''Thor'' was a Danish research vessel from 1903 to 1927. She was built by Edwards Brothers at North Shields, England in 1899 as a steam trawler. ''Thor'' conducted hydrographical and oceanographical research in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean and helped locate the spawning grounds of the Icelandic cod. Most importantly, ''Thor'' conducted two expeditions to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

in 1908-1910 with Johannes Schmidt as cruise leader. The aim of the expeditions, funded by the Carlsberg Foundation, was to locate the spawning grounds of the

European eel The European eel (''Anguilla anguilla'') is a species of eel, a snake-like, catadromous fish. They are normally around and rarely reach more than , but can reach a length of up to in exceptional cases. Eels have been important sources of fo ...

. Contrary to their expectations the expeditions found that fewer eel larvae ( leptocephals) were found the deeper they went into the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, but they also grew larger. The logical conclusion was that the spawning grounds were not in the Mediterranean, but in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. In a broader perspective, the greatest result of the two expeditions was the very large contribution to the general understanding of the

oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...

and pelagic fauna of the Mediterranean. In 1914, ''Thor'' was commissioned into to the

Royal Danish Navy The Royal Danish Navy ( da, Søværnet) is the Naval warfare, sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Denmark, Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Isla ...

, in which she remained until decommissioned in 192

and sold to Iceland.

Icelandic service

In 1920, ''Björgunarfélag Vestmannaeyja'' bought the ship and renamed it ''Þór''. After paying for its operational cost for several years, the Icelandic government decided to buy the ship in 1926. With its purchase, the

Icelandic Coast Guard The Icelandic Coast Guard (, or simply ) is the Icelandic defence service responsible for search and rescue, maritime safety and security surveillance, and law enforcement in the seas surrounding Iceland. The Coast Guard maintains the Iceland ...

was de facto established. In December 1929, ''Þór'' ran aground at Húnaflói during a storm and was wrecked.

References

{{reflist Research vessels of Denmark Ships built on the River Tyne 1898 ships