Norwegian Lady Statues
Encyclopedia
Norwegian Lady Statues are located in the sister cities of Moss
, a coastal town and municipality
in the county
of Østfold
, Norway
, and at the Oceanfront (boardwalk
) in the coastal resort city of Virginia Beach, Virginia
in the United States
. They commemorate the lives lost in the 1891 shipwreck
of the Norwegian barque
Dictator off the coast of Virginia Beach and the lifesaving efforts of the community.
, March 27, 1891, the Norwegian barque Dictator, whose home port was the coastal town of Moss, Norway
, was lost in the Atlantic Ocean
south of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay
off Virginia Beach, Virginia
. The Dictator had a crew of 15 and the captain's family aboard. The sailing ship had been en route to West Hartlepool
, England
from Pensacola, Florida
with a cargo of Georgia Pine lumber
. After being caught and disabled in several storms along the East Coast of the United States, she was headed up the coast for port at Hampton Roads
at Norfolk, Virginia
to make repairs when she encountered gale force winds.
Just a few miles south of Cape Henry
, and the comparative shelter of the Chesapeake Bay, the sailing ship was driven aground on a sandbar over 300 yards (300 m) offshore of Virginia Beach near present-day 37th street. Her only two lifeboats were destroyed as the main mast and other rigging fell onto the deck. As the vacationing guests of the Princess Anne Hotel and area residents of the small new resort town watched, members from Seatack
and Cape Henry
Lifesaving Stations of the United States Lifesaving Service (a predecessor agency of the United States Coast Guard
) worked in the high winds and seas at rescue efforts beginning about 10:45 A.M.
Combined with efforts of the ship's crew, 8 of the 17 persons aboard were saved using several methods including a breeches buoy
before it was too dark to continue. Johanne Jørgensen, the pregnant young wife of Captain Jørgen M. Jørgensen, and their 4 year-old son Carl Zealand Jørgensen, were among those who drowned in a final escape attempt as the ship broke up. One more sailor survived, but other five sailors were also drowned. The Captain was somehow spared and washed ashore semi-conscious, but still alive. http://www.qsl.net/vbarc/news/1999/mar99.html
Captain Jørgensen and the 9 surviving members of his crew were taken to Norfolk. They were aided by the Norwegian Consul and various religious and benevolent shipping groups. All but one of those drowned were buried in Norfolk's Elmwood Cemetery. The remaining sailor, whose body washed ashore a few days later after the wreck, was interred at a local cemetery near the Oceanfront.
In those days, the tragic shipwreck of the Dictator (and the resulting loss of life) was not an unusual event for the local citizenry in this northernmost area of the Graveyard of the Atlantic
. The treacherous waters in the area extend south along the North Carolina
coast and had claimed many hundreds of vessels. However, as an impromptu memorial was erected shortly thereafter, the story of the Dictator and the souls aboard her would become part of both local tradition and legend in coastal Princess Anne County
and Virginia Beach.
Since early days of navigation, a ship's figurehead
had often been a feature intended in some way to help ensure a safe and prosperous voyage. After the breakup and sinking of the Dictator, the ship's wooden female figurehead had washed ashore nearby. Spotted by a young guest, it was retrieved by the manager of the Princess Anne Hotel. He subsequently had it placed in a vertical position facing the ocean near the boardwalk as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the shipwreck
. Known as the "Norwegian Lady", it was a landmark at Virginia Beach's Boardwalk at 16th street for more than 60 years as the town became incorporated in 1906 and grew to become a small city in 1923.
In the brutal coastal weather, the figurehead gradually became weathered and eroded. Then, during Hurricane Barbara in 1953, it was significantly damaged and was removed to a city-owned building for safe-keeping. Subsequently, a few years later, city officials could not locate it, speculating that it had been stolen, or destroyed by accident. Figureheads had long-since been discontinued as a feature of most ships, but the Norwegian Lady had become more than a mere ship's figurehead to the people of Virginia Beach; she was a memorial and a community icon
.
Norwegian sculptor Ørnulf Bast
was commissioned to create two nine-foot bronze replicas of the original figurehead. The Norwegian Lady statues were unveiled on September 22, 1962. One was presented as a gift to Virginia Beach, and an exact duplicate was erected in Moss, Norway to unite the two cities. Each statue gives the appearance of facing the other across the Atlantic Ocean
(but in reality, the directions of their respective gazes are almost perpendicular to each other).
Moss and Virginia Beach officially became sister cities in 1974. Every year on the anniversary of the wreck, the Ladies Auxiliary of the Virginia Beach Volunteer Fire Department places a wreath at the base of the statue there. On October 13, 1995, during a state visit, Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway
visited the Norwegian Lady statue in Virginia Beach, and placed memorial flowers. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp951018/10170090.htm
The statue in Moss receives similar honors. Virginia Beach officials have traveled to Moss, and paid similar respects to the "other" Norwegian Lady.
On the pedestal of the Virginia Beach statue, these words are inscribed:
Moss, Norway
is a coastal city and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Moss. The city of Moss was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
, a coastal town and municipality
Municipalities of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...
in the county
Counties of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 430 municipalities...
of Østfold
Østfold
is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden , while Buskerud and Vestfold is on the other side of the bay. The seat of the county administration is Sarpsborg, and Fredrikstad is the largest city.Many manufacturing facilities are situated here. Moss and...
, Norway
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...
, and at the Oceanfront (boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....
) in the coastal resort city of Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. They commemorate the lives lost in the 1891 shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
of the Norwegian barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
Dictator off the coast of Virginia Beach and the lifesaving efforts of the community.
Wreck of the Dictator
On Good FridayGood Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
, March 27, 1891, the Norwegian barque Dictator, whose home port was the coastal town of Moss, Norway
Moss, Norway
is a coastal city and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Moss. The city of Moss was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
, was lost in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
south of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
off Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...
. The Dictator had a crew of 15 and the captain's family aboard. The sailing ship had been en route to West Hartlepool
West Hartlepool
This article refers to the place; for the Rugby Football Club see West Hartlepool R.F.C.West Hartlepool refers to the western part of the what has since the 1960s been known as the borough of Hartlepool in North East England...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
with a cargo of Georgia Pine lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
. After being caught and disabled in several storms along the East Coast of the United States, she was headed up the coast for port at Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
at Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
to make repairs when she encountered gale force winds.
Just a few miles south of Cape Henry
Cape Henry
Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia north of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Charles...
, and the comparative shelter of the Chesapeake Bay, the sailing ship was driven aground on a sandbar over 300 yards (300 m) offshore of Virginia Beach near present-day 37th street. Her only two lifeboats were destroyed as the main mast and other rigging fell onto the deck. As the vacationing guests of the Princess Anne Hotel and area residents of the small new resort town watched, members from Seatack
Seatack, Virginia
Seatack, Virginia was located in Princess Anne County and is now part of the Oceanfront resort strip and adjacent area of the independent city of Virginia Beach. The Seatack community of Virginia Beach includes an area inland from the resort strip along present-day Virginia Beach Boulevard. Seatack...
and Cape Henry
Cape Henry
Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia north of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Charles...
Lifesaving Stations of the United States Lifesaving Service (a predecessor agency of the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
) worked in the high winds and seas at rescue efforts beginning about 10:45 A.M.
Combined with efforts of the ship's crew, 8 of the 17 persons aboard were saved using several methods including a breeches buoy
Breeches buoy
A breeches buoy is a crude rope-based rescue device used to extract people from wrecked vessels, or to transfer people from one location to another in situations of danger. The device resembles a round emergency personal flotation device with a leg harness attached...
before it was too dark to continue. Johanne Jørgensen, the pregnant young wife of Captain Jørgen M. Jørgensen, and their 4 year-old son Carl Zealand Jørgensen, were among those who drowned in a final escape attempt as the ship broke up. One more sailor survived, but other five sailors were also drowned. The Captain was somehow spared and washed ashore semi-conscious, but still alive. http://www.qsl.net/vbarc/news/1999/mar99.html
Captain Jørgensen and the 9 surviving members of his crew were taken to Norfolk. They were aided by the Norwegian Consul and various religious and benevolent shipping groups. All but one of those drowned were buried in Norfolk's Elmwood Cemetery. The remaining sailor, whose body washed ashore a few days later after the wreck, was interred at a local cemetery near the Oceanfront.
In those days, the tragic shipwreck of the Dictator (and the resulting loss of life) was not an unusual event for the local citizenry in this northernmost area of the Graveyard of the Atlantic
Graveyard of the Atlantic
Graveyard of the Atlantic is a nickname of two locations known for numerous shipwrecks: the treacherous waters in the Atlantic Ocean along the Outer Banks of North Carolina and the Virginia coastline south of the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay at Cape Henry; and around Sable Island, off the coast...
. The treacherous waters in the area extend south along the North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
coast and had claimed many hundreds of vessels. However, as an impromptu memorial was erected shortly thereafter, the story of the Dictator and the souls aboard her would become part of both local tradition and legend in coastal Princess Anne County
Princess Anne County, Virginia
Princess Anne County is a former county which was created in the British Colony of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States in 1691. The county was merged into the city of Virginia Beach...
and Virginia Beach.
Ship's figurehead: Norwegian Lady memorial
Figurehead
A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships largely made between the 16th and 19th century.-History:Although earlier ships had often had some form of bow ornamentation A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships largely made between the 16th and...
had often been a feature intended in some way to help ensure a safe and prosperous voyage. After the breakup and sinking of the Dictator, the ship's wooden female figurehead had washed ashore nearby. Spotted by a young guest, it was retrieved by the manager of the Princess Anne Hotel. He subsequently had it placed in a vertical position facing the ocean near the boardwalk as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
. Known as the "Norwegian Lady", it was a landmark at Virginia Beach's Boardwalk at 16th street for more than 60 years as the town became incorporated in 1906 and grew to become a small city in 1923.
In the brutal coastal weather, the figurehead gradually became weathered and eroded. Then, during Hurricane Barbara in 1953, it was significantly damaged and was removed to a city-owned building for safe-keeping. Subsequently, a few years later, city officials could not locate it, speculating that it had been stolen, or destroyed by accident. Figureheads had long-since been discontinued as a feature of most ships, but the Norwegian Lady had become more than a mere ship's figurehead to the people of Virginia Beach; she was a memorial and a community icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
.
New statues for sister cities
As the story of the lost memorial grew in Virginia Beach, community interest spread across the ocean to Moss. A drive began at both ends to replace the memorial. With a substantial contribution of the Norwegian Shipping Association, enough funds were raised to pay for not just a replacement for Virginia Beach, but two new statues.Norwegian sculptor Ørnulf Bast
Ørnulf Bast
Ørnulf Bast was a Norwegian sculptor and painter particularly known for his public monuments.-Background:...
was commissioned to create two nine-foot bronze replicas of the original figurehead. The Norwegian Lady statues were unveiled on September 22, 1962. One was presented as a gift to Virginia Beach, and an exact duplicate was erected in Moss, Norway to unite the two cities. Each statue gives the appearance of facing the other across the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
(but in reality, the directions of their respective gazes are almost perpendicular to each other).
Moss and Virginia Beach officially became sister cities in 1974. Every year on the anniversary of the wreck, the Ladies Auxiliary of the Virginia Beach Volunteer Fire Department places a wreath at the base of the statue there. On October 13, 1995, during a state visit, Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway
Queen Sonja of Norway
Queen Sonja of Norway is the wife of King Harald V of Norway.-Prior to marriage:Sonja was born in Oslo on 4 July 1937 as the daughter of clothing merchant Karl August Haraldsen and Dagny Ulrichsen .Queen Sonja grew up in the district of Vinderen in Oslo and completed her lower secondary schooling...
visited the Norwegian Lady statue in Virginia Beach, and placed memorial flowers. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp951018/10170090.htm
The statue in Moss receives similar honors. Virginia Beach officials have traveled to Moss, and paid similar respects to the "other" Norwegian Lady.
On the pedestal of the Virginia Beach statue, these words are inscribed:
-
- "I am the Norwegian Lady. I stand here, as my sister before me, to wish all men of the sea safe return home."