Nortraship: The Norwegian Fleet and WWII

Germany invaded Norway in April 1940, and defeated the Nordic nation in a 62-day campaign. But Norwegians continued to serve the Allied cause throughout the war. One of the least remembered, most important, and most unique roles was not about strength of arms, but about gross tonnage. The History Guy remembers the critical role played by "the largest shipping company in the world."

This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.

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Script by JCG

#wwii #thehistoryguy #norway

[nonamesplease]

Amazing story. The Norwegians fought heroically before they were overwhelmed and fought on elsewhere. I find it most telling that not a single Norwegian ship returned to occupied Norway.
The heroism of Norwegians, Poles, and other people who fought on after the Nazis conquered their countries needs to be remembered.

[shooter]

I spent 4 months on a Norwegian diving support vessel in Brazil. They taught me that no matter where you go in the world you will find at least one Norwegian and one empty bottle.

[NorwegianPatriot]

I was told a story of one of the warsailors /Krigsseiler that came from my home town. When the peace came he was somewhere in Australia and didn't return until 1947. When he finally came home he walked in our town in his sailorsuit and duffelbag. He met with some of his childhood friends that teased him about the uniform, and why he was still wearing it years after the peace. Fact was that the uniform and some personal effects in the duffel was all he had after two torpedings and 8 years of sailing during wartime (39-47). He was later to turn to the bottle due to severe ptsd and was labeled crazy by the younger people, fighting for his pension that came to little to late. Evig heder!

[jennyd]

My Dad, a Canadian, was a radio operator on Norwegian merchant vessels in WW2. The Canadian government didn't give the merchant navy veterans any benefits or pensions until 1992 by which time many of the men had died. My uncles who served in the regular forces were able to pursue university degrees after the war thanks to their benefits but this was not available to my father. Thanks for bringing the merchant sailors important, and dangerous, contribution to the war effort to light.

[briangarrow]

I grew up in a Pacific Northwest logging town. Many of my neighbors were Norwegian. The history of their fight against the Nazis was a regular topic at the local Son's of Norway Hall.

[snubbedpeer]

The Norwegian author Per Hansson wrote a book called "One out of ten had to die" about Norwegian wartime sailors and helped to make it known that they suffered PTSD. He said: "Some of the men I interviewed for the book are still sailing in the convoys. They have nightmares and cries during the night, and they are always in bed with open doors so that they can rush out to the deck." Another sailor who was torpedoed several times and who was finally rescued in the Pacific almost died from thirst. He always had a lid of a pot in his kitchen sink and opened the tap slightly so that drops would fall on the lid and make a sound so that he knew he had water.

[janhanchenmichelsen]

From a Norwegian: Thank you for telling this story about individual courage and national shame. As you said, the war sailors never gained proper official recognition after the war, many suffered badly from PTSD and many ended up on skid row. But, thankfully, their legacy is celebrated today. One day, maybe author Jon Michelet’s opus magnum, a massive six-volume novel about the war sailors will be translated. (A TV series is under production).

[petej]

Have you ever though about doing an episode on the "Shetland Bus" Operations of WW2?
I would love to see your take on this as you are excellent at presenting the subjects you cover. Honestly, when it comes to History no other channel comes close.
The Shetland Bus was a clandestine operation which ran between the Shetland Islands (Britain's northernmost land's) & Norway for the duration of WW2. Taking refugees & agents out of Norway for Britain & taking in agents & materials for the resistance. It was traditional Norwegian fishing vessels used to start with & they had around 14 vessels at the start. These were complimented with 3 Sub Chasers donated from the US Navy in late 1943.
Due to the Islands location (so far North) & with the summer nights being so light most of the operations were done in the Autumn/Winter with the long nights.
They were involved in some memorable operations, such as being the 1st vessel to tow across midget submarines to use on Tirpitz. This operation didn't succeed however.
It's a very interesting story & I think you would really do it justice.

[obi-wankenobi]

Yeees. Both my grandads served in this fleet thank you for giving them the light that they deserve.

[einarbolstad]

Thanks for spreading information on Nortraship. The story of the "krigsseilere", the "war sailors", is a story with two very different sides. On one side, you have the huge contribution to the war effort these sailors and ships made. A vital contribution to beat the Nazis. On the other side, you have the horrible treatment that the sailors suffered by our government after the war. The former side is a side of sacrifice, heroism and pride, the latter a side of shame. The lack of recognition given to these sailors by the state is really incomprehensible, it took way too long for this to be partly rectified. The acts of some of the shipowners may also wind up on the shame side, but all in all, the Nortraship legacy is a proud one.

[Krogenator]

My grandmother lost two of her three brothers during WW2, they all served in the merchent fleet.
I thank you for keeping their sacrifice in people's mind.

[jimmyhillschin]

Great to see someone finally giving credit to Norwegians' immense contribution to the Allied effort in WWII. It's something you keep on coming across in naval accounts and books like The Cruel Sea - of Norwegian tankers, freighters and destroyers in the Battle of the Atlantic: of good seamen, good ships and good leadership.

[drumboarder]

I can't always get in the mood for history but these are the right amount of almost exclusively blunt fact and SLIGHT personality.

I really wish this existed 10 years ago so I could sit down with my Pop and watch these

[nexern]

Honored to have norwegian ancestors who served on the sea and gave their lives. Thank you for telling their story :)

[torgeirbrandsnes]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! This was an awesome episode. The shipowners were blamed for putting their own ships out of harms way. After the war the sailors were treated SO bad. Today I am not sure how many are left. One ship is a floating working was museum. That is the steamer d/s «Hestmannen» it was built in 1911 and she served in both wars. She was a lucky ship all the sailors said. I have so many links I could send you, but they are all in Norwegian. Be safe, and stay safe!

[kaycox]

Amazing story of which I knew nothing!

[jonjorstad]

My grandfather immigrated to the U.S. in1904 and served on the Great Lakes ore carriers...he was in his 70's when WW11 broke out...despite his age he signed up for duty on merchant ships on the north Atlantic. He survived and was admired very much for his brave servive

[Mathias_NOrWAY]

Amazing video, thanks for sharing! As a Norwegian, I have many relatives who worked all theire lifes on different kinds of ships, spanning several generations. My great-grandfather served on two ships during the war from april 1940, before coming home to Norway and his wife and five children in the start of 1946.

His first ship was attacked by Stukas while crossing the english channel, and still managed to get across after one bomb hit the front of the ship and was riddled with machinegun and cannonfire. And his second ship was torpedoed along with the sistership of the one he was onboard right outside the east coast of the US, the ones remaining survived on a liferaft for almost two days in the end of the winter before getting rescued by Catalinas.

One of his earlier shipmates was interwieved about 20 years later on norwegian tv, and the one story that had stuck with me since was:

- On one of the many convoys from America to England, a ship in front of them was hit by a torpedo and instantly started to sink in the middle of the Atlantic. All the people onboard knew they had almost a 0% chance of surviving and many ran to the front climbing railings as the ship sank. All the ships had strict rules against stopping to rescue survivors because of the threat of the german wolfpacks of submarines/uboats, so when his ship sailed by his friends who were minutes away from dying they yelled across from the sinking ship: "Please write home, tell them what happened and that we did the best we could! Tell them to don't be sad, this was only a matter of time!" Almost all the men were in theire early twenties, and some even younger, and when our government finally decided to give the "Krigsseilerene" as we say in norwegian even some kind of recognition and compensation in the 1990's and early 2000's most of them had already passed away..

[zzzyxwv]

My Swedish grandfathers brother was chiefmechanic on chartered swedish ships going in convoy. In one convoy the ship before and after his was sunk. He was sunk three times! Saved last time and next day by a fully illuminated Swiss ship with the Swiss flag on the side. He survived the war but I never met him. He died young.

[Erin-Thor]

Thank you for this, as a person of Norwegian heritage i found this most interesting! I can still remember snippets of conversations from grandparents of WW2 stories relayed from relatives in Norway during the German occupation. (They were of hellish resistance.) Appreciate your work Sir!