ICGV ''Óðinn'' is a decommissioned offshore patrol vessel formerly operated by 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 ...

. She is the oldest ship in the coastguard's fleet, and it is believed that her

Burmeister & Wain Burmeister & Wain was a large established Danish shipyard and leading diesel engine producer headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded by two Danes and an Englishman, its earliest roots stretch back to 1846. Over its 150-year history, it ...

engines are the only such engines that are still serviceable in the world today. Since her withdrawal from active duty, she has served as a floating exhibit at the Reykjavík Maritime Museum in Reykjavík Harbour. The ship is still maintained, and operative as of June 2022.

Service

On 23 October 1963, ''Óðinn'' went to the aid of the British trawler ''Northern Spray'', which had

run aground Ship grounding or ship stranding is the impact of a ship on seabed or waterway side. It may be intentional, as in beaching to land crew or cargo, and careening, for maintenance or repair, or unintentional, as in a marine accident. In accidenta ...

off the coast of Iceland, and with the trawler ''James Barrie'', rescued ''Northern Spray''s crew and attempted unsuccessfully to refloat the stranded trawler.

The Cod Wars

On 30 April 1976, during the

cod wars The Cod Wars ( is, Þorskastríðin; also known as , ; german: Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of ...

, she was rammed in the stern by the British sidewinder trawler ''

Arctic Corsair The ''Arctic Corsair'' (H320) is a deep-sea trawler, built in 1960, that was converted to a museum ship in 1999. She is temporarily berthed at Alexandra Dock in Kingston upon Hull, England, pending completion of a new permanent location in th ...

'', after ''Óðinn'' had made three attempts to cut the trawl warps. In 2017, with both vessels museum ships, their bells were exchanged as a gesture of cooperation.

Museum ship

The ship was donated to the ''Hollvinasamtök Óðins'' in 2008 and it was put on display at the Reykjavík Maritime Museum. In 2014, work on restoring the ship to operational status began and in 2020, the ship sailed from Reykjavík harbour for the first time in more than a decade during an engine test. In May 2022, ''Óðinn'' received an official certificate of seaworthiness from the Icelandic Transport Authority. On 11 June 2022, ''Óðinn'' sailed with

Guðni Th. Jóhannesson Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson (; born 26 June 1968) is an Icelandic historian and politician serving as the sixth and current president of Iceland. He took office in 2016 after winning the most votes in the 2016 election, 71,356 (39.1%). He wa ...

, the

President of Iceland The president of Iceland ( is, Forseti Íslands) is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, who is now in his second term as president, elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir as ...

, and Suzuki Ryotaro, the Japanese ambassador to Iceland, from Reykjavík to

Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town on the Southern Peninsula of Iceland not far from the tuya Þorbjörn. It is one of the few cities with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work in the fishing industry. The Blue Lagoon, Grindavík ...

for the official celebration of the Icelandic Fishermen's day.

In film

ICGV ''Óðinn'' was used as scenery in the film ''

Flags of Our Fathers ''Flags of Our Fathers'' (2000) is a book by James Bradley with Ron Powers about his father, Navy corpsman John Bradley, and five United States Marines, who were made famous by Joe Rosenthal’s '' Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima'' photograph. Th ...

'', when it was filmed in Iceland the summer of 2005. She rescued one of the landing boats used in the film, as it was about to be thrown into a cliff.

Previous ''Óðinn''s

*The first ICGV ''Óðinn'' was the second Icelandic Coast Guard vessel that was commissioned and the first purposely built as a patrol ship. She was built in Denmark in 1925 and arrived in Iceland on 23 June 1926. A steel ship with a displacement of 512 tonnes, she was armed with two 57mm cannon. As a result of severe financial mismanagement of the Icelandic Government she was sold cheaply to Sweden in 1936. *The second ICGV ''Óðinn'' was built on

Akureyri Akureyri (, locally ) is a town in northern Iceland. It is Iceland's fifth-largest municipality, after Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður, Reykjanesbær and Kópavogur, and the largest town outside Iceland's more populated southwest corner. Nickn ...

in 1938. She was only 85 tonnes and made of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

. When the current ''Óðinn'' was commissioned she was renamed ''Gautur'' which is one of

Óðinn Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, ...

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s. She was decommissioned in 1964.

References

External links

*http://www.lhg.is (in Icelandic) {{DEFAULTSORT:Odinn Patrol vessels of Iceland Ships built in Aalborg 1959 ships Museum ships in Iceland