The
Arctic Viking was launched in January 1937 and was fitted out whilst afloat on the
River Ouse in
Selby. During the Second World War, she was requisitioned into military service in October 1939 and named as
HMT Arctic Pioneer, with pennant number of
FY164. She patrolled the waters around
Dunkirk during the
evacuation of the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF), but there is no record of her actually carrying stranded British service personnel back to Britain. She was converted into an anti-submarine ship and was sunk by enemy aircraft outside
Portsmouth Harbour on 27 May 1942. 17 men were lost during the sinking, but she was later re-floated, largely due to the fact that the wreck was blocking one of the entrances into the harbour. The trawler had a refit at
Hartlepool in 1947 and re-entered the
North Sea fishing fleet operating out of
Hull. On 27 May 1956, the
Arctic Viking was in a collision with another British owned trawler (the
St Celestin) off the east coast of
Iceland. The chief engineer of the
St Celestin later stated that the
Arctic Viking practically sliced the other ship in two and that the water was waist deep within a matter of seconds. All 19 of the crew were rescued by the
Arctic Viking. During the first Cod War, the ship was rammed and shelled by Icelandic trawlers and the Icelandic Navy respectively. On 30 April 1959, the Icelandic boat,
Thor, attempted to detain the
Arctic Viking after she was observed fishing in Icelandic territorial waters, something that the Icelandic Government viewed as Illegal.
Thor tried to detain the
Arctic Viking, and when the trawler refused to stop, warning shots were fired. This turn of events resulted in the destroyer
HMS Contest firing on
Thor to prevent this from happening.
Thor had first fired warning shots at the
Arctic Viking, then later aimed shots were fired to disable her mast and communications equipment. When
HMS Contest fired star shells on
Thor, she retreated. The ship was operating out of Hull for the Boyd line at the time of its sinking in October 1961, under the pennant number H452. After a twenty-two day trip to the
White Sea, the
Arctic Viking was returning to her home port when she encountered winds and "mountainous seas". As she neared the
Yorkshire Coast, she kept rolling to one side, something that the skipper, Phillip Garner, took immediate action to try and remedy. However, she kept on listing and around 8:30 am on 18 October 1961, she rolled over so much that her mast and funnel were in the waterline and the vessel was abandoned by her crew. The first reports of her fate were radioed in from other ships in the area, with one stating that she was on her side at 10:30 am, and another just 38 minutes later stating that she had sunk completely. Five men perished in the sinking, with the storm delaying entry into the port of Hull for the
Derkacz until two days after the loss of the
Arctic Viking. The wreck of the
Arctic Viking was discovered in 2009, some off Flamborough Head and over down on the seabed. A dive team recovered the ships'
wheelhouse telegraph which indicated the ship was set at
full steam ahead when she went down. ==See also==