SS Irma ( 1905 ) SS " Irma " was a 1 , 322 - ton steamship built by the British shipyard Sir Raylton Dixon & Co . Ltd . in Middlesbrough in the north - east of England . She was delivered to the Norwegian passenger ship company Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab of Bergen in 1905 . " Irma " sailed for the company until she was attacked and sunk by two MTB s belonging to the Royal Norwegian Navy on 13 February 1944 . Before the Second World War . After delivery , " Irma " served on the Bergen – Newcastle route until she was transferred to Norway in the autumn of 1921 to carry out tourist voyages to the North Cape and Spitsbergen in the summer seasons . In 1927 , she was put on the Norway – Hamburg route , replacing SS " Neptun " and SS " Mira " . A new heating system was installed in 1913 and wireless radio in 1914 . " Irma " had a new streamlined rudder put in place in 1928 . In 1931 , she joined the Hurtigruten route in Norway , replacing SS " Hera " after the latter ' s shipwreck in March that year . " Irma " was rebuilt that year and once again the year after that . In a series of upgrades she received a refrigeration system in 1933 , improved navigational equipment in 1938 and an echo sounding device in 1939 . " Irma " was a very popular ship amongst her passengers , with her smoking salon receiving particular praise . She had only one serious accident in the pre - war years , which occurred when she hit a reef off Kabelvåg in the Lofoten islands in 1937 . Although suffering leaks in her port side , " Irma " managed to make port in Kabelvåg and put ashore all of her 120 passengers . Repairs were carried out at a shipyard in Bergen . Second World War . Troopship duties . Following the outbreak of the Finnish - Soviet Winter War in late November 1939 Norway reinforced her northern border forces and " Irma " was dispatched from the Nordland port of Mosjøen on 11 December 1939 , transporting a load of Norwegian troops to the border with the Soviet - occupied Finnish district of Petsamo . The troops transported on " Irma " belonged to the first battalion of Infantry Regiment 14 . Initially the orders from the military had been that the entire battalion was to board " Irma " for the journey to Finnmark , even though the ship was only certified to carry less than half the number of people involved . After vivid protests from both soldiers and officers over safety concerns and overcrowding , the original plan was abandoned and only half the battalion shipped off on " Irma " , the other half transported days later on the fellow Hurtigruten steamer " Richard With " . The incident with Norwegian conscripts being subjected to attempts at forcing them to board an overcrowded ship led to a public outcry in Mosjøen . The Mosjøen - based newspaper " Helgeland Arbeiderblad " published an article shortly after the incident criticizing the Norwegian military leadership ' s handling of the troop transport . When the German invasion of Norway was initiated on 9 April 1940 , " Irma " was at Bergen , one of the Norwegian cities captured by German forces that day . She continued to sail along the Norwegian coast with passengers and freight during the German occupation of Norway . Last voyage . On 13 February 1944 " Irma " was sailing northwards from Bergen to Trondheim under the command of Captain Sofus Strømberg . That day she had a 43 strong crew and was carrying 40 Norwegian passengers as well as probably seven Germans . Her cargo consisted of freight , mail and 1 , 800 tons of herring . Sinking . At 1837hrs " Irma " , sailing in Hustadvika Bay by Hestskjær Lighthouse off the port of Kristiansund in Møre og Romsdal , suffered a large explosion in the bow area . The initial explosion , which caused massive damage , was followed by another amidships shortly thereafter , the ship immediately starting to sink . During the incident " Irma " was in the same area as the 1907 Norwegian cargo ship SS " Henry " . " Henry " was sunk shortly after " Irma " . In addition to what turned out to be torpedo strikes the two ships were subjected to in total 2 , 034 rounds of heavy machine gun fire . Sixty - one civilian Norwegians died on " Irma " , another two on " Henry " . Only 25 people survived the sinking of " Irma " and for days afterwards dead bodies washed ashore on the Norwegian coast as far north as Namsos . Before " Henry " was sunk she had been able to launch two of her lifeboats and these first saved several of their own crewmen before moving to the location where " Irma " had gone down and rescuing some survivors from floating rafts . About an hour into the incident the tugboat " Hopplafjord " passed the scene and rescued further survivors from rafts . The fishing boat " Sveggøy " also rescued 12 survivors from a raft after the sinking . " Irma " s sinking constituted the last major loss for the Hurtigruten service during the Second World War , with numerous coastal passenger ships having up to that point been lost to mines , air and submarine attacks since the April 1940 German invasion of Norway . The wreck of " Irma " was discovered by a geological survey vessel on 3 November 1999 north of Averøy at a depth of . Reactions to the sinking of " Irma " and " Henry " . The first official word to come out about the sinking of " Irma " and " Henry " in Norway was from the Norwegian national socialist party Nasjonal Samling ' s official publication " Fritt Folk " on 15 February 1944 . The national socialist newspaper used the word " Skjendselsdåd " ( ) in the headline . The next day , 16 February , " Fritt Folk " stated that British Motor Torpedo Boats had been responsible for the attack . Only after the end of the Second World War did it become known that the ships responsible belonged to the Royal Norwegian Navy , " MTB 627 " sinking " Irma " and " MTB 653 " sending " Henry " to the bottom . The two warships had been towed from Shetland to Hustadvika by the converted whaler HNoMS " Molde " , departing Shetland on 11 February , and were on a mission to intercept German and German - controlled shipping . The loss of Norwegian lives in the incident was exploited by the Nasjonal Samling propaganda machine , Thorleif Fjeldstad of the party ' s naval arm calling for Norwegians to join the ranks of the Kriegsmarine . As was also the case with the Hurtigruten ship SS " Sanct Svithun " sunk the previous year , and SS " Barøy " sunk in 1941 , " Irma " was depicted on one of the three postage stamps commemorating war - related shipwrecks released on 20 May 1944 by the Norwegian Postal Service . " Irma " was portrayed on the 20 øre stamp . The shipwreck stamps were designed by German - born Norwegian pro - Nazi propaganda artist and war reporter Harald Damsleth . Controversy . The sinking of " Irma " and " Henry " has been controversial ever since the Second World War , with disagreements over the exact nature of the events . The Royal Norwegian Navy remains adamant that " Irma " and " Henry " sailed without lights or national markings and were sailing as a convoy escorted by a German naval trawler . This has largely been disputed by the survivors of " Irma " and " Henry " . All Allied forces were under strict orders not to attack Norwegian coastal liners travelling alone on the Norwegian coast . The MTB crews also claimed that " Henry " took evasive action after " Irma " was hit , while the survivors claimed that she had stopped to launch two of her lifeboats to assist the survivors from " Irma " when she herself was hit and sunk . One explanation for the presence of the naval trawler reported by the crews of " MTB 627 " and " MTB 653 " has been fronted by several researchers . In the Hustadvika area was a small tugboat , the " Hopplafjord " , which rescued survivors after the sinking of the two ships . " Hopplafjord " , being similar to a naval trawler in size and profile , may have been misinterpreted as an escort vessel by the MTB commander . Post - war memorials . The sinking of " Irma " and " Henry " received an official memorial on 16 September 2002 when King Harald V of Norway first attended a church service in Bremnes Church together with bishop Odd Bondevik , and then unveiled a memorial monument at Røeggen on the island Sveggen in Averøy listing the names of the 65 Norwegians who lost their lives in the incident . The day ' s events concluded with the King leading a ceremony with around 180 invited guests on board the Hurtigruten ship MS " Midnatsol " at the site of the shipwrecks . Two Royal Norwegian Navy Motor Torpedo Boats participated in the ceremony by lowering a flower wreath into the water .