HNoMS ''King Haakon VII'' was a
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy ( no, Sjøforsvaret, , Sea defence) is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of Norway. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 in mobilized state, 3 ...
escort ship during
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 ...
, named after King
Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII (; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957.
Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick V ...
. She was given to the RNoN by the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
on 16 September 1942,
in the presence of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
and Norwegian Crown Princess
Märtha.
[Hansen 2005: 149]
Handover ceremony
The original intention of the US authorities had been to hand over the warship to the
exiled
''Exiled'' () is a 2006 Hong Kong action drama film produced and directed by Johnnie To, and starring Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Nick Cheung, Josie Ho, Roy Cheung and Lam Suet, with special appearances by Richie Jen and Simon Yam. The action ...
Norwegians on 3 August 1942, on the 70th birthday of King Haakon VII. This plan could however not be carried out as Crown Princess Märtha was going spend that day with her father-in-law the King in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and the handover date was postponed.
During the handover ceremony Roosevelt delivered his famous "
Look to Norway
The "Look to Norway" speech by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was given during the handover ceremony of the Royal Norwegian Navy ship HNoMS ''King Haakon VII'' at the Washington Navy Yard on 16 September 1942. The speech served as an import ...
" - speech.
''King Haakon VII'' was formerly part of the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
as USS ''PC 467''. The ship was built in
Neponset,
where she was launched on 29 April 1942.
Norwegian service
HNoMS ''King Haakon VII'', under her first commander
kapteinløytnant (Lieutenant) Leif R. Lund,
was first based at
Halifax.
Later on she was moved to
Red Bay in
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
. In November 1942 she took part in the escorting of eastbound transatlantic convoy SC-108. This trip showed that the small vessel was not sturdy enough for transatlantic escorting and after a spell in the UK she relocated to
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador in May 1943. For the rest of World War II ''King Haakon VII'' escorted convoys on the coast of North and Central America, from the coast of
Labrador
, nickname = "The Big Land"
, etymology =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Canada
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 ...
to the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
.
[Berg 1997: 76] During her war service ''King Haakon VII'' sailed and escorted 79 convoys without accidents. No men were lost or seriously injured on ''King Haakon VII'' during the war years. From 3 May to 2 June 1945 ''King Haakon VII'' was at
Key West
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
for maintenance and repairs, this delaying her the start of her return voyage to Norway until 4 June. On 26 June 1945 ''King Haakon VII'' arrived at the southern Norwegian port of
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 ...
.
[Thomassen 1995: 55]
Decommissioning and sale
She was decommissioned on 1 February 1951 and laid up in Trondheim.
On 26 June 1952 the
Norwegian Parliament
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 base ...
decided that ''King Haakon VII'' was to be decommissioned and sold off. In August 1953 she was sold to Rogaland Sjøguttskole () for .
Footnotes
Literature
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{{DEFAULTSORT:King Haakon VII
PC-461-class submarine chasers of the Royal Norwegian Navy
Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Royal Norwegian Navy
World War II patrol vessels of Norway
1942 ships
Ships built in Boston
PC-467