Norsk krigsseilermuseum (the Norwegian War Sailor Museum). *2020: Moved under own steam with original engine for the first time since 1964.

Gallery

Hestmanden, dekksluker.JPG, The deck is of wood Hestmanden, maskindetalj, veiver.jpg, Detail from the original steam engine Fjordsteam 2018 (112032).jpg, The wheelhouse Hestmanden, akterspeil.jpg, The counter stern

References

External links

Stiftelsen Hestmanden: Official website

Vest-Agdermuseet - DS Hestmanden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hestmanden 1911 ships Ships built in Bergen Steamships of Norway Ships of Nortraship World War I merchant ships of Norway World War II merchant ships of Norway Museum ships in Norway