Skorpa is an

uninhabited island An uninhabited island, desert island, or deserted island, is an island, islet or atoll which lacks permanent human population. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereotypes ...

in Herøy Municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Skorpa lies directly west of the island of

Nerlandsøya Nerlandsøya is an island in Herøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island is located northwest of the town of Fosnavåg and east of the island of Skorpa. The island is connected to the island Bergsøya (to the southeast) ...

, across the Skorpesund, about west of the town of

Fosnavåg is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Herøy Municipality (Møre og Romsdal), Herøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is the administrative center of the municipality. The town is located on the ...

. The island of

Gurskøya Gurskøya is an island in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Settlements The island is shared by Sande Municipality and Herøy Municipality. The villages of Haugsbygda, Gjerdsvika, Larsnes, Leikong and Moldtustranda are located on the is ...

lies to the southeast, across the

Herøyfjorden Herøyfjorden is a fjord which bisects Herøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The fjord is about long and about wide, between the islands of Bergsøya and Gurskøya. The fjord has a maximum depth of . The fjord has many isl ...

. The

Svinøy Lighthouse Svinøy Lighthouse () is a fully automated lighthouse situated on the island of Svinøy in the sea off the Stad peninsula. It is located within Herøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, on the western coast of Norway. The island lies wit ...

is located to the east. The terrain is steep and rugged, the highest point being the mountain, Keipen, at a height of above sea level. There are no longer any permanent residents on the island, and today Skorpa is best known for vacation cottages and the herd of wild goats that live there. The farm Skorpa has registration number 1 for Herøy Municipality in the Norwegian land registry.

World War II

Skorpa was an important contact point for the

Shetland bus The Shetland Bus ( Norwegian Bokmål: ''Shetlandsbussene'', def. pl.) was the nickname of a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Mainland Shetland in Scotland and German-occupied Norway from 1941 until t ...

and for other allied military traffic during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The island served as a station for agents and resistance personnel both to meet and to hide. Instructors, weapons, and sabotage material were transported to the Norwegian resistance forces. For many who departed to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

this was the last stop, just as it was the first stop for many agents on the way into Norway. In 1940, retreating

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

soldiers were hidden here, before being evacuated to

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

in fishing boats. 1941 was the first year that Norwegian boats covered the route between Norway and Shetland.

Leif Larsen Leif Andreas Larsen Distinguished Service Order, DSO, Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom), DSC, Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, CGM, Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom), DSM and Bar (9 January 1906 – 12 October 1990), popularly ...

(popularly known as ''Shetland Larsen''), a famous ''

Shetland Bus The Shetland Bus ( Norwegian Bokmål: ''Shetlandsbussene'', def. pl.) was the nickname of a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Mainland Shetland in Scotland and German-occupied Norway from 1941 until t ...

'' captain, was the first captain on this route. On November 17, 1943, the

HNoMS Hitra HNoMS ''Hitra'' is a Royal Norwegian Navy submarine chaser that saw action during World War II. She is named after the Norwegian island of Hitra. History Wartime service ''Hitra'' was originally built as a SC-497 class submarine chaser for th ...

, a converted U.S. submarine chaser, began to cover the route, shortly joined by the

MS Bergholm MS, ms, Ms, M.S., etc. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ms.'' (magazine), an American feminist magazine * Metal Storm (webzine), a heavy metal website based in Estonia Businesses and organizations * MS-13, criminal gang * Młodzi Socja ...

. Most allied activities on the northern coast lasted only 7–8 months, but Skorpa operated throughout the war.

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

soldiers made many house-to-house inspections, but never found any illegal equipment such as radios. A number of the residents were notably active in the resistance, including Gerhard and Sina Skorpen, who departed to England under the cover that they had drowned. Gerhard afterwards became a crew member of another converted U.S. submarine chaser, the

KNM Vigra KNM may refer to: * Kongelig Norsk Marine, Royal Norwegian Navy ship prefix * Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt, Royal Dutch Mint, mint of the Netherlands * Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (KNM) is an Islamic organization ...

, upon which Leif Larsen served as skipper. At the close of the war they returned to Skorpa.

References

Herøy, Møre og Romsdal Islands of Møre og Romsdal Military history of Norway during World War II Uninhabited islands of Norway Sunnmøre {{World-War-II-stub

World War II

See also

References