HMY Alexandra
Encyclopedia
HMY Alexandra was a steamship built as a British
royal yacht
, being completed in 1908. Normally transporting British royals to European ports, Alexandra served as a hospital ship
during the First World War
. After 17 years of British service, she was sold to Norwegian
commercial interests in 1925. Renamed Prins Olav, she was first used as a luxury cruise ship
on trips to the North Cape
, she was converted to take more passengers and cargo. In 1937 she began sailing as a Hurtigruten
passenger/cargo ship along the coast of Norway. After being requisitioned by the Norwegian government following the 9 April 1940 German invasion of Norway
, she transported troops for the Norwegian war effort. Prins Olav was sunk by German bombers on 9 June 1940, while attempting to escape to the United Kingdom as the Norwegian Campaign
was coming to an end.
, which had proven too large and unwieldy to carry out all her tasks satisfactorily. The contract for her construction was the first for a royal yacht to be given through open competition, the assignment going to the experienced River Clyde
shipbuilders A. & J. Inglis. The new ship was named for Queen Alexandra
, the consort of Edward VII of the United Kingdom
.
on 30 May 1907 in Glasgow
, Scotland
. The ship's sponsor was Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll
, Edward VII's sister.
Completed in April 1908, Alexandra had a gross register tonnage
of 2,113 tons, and a net register tonnage
of 1,135 tons. She could achieve a speed of 18 knots (35.3 km/h) with her three Parsons
turbines giving 4,035 ihp
. She was 90 metres (295.3 ft) long between perpendiculars, with a beam
of 12.2 metres (40 ft) and a draught of 13 feet (4 m). The ship featured a clipper
bow, two funnel
s and three masts
.
. The ship often carried Edward VII on holidays to Biarritz
and the Mediterranean
, or to Germany
. During the First World War Alexandra was used as a hospital ship. Following the First World War, Alexandra was rarely used, and was decommissioned in June 1922.
for £25,000. Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab had suffered heavy losses to German U-boat
s during the First World War, and needed to replenish and expand its fleet.
Alexandra was renamed Prins Olav, after Queen Alexandra's Norwegian grandson
. In Norwegian service she was assigned the code letters
LCVM.
in Western Norway on 3 July 1925. Her maiden cruise voyage going from Bergen to the North Cape in Northern Norway began on 5 July 1925.
Following the conclusion of the 1925 summer season, Prins Olav was modified at the shipyard Fredrikstad Mekaniske Verksted in Fredrikstad
from December 1925. The rebuild created accommodation for 100 passengers, while retaining the original royal quarters on the ship unaltered. Prins Olav served as an effective public relations
tool for Nordenfjeldske. The ship was especially popular with foreign tourists, and together with the new-built steamer Dronning Maud
she gave the company a dominating position in the tourist industry
in Northern Norway.
Between 1926 and 1930 Prins Olav sailed on summer cruises on the Norwegian coast. In winter time, Prins Olav was mothballed, with the exception of 1928, when winter cruises in the Mediterranean were carried out, something which was repeated in 1935. In the seasons of 1930 to 1935 she cruised between Edinburgh
in Scotland and the North Cape.
In 1936 she was taken out of service for a complete rebuild at Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted
and the Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab' s own repair yard Nordre Verft in Trondheim. As part of the 1936 Hurtigruten contract with the Norwegian government, Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab had obligated itself to put a new ship into the service. Rather than building a new ship, Nordenfjeldske decided to rebuild Prins Olav for the Hurtigruten cargo/passenger service on the coast of Norway. The rebuild, which lasted until 27 May 1937, changed her tonnage to 2,147 gross register tons (1,247 net register tons). In her new configuration she had the capacity to carry 450 passengers, with 95 cabins in the First Class section and 145 cabins in the Third Class section. Much effort was put into providing good standards for the Third Class section. Her turbines were replaced with a 3,500 ihp four-cylinder compound engine, the largest steam engine built in Norway up to that point in time. The engine had been manufactured by the shipyard Fredrikstad Mekaniske Verksted, where Prins Olav had previously had modification work done. The new shape of Prins Olav included a single funnel, unlike the two she had had in her previous guise. While Prins Olav had featured two decks and a shelter deck prior to her rebuild, the rebuilt ship had an additional promenade deck
and a cruiser stern.
The rebuilt ship, the largest and grandest in Hurtigruten service at the time, bore little exterior resemblance to the original royal yacht. Prins Olav was considered the flag ship of the Hurtigruten service.
Some four months after completing her rebuild, Prins Olav ran aground off Brønnøysund
in Nordland
on 25 September 1937, having to be recovered by the salvage ship
Traust.
The ship's royal connection continued in Norway. King Haakon VII of Norway
had visited the ship shortly after her rebuild, and in March 1938 she transported the King, her namesake Crown Prince Olav
and numerous officials and skiers to the 1938 Norwegian Skiing Championship in Mo i Rana
.
led to concerns in the Norwegian government with regards to the economy, and as a savings measure a decision to limit the Hurtigruten service from the ordinary seven sailings from Bergen a week to five was taken on 1 October 1939. After protests from the coastal population daily sailings were reintroduced on 5 December 1939.
from 11 April, she first transported Norwegian troops from the Lofoten
region to Sørreisa
in Troms
, and later from Kirkenes
in eastern Finnmark
to Gratangen
near the front lines at Narvik
. In the latter mission Prins Olav transported two companies of the 1st battalion of Infantry Regiment 12, the rest of the battalion having being shipped out several days earlier on the Hurtigruten ships and Kong Haakon, and the steamer Hestmanden. For the last stretch of their voyage, the Norwegian transports were escorted by the Norwegian patrol boat Heimdal
.
After completing her troop carrying missions she was camouflaged with grey paint and hidden in a fjord in Finnmark. As the fighting in Norway neared its end with the Allied evacuation
from the country following the German attack into France
, the Norwegian authorities instructed Prins Olav' s captain to sail west to the Faroe Islands
.
in western Finnmark, before sailing to Kågsund in Troms, where the Royal Norwegian Navy
's chief of staff, Captain Gunnar Hovdenak, was organizing the evacuation of merchant vessels from Northern Norway to the United Kingdom. Prins Olav embarked Captain Hovdenak and steamed alone towards the Faroe Islands in the early morning on 8 June, attempting to join the last of the British evacuation convoys to have left Norway. While Prins Olav had been bunkering in Hammerfest, false rumours had been circulating in the civilian population of the town that King Haakon and his government were on board.
On 9 June Prins Olav caught up with the fellow Hurtigruten steamer Ariadne. The two unarmed Norwegian vessels sailed together throughout the day. At 22:30 the ships were discovered by six Luftwaffe
Heinkel He 111
bombers from the II. Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader 26
, despatched from Værnes Air Station
near Trondheim to search for ships trying to escape from Northern Norway, and came under attack. After managing to avoid being hit for more than an hour by evasive manoeuvring at full speed, dodging 14 bombs, Prins Olav suffered a near miss which damaged her machinery and left her dead in the water. The crew abandoned ship while being strafed
by the German aircraft. Shortly after the crew had boarded life boats and left the ship, Prins Olav was struck by two bombs in the stern and caught fire before later sinking at 67°07′"N 01°00′"E. One crew member was killed in the sinking, four others wounded.
Ariadne, which had served as a hospital ship during the Norwegian Campaign but disembarked her medical personnel in Tromsø and had her red crosses painted over before departing, was also sunk by the German bombers, with the loss of nine lives. After the attack, the survivors of the two ships spent several hours in their life boats until rescued by the British destroyer . Arrow had been despatched after the British evacuation convoy had received a partial emergency radio signal from Prins Olav before the latter ship's antenna was knocked-out in the German bombing. The 81 survivors, nine of whom were female, of Prins Olav and Ariadne were landed at Scapa Flow
on 14 June.
. The captain of Prins Olav, Reidar Mauseth, testified at the hearing that the German bombers had been intentionally strafing the survivors in the life boats.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
royal yacht
Royal Yacht
A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head...
, being completed in 1908. Normally transporting British royals to European ports, Alexandra served as a hospital ship
Hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....
during the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. After 17 years of British service, she was sold to Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
commercial interests in 1925. Renamed Prins Olav, she was first used as a luxury cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
on trips to the North Cape
North Cape, Norway
North Cape is a cape on the island of Magerøya in Northern Norway, in the municipality of Nordkapp. Its 307 m high, steep cliff is often referred to as the northernmost point of Europe, located at , 2102.3 km from the North Pole. However, the neighbouring point Knivskjellodden is actually...
, she was converted to take more passengers and cargo. In 1937 she began sailing as a Hurtigruten
Hurtigruten
Hurtigruten or Hurtigruta is a Norwegian passenger and freight line with daily sailings along Norway's western and northern coast. Sometimes referred to in English as Norwegian Coastal Express, Hurtigruten ships sail almost the entire length of the country, completing the roundtrip journey in 11...
passenger/cargo ship along the coast of Norway. After being requisitioned by the Norwegian government following the 9 April 1940 German invasion of Norway
Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
, she transported troops for the Norwegian war effort. Prins Olav was sunk by German bombers on 9 June 1940, while attempting to escape to the United Kingdom as the Norwegian Campaign
Norwegian Campaign
The Norwegian Campaign was a military campaign that was fought in Norway during the Second World War between the Allies and Germany, after the latter's invasion of the country. In April 1940, the United Kingdom and France came to Norway's aid with an expeditionary force...
was coming to an end.
Background
Alexandra was intended to supplement the larger royal yacht Victoria and AlbertHMY Victoria and Albert III
HMY Victoria and Albert III a Royal Yacht of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. The yacht was designed by the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy Sir William White. She was launched in 1899 but was not ready for service until 1901...
, which had proven too large and unwieldy to carry out all her tasks satisfactorily. The contract for her construction was the first for a royal yacht to be given through open competition, the assignment going to the experienced River Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
shipbuilders A. & J. Inglis. The new ship was named for Queen Alexandra
Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
, the consort of Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
.
Construction
Alexandra had yard number 280 and was launchedShip naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 30 May 1907 in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The ship's sponsor was Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll
Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll
The Princess Louise was a member of the British Royal Family, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and her husband, Albert, Prince Consort.Louise's early life was spent moving between the various royal residences in the...
, Edward VII's sister.
Completed in April 1908, Alexandra had a gross register tonnage
Gross Register Tonnage
Gross register tonnage a ship's total internal volume expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated from the total permanently enclosed capacity of the vessel. The ship's net register tonnage is obtained by reducing the volume of non-revenue-earning spaces i.e...
of 2,113 tons, and a net register tonnage
Net register tonnage
Net register tonnage is a ship's cargo volume capacity expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated by reducing non-revenue-earning spaces i.e. spaces not available for carrying cargo, for example engine rooms, fuel tanks and crew quarters, from the ship's...
of 1,135 tons. She could achieve a speed of 18 knots (35.3 km/h) with her three Parsons
Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company
Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company was a British engineering company based in Wallsend, North England, on the River Tyne.-History:The company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1897 with £500,000 of capital, and specialised in building the steam turbine engines that he had invented for...
turbines giving 4,035 ihp
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
. She was 90 metres (295.3 ft) long between perpendiculars, with a beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 12.2 metres (40 ft) and a draught of 13 feet (4 m). The ship featured a clipper
Clipper
A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the 19th century that had three or more masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area...
bow, two funnel
Funnel (ship)
A funnel is the smokestack or chimney on a ship used to expel boiler steam and smoke or engine exhaust. They can also be known in as stacks.-Purpose:...
s and three masts
Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...
.
British service
In her service as a royal yacht, Alexandra was manned by the Royal NavyRoyal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. The ship often carried Edward VII on holidays to Biarritz
Biarritz
Biarritz is a city which lies on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast, in south-western France. It is a luxurious seaside town and is popular with tourists and surfers....
and the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, or to Germany
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
. During the First World War Alexandra was used as a hospital ship. Following the First World War, Alexandra was rarely used, and was decommissioned in June 1922.
Norwegian career
In May 1925 she was sold to the Norwegian shipping company Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab (NFDS) in TrondheimTrondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
for £25,000. Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab had suffered heavy losses to German U-boat
U-boat Campaign (World War I)
The U-boat Campaign from 1914 to 1918 was the World War I naval campaign fought by German U-boats against the trade routes of the Entente Powers...
s during the First World War, and needed to replenish and expand its fleet.
Alexandra was renamed Prins Olav, after Queen Alexandra's Norwegian grandson
Olav V of Norway
Olav V was the king of Norway from 1957 until his death. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Olav was born in the United Kingdom as the son of King Haakon VII of Norway and Queen Maud of Norway...
. In Norwegian service she was assigned the code letters
Code letters
Code letters were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids. Later, with the introduction of radio, code letters were also used as radio callsigns.-History:...
LCVM.
Cruise ship
The first years in Norway she was used as a luxury cruise ship. After a minor refurbishing in Trondheim, Prins Olav left for BergenBergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
in Western Norway on 3 July 1925. Her maiden cruise voyage going from Bergen to the North Cape in Northern Norway began on 5 July 1925.
Following the conclusion of the 1925 summer season, Prins Olav was modified at the shipyard Fredrikstad Mekaniske Verksted in Fredrikstad
Fredrikstad
is a city and municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad....
from December 1925. The rebuild created accommodation for 100 passengers, while retaining the original royal quarters on the ship unaltered. Prins Olav served as an effective public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
tool for Nordenfjeldske. The ship was especially popular with foreign tourists, and together with the new-built steamer Dronning Maud
SS Dronning Maud (1925)
SS Dronning Maud was 1,489 ton steel-hulled steamship built in 1925 by the Norwegian shipyard Fredrikstad Mekaniske Verksted in Fredrikstad. Dronning Maud had been ordered by the Trondheim-based company Det Nordenfjeldske Dampskipsselskap for the passenger and freight service Hurtigruten along the...
she gave the company a dominating position in the tourist industry
Tourism in Norway
The main tourist attractions of Norway are the fjord-indented coastline and its mountains, the unspoiled nature of the inner parts of the country, and the cities and smaller towns.-Attractions:...
in Northern Norway.
Between 1926 and 1930 Prins Olav sailed on summer cruises on the Norwegian coast. In winter time, Prins Olav was mothballed, with the exception of 1928, when winter cruises in the Mediterranean were carried out, something which was repeated in 1935. In the seasons of 1930 to 1935 she cruised between Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in Scotland and the North Cape.
Hurtigruten
Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted
Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted or TMV was a major shipbuilding company in Trondheim, Norway.-History:It was founded in 1872 by engineer and industrialist, Sophus August Weidemann. Weidemann had started in 1864 as manager of one of the pioneer companies in Trondheim...
and the Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab
Promenade deck
The promenade deck is a deck found on several types of passenger ships and riverboats. It usually extends from bow to stern, on both ddd,çsides, and includes areas open to the outside, resulting in a continuous outside walkway suitable for promenading, thus the name.On older passenger ships, the...
and a cruiser stern.
The rebuilt ship, the largest and grandest in Hurtigruten service at the time, bore little exterior resemblance to the original royal yacht. Prins Olav was considered the flag ship of the Hurtigruten service.
Some four months after completing her rebuild, Prins Olav ran aground off Brønnøysund
Brønnøysund
is a town and the administrative centre of the municipality of Brønnøy, Norway. It is also a former municipality in Nordland county. The village of Brønnøysund received town status in 2000. The city lies along the coast and is often called "the coastal town in the middle of Norway." Brønnøysund...
in Nordland
Nordland
is a county in Norway in the North Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is...
on 25 September 1937, having to be recovered by the salvage ship
Salvage tug
A salvage tug is a specialized type of tugboat which is used to rescue or marine salvage ships which are in distress or in danger of sinking, or which have already sunk or run aground....
Traust.
The ship's royal connection continued in Norway. King Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
had visited the ship shortly after her rebuild, and in March 1938 she transported the King, her namesake Crown Prince Olav
Olav V of Norway
Olav V was the king of Norway from 1957 until his death. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Olav was born in the United Kingdom as the son of King Haakon VII of Norway and Queen Maud of Norway...
and numerous officials and skiers to the 1938 Norwegian Skiing Championship in Mo i Rana
Mo i Rana
Mo i Rana is a town in the municipality of Rana, Nordland, Norway, located just south of the Arctic Circle and in the region Helgeland. The town is called "Mo i Rana" to distinquish it from other places named Mo - most notably the town of Mosjøen, also in Helgeland - though locally the town is...
.
Second World War
The outbreak of the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
led to concerns in the Norwegian government with regards to the economy, and as a savings measure a decision to limit the Hurtigruten service from the ordinary seven sailings from Bergen a week to five was taken on 1 October 1939. After protests from the coastal population daily sailings were reintroduced on 5 December 1939.
Norwegian Campaign
When the Germans invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, Prins Olav was in the northern port of Harstad, having begun her north-bound route from Bergen on 1 April. Being in the part of Norway which initially avoided being occupied, Prins Olav was requisitioned to assist with the Norwegian mobilization effort. Serving as a troop shipTroopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
from 11 April, she first transported Norwegian troops from the Lofoten
Lofoten
Lofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude.-Etymology:...
region to Sørreisa
Sørreisa
Sørreisa is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sørreisa.- General information :...
in Troms
Troms
or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...
, and later from Kirkenes
Kirkenes
is a town in the municipality of Sør-Varanger in the county of Finnmark in the far northeast of Norway...
in eastern Finnmark
Finnmark
or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...
to Gratangen
Gratangen
Gratangen is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is part of the Hålogaland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Årstein. The municipality encompasses the land on both sides of the Gratangen fjord. European route E6 runs through the...
near the front lines at Narvik
Battles of Narvik
The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April-8 June 1940 as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian city of Narvik as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War....
. In the latter mission Prins Olav transported two companies of the 1st battalion of Infantry Regiment 12, the rest of the battalion having being shipped out several days earlier on the Hurtigruten ships and Kong Haakon, and the steamer Hestmanden. For the last stretch of their voyage, the Norwegian transports were escorted by the Norwegian patrol boat Heimdal
HNoMS Heimdal OPV (1892)
HNoMS Heimdal was a Norwegian warship built at Akers mekaniske verksted in Kristiania, Norway in 1892 with build number 137.She was built to patrol Norwegian territorial waters and act as a rescue ship for sea travelers...
.
After completing her troop carrying missions she was camouflaged with grey paint and hidden in a fjord in Finnmark. As the fighting in Norway neared its end with the Allied evacuation
Operation Alphabet
Operation Alphabet was an evacuation, authorized on May 24, 1940, of Allied troops from the harbour of Narvik in northern Norway marking the success of Nazi Germany's Operation Weserübung of April 9 and the end of the Allied campaign in Norway during World War II...
from the country following the German attack into France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
, the Norwegian authorities instructed Prins Olav
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
.
Last voyage and sinking
On 7 June 1940 Prins Olav bunkered in the port of HammerfestHammerfest
is a city and municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The municipality encompasses parts of three islands: Kvaløya, Sørøya, and Seiland. Hammerfest was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
in western Finnmark, before sailing to Kågsund in Troms, where the Royal Norwegian Navy
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy is the branch of the Norwegian Defence Force responsible for naval operations. , the RNoN consists of approximately 3,700 personnel and 70 vessels, including 5 heavy frigates, 6 submarines, 14 patrol boats, 4 minesweepers, 4 minehunters, 1 mine detection vessel, 4 support...
's chief of staff, Captain Gunnar Hovdenak, was organizing the evacuation of merchant vessels from Northern Norway to the United Kingdom. Prins Olav embarked Captain Hovdenak and steamed alone towards the Faroe Islands in the early morning on 8 June, attempting to join the last of the British evacuation convoys to have left Norway. While Prins Olav had been bunkering in Hammerfest, false rumours had been circulating in the civilian population of the town that King Haakon and his government were on board.
On 9 June Prins Olav caught up with the fellow Hurtigruten steamer Ariadne. The two unarmed Norwegian vessels sailed together throughout the day. At 22:30 the ships were discovered by six Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
Heinkel He 111
Heinkel He 111
The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium...
bombers from the II. Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader 26
Kampfgeschwader 26
Kampfgeschwader 26 "Löwengeschwader" was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II .Its units participated on all of the fronts in the European Theatre until it was disbanded in September–October 1944. It operated two of the major German bomber types; the Heinkel He 111 and the Junkers Ju 88...
, despatched from Værnes Air Station
Værnes Air Station
Værnes Air Station is an air station of the Royal Norwegian Air Force located in Stjørdal, Norway. It is co-located with Trondheim Airport, Værnes, which is owned and operated by Avinor. As an air station, the aerodrome is primarily used for the Marine Corps Preposition Program Norway, which...
near Trondheim to search for ships trying to escape from Northern Norway, and came under attack. After managing to avoid being hit for more than an hour by evasive manoeuvring at full speed, dodging 14 bombs, Prins Olav suffered a near miss which damaged her machinery and left her dead in the water. The crew abandoned ship while being strafed
Strafing
Strafing is the practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. This means, that although ground attack using automatic weapons fire is very often accompanied with bombing or rocket fire, the term "strafing" does not specifically include the...
by the German aircraft. Shortly after the crew had boarded life boats and left the ship, Prins Olav was struck by two bombs in the stern and caught fire before later sinking at 67°07′"N 01°00′"E. One crew member was killed in the sinking, four others wounded.
Ariadne, which had served as a hospital ship during the Norwegian Campaign but disembarked her medical personnel in Tromsø and had her red crosses painted over before departing, was also sunk by the German bombers, with the loss of nine lives. After the attack, the survivors of the two ships spent several hours in their life boats until rescued by the British destroyer . Arrow had been despatched after the British evacuation convoy had received a partial emergency radio signal from Prins Olav before the latter ship's antenna was knocked-out in the German bombing. The 81 survivors, nine of whom were female, of Prins Olav and Ariadne were landed at Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
on 14 June.
Aftermath
A hearing on the loss of Prins Olav and Ariadne was held on 24 June 1940 in Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. The captain of Prins Olav, Reidar Mauseth, testified at the hearing that the German bombers had been intentionally strafing the survivors in the life boats.