Thore Horve Thore Horve ( 6 October 1899 – 15 August 1990 ) was a Norwegian naval officer and businessperson . He is best known for his naval commands and efforts during World War II , for leading the Royal Norwegian Navy from 1946 to 1949 and in 1951 , and for his work to compensate war sailors many years later . Early life and career . He was born in Hetland . He graduated from the Norwegian Naval Academy in 1920 , and served on various ships . In 1927 he married Bergljot Sollie ( 1903 – 1994 ) , daughter of politician Harald Bredo Sollie . World War II . When Nazi Germany attacked Norway in April 1940 , setting off war , Lt . Cdr . Horve was the commander of HNoMS " Draug " . During the night of 9 April , " Draug " was patrolling and watching shipping in the Karmsund . At about 0200hrs , Horve was notified that Oslofjord Fortress was engaging an unknown enemy force in the Oslofjord , leading to the crew being ordered to full combat stations . At 0400hrs , an unknown ship , flying no national flag , was observed sailing northwards through the Karmsund . The ship refused to stop after both flares and warning shots had been fired and " Draug " had to give chase and capture the vessel . After leading the unknown ship into Haugesund , its identity was found to be the 7 , 624 ton German vessel " Main " . The two ships left Haugesund at about 0900hrs , but soon came under attack from a Luftwaffe bomber around off the Norwegian coast . The bombs , aimed at the " Main " , missed but the German captain immediately scuttled his vessel and ordered his crew to abandon ship . Horve remained commander of " Draug " until 3 November 1941 . He was also commander of HNoMS " Sleipner " from 28 June 1940 to December 1941 . He subsequently had command of " Glaisdale " . He worked in the Royal Norwegian Navy High Command in London from 1941 to 1942 , headed the Norwegian MTB Flotilla in Shetland from 1943 to 1944 , and worked again at the Navy High Command from 1944 to 1945 and the Navy Special Service ( " Marinens Spesialtjeneste " ) in 1945 . Post - war career . After the war ended in May 1945 , Horve was chief of staff of the Navy Command of Southern Norway briefly , and then head of the planning department of the Navy High Command . He reached the ranks of Counter Admiral in 1946 and Vice Admiral in 1947 , and from 1946 to 1949 Horve headed the entire Royal Norwegian Navy . He then headed the Navy Command of Northern Norway from 1949 to 1951 , and the Royal Norwegian Navy again in 1951 . He resigned in the same year in protest of Defence Minister Jens Christian Hauge ' s political priorities , which Horve felt had given the Royal Norwegian Navy an inferior role within NATO ( of which Norway was a founding member in 1949 ) . Horve retired , working in the kelp harvesting company Protan from 1951 to 1954 . From 1954 he worked for the Imperial Ethiopian Navy , a project aided by the Norwegian state , but Horve resigned in 1956 . The reason was that the project did not go in the preferred direction . From 1961 to 1964 he was the CEO of Philips Norway . Also , in the 1960s Horve picked up the work to improve the treatment of Norwegian war sailors . The work had been started by sailors such as Leif Vetlesen , but stagnated . Horve ' s work for the war sailors bore fruits in that the Parliament of Norway granted payments to crew in the merchant fleet Nortraship in 1972 . To Horve ' s dismay naval sailors did not benefit . He was decorated with the War Cross with Sword in 1942 and in 1947 as a Commander with Star of the Order of St . Olav . Horve died in August 1990 in Oslo , almost 91 years old .