26-05-2025
Liberation Convoy – S/S Hestmanden opens to the public on Monday
The Norwegian War Sailor Museum arrived in Leith on Saturday and will open to the public on Monday morning.
Stian Lunde, Museum Mediator, S/S Hestmanden, and a team of volunteers will show people round the ship. One story is of a young teenager who joined the ship for two weeks, but meantime Germany invaded Norway, and the young man did not return home for six years. There are many stories of sailors who were exiled from their homeland, and much to see on board the vessel which is travelling to a number of ports.
The steamer, first coal-fired and now equipped with diesel engines may be seen from Ocean Terminal and is lying in front of Britannia. The Norwegian War Sailor Museum, is the last surviving vessel from Nortraship's extensive fleet.
Hestmanden is one of about 1,000 Norwegian merchant ships that supplied food, medicine, fuel and arms to the Allies throughout the Second World War.
From Monday morning the ship is open for guided tours and onboard exhibitions including films in two audio visual areas below decks where documentaries will be screened.
Monday 26: 11am – 5am
Tuesday 27: 11am – 5am
Wednesday 28: 11am – 5am
Thursday 29: 11am – 5am
S/S Hestmanden the only ship to survive both world wards in the 20th century
A flotilla of ships recreating the bravery of merchant war sailors and secretive special forces in a Liberation Convoy of historic vessels that once sailed as part of the daring 'Shetland Bus' during WWII was greeted with a floating salute as it arrived at Lerwick in time for the 80th anniversary of VE Day. This celebration of peace is considered by the organisers behind the convoy to be even more important than ever given the presence of war in Europe once more.
The vessels included four wartime fishing boats – S/S Hestmanden, M/K Erkna, M/K Andholmen, M/K Heland, M/B Arnefjord – that were used to ferry refugees from Norway to the UK, before returning with radios, explosives and British-trained Norwegian special forces soldiers ready to sabotage the occupying Nazi regime.
On arrival in Shetland the local lifeboat, and water jets fired into the air from other vessels and a replica Viking longboat were among those joining crowds of people at Lerwick Harbour as part of the special journey to commemorate the heroics of the 'Shetland Bus' crews.
From there the convoy sailed on and the Hestmanded visited Stromness in Orkney and Aberdeen en route to Edinburgh. From here the ship sails to Newcastle and then back to Norway. The convoy's aims are to commemorate the 80th anniversary of peace in Europe with a grand tribute to the heroic war sailors who risked or lost their lives during WW2, and to celebrate the close relationship between the UK and Norway.
About half Norway's merchant ships were torpedoed and sunk by German submarines, killing some 4,500 of the 30,000 Norwegian war sailors, while 44 of the Shetland Gang's members went down with boats sunk by fighter planes, submarines or harsh winter storms.
The convoy has been organised by an informal group of individual volunteers, maritime enthusiasts and wartime historians, museums and organisations. The project is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, the Norwegian Navy, the Norwegian-British Chamber of Commerce and several charitable foundations and Companies.
Norwegian and British dignitaries laid wreaths at The Shetland Bus Memorial in Scalloway today to commemorate the brave efforts of the British-Norwegian resistance during World War II.
Those attending included the Lord Lieutenant of Shetland, Norwegian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shetland Islands Council Convener and Norwegian Military Attaché.
During WWII, the Shetland Bus – a lifeline of Norwegian fishing boats and submarine chasers – smuggled agents, refugees, and supplies between Shetland and Nazi-occupied Norway.
The memorial includes a metal sculpture representing one of these fishing boats, placed on top of rocks gathered from the birthplaces of the 44 Norwegian crew members who died during the Shetland Bus operation. It's a poignant reminder of their sacrifices, and testament to the historical significance of Scalloway.
S/S Hestmanden the only ship to survive both world wards in the 20th century
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