HNoMS Thorodd

HNoMS Thorodd was a Royal Norwegian Navy patrol ship and minesweeper that served through the Second World War, first during the Norwegian Campaign that followed the invasion of Norway in 1940, and then from exile in the United Kingdom following the 10 June 1940 capitulation of mainland Norway. Thorodd was originally built as a steam escort trawler for the French Navy under the name Fleurus, before being sold to a Norwegian whaling firm who leased her to the Falkland Islands Government. SS Fleurus served as a commercial mail ship in the Falkland Islands Dependencies during the 1920s, and was the first vessel to carry paying tourists to Antarctica. Following the war, Thorodd was converted to a fishing trawler and sank in 1955.

Construction and early service

Fleurus was constructed by the Foundation Company of Savannah, Georgia as a steam escort trawler for the French Navy. She was delivered in 1919, after the end of the First World War, and remained in French service for only three years before being sold to Huret Sauvetage ("Huret Rescue") in Boulogne. In September 1924, she was again sold, this time to the Antarctic whaling firm A/S Tønsberg Hvalfangeri, based in Tønsberg, southern Norway. As built, Fleurus measured 406 gross register tons, with a steel hull and a triple-expansion steam engine. She was 140.1 feet LPP by 25.1 feet, with a draft of 13 feet. ==Falkland Islands Dependencies==

Falkland Islands Dependencies

Fleurus was converted to carry mail and passengers, and then leased to the Falkland Islands Government, which used her as a mail ship in the Falkland Islands Dependencies, a scattered collection of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands. The Fleurus service included five voyages per year between Stanley and the whaling stations at Grytviken on South Georgia, and less frequent journeys to the South Orkney Islands and the South Shetland Islands, the bases for small groups of whalers and sealers. In addition, she carried mail and passengers from Stanley to Montevideo, Uruguay. ==Royal Norwegian Navy==

Royal Norwegian Navy

In 1933, Fleurus was sold to Einar Veim in Bergen, and in 1935 sold to A/S Thorodd in Ålesund, when she was renamed Thorodd. She was hired by the Royal Norwegian Navy following the outbreak of the Second World War, and taken into service as a patrol ship based at Hammerfest in the far north of Norway. ==Postwar==

Postwar

In August 1945, at the end of the war, Thorodd was formally returned to A/S Thorodd. She was later converted to a 600 b.h.p. engine before being laid up in Ålesund in 1951. The following year, she was sold to the fisheries company A/S Grindhaugs Fiskeriselskap, which converted her to a seine trawler; after conversion, she was lengthened to 151.2 feet, with a tonnage of 452 gross register tons, and a 408 b.h.p. engine, making her the largest seine trawler operating in Norway. Outside the fishing season, Thorodd transported cargo between ports. She was carrying a cargo of ore from Visnes to Tofte on 6 October 1955 when a storm caused the cargo to shift and she developed a severe list. The crew abandoned ship and Thorodd sank. ==Notes==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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