SS Sirius ( 1885 ) SS " Sirius " was a Norwegian iron - hulled steamship built in Germany in 1885 . " Sirius " spent over 55 years sailing with cargo , regular passengers and tourists between Norway and Europe , and on the Norwegian coast . In 1894 - 1895 , she served a year on the Hurtigruten route on the coast of Norway , before reverting to her former duties . " Sirius " was rebuilt twice , the final rebuild in 1927 converting her to a dedicated cargo ship , a role which she fulfilled for the rest of her existence . Following the 1940 German invasion of Norway , she was requisitioned by the Norwegian government and carried supplies for both the civilian authorities and the military until bombed and sunk by a German aircraft on 18 May 1940 . Construction and characteristics . " Sirius " was built as yard number 76 at the " Flensburger Schiffbau - Gesellschaft " shipyard in Flensburg , Germany . Displacing , the iron - hulled steamship was launched on 26 February 1885 . " Sirius " featured an overbuilt ( " hurricane " or awning ) deck , and was powered by a 700 indicated horsepower two - cylinder compound steam engine , propelling her at a speed of . She was long , with a beam of and a draught of . At completion , she was delivered in April 1885 to the Bergen Steamship Company in Bergen , Norway . " Sirius " , which had cost to build , was one of four ships acquired by the Bergen Steamship Company around that time to replace the mid - 19th century vessels then in service with the company . " Sirius " was divided into three passenger classes for 70 passengers , with 24 First Class cabins , 22 cabins in the Second Class and 24 in the Third Class section of the ship . The passenger accommodation was located at the main deck , while the cargo holds were situated afore and abaft of the engine room . " Sirius " was named after the star Sirius , in keeping with Bergen Steamship Company ' s tradition of naming their ships after heavenly objects . Early service . The Bergen Steamship Company ' s initial use for " Sirius " was as a passenger / cargo vessel connecting the various ports of Norway with the North - German port city of Hamburg . In this regard , she sailed between Hamburg and Norwegian ports as far apart as Kristiansand and Vadsø . She also carried tourists during the summer season . On one occasion in 1890 , " Sirius " encountered the German royal yacht " Hohenzollern I " , carrying Emperor Wilhelm II on one of his cruises to Norway . As the two ships passed each other off Kristiansund , " Sirius " raised her flag and fired a salute gun in honour of the German emperor . In 1890 , following a great fire which destroyed large parts of the port city of Hammerfest , the Norwegian Internal Affairs Department despatched " Sirius " from Tromsø with 50 barrels of bread , butter , coffee and flour to Hammerfest as emergency aid . Hurtigruten service . In 1894 , the year after businessman Richard With and his " Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab " had pioneered the Hurtigruten coastal passenger / cargo route along the coast of Norway , fulfilling a government contract with his steamer , the Bergen Steamship Company and " Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab " gained a joint four - year contract to sail the route . While " Nordenfjeldske " employed the brand - new , the Bergen Steamship Company used four older ships on the route . The two companies were to sail the route alternate years . The first voyage of the new business venture began on 3 July 1894 , when " Sirius " set sail from north from Trondheim . During the summer season the route transported goods and passengers between ports from Trondheim to Hammerfest , while the winter route only went as far north as Tromsø . " Sirius " ended her stint on the Hurtigruten route on 1 July 1895 , when " Nordenfjeldske " stepped in in accordance with the contract . While on Hurtigruten service , " Sirius " had set out on her northbound route from Brattøra in Trondheim each Thursday at 08 : 00 . Passenger / cargo and tourist service . Once finished with her year on the Hurtigruten service , " Sirius " returned to her Hamburg - Norway route . Every spring , she was taken out of service for cleaning and maintenance , before being employed as a tourist cruise ship on the coast of Norway during the summer season . In 1896 , " Sirius " had electric lighting installed , and in 1898 she stood in on the route from Bergen to Newcastle in England for ships undergoing maintenance . 1908 rebuild and continued traffic . In 1908 , " Sirius " was taken out of service for a comprehensive rebuild . Laxevaag Maskin - og Jernskipsbyggeri in Bergen carried out the work on " Sirius " , increasing her length to . The rebuilding also saw the replacement of her two - cylinder compound steam engine with a 950 indicated horsepower triple expansion steam engine . Following the rebuild , " Sirius " was employed both on her previous passenger / cargo routes , and on a route between Norway and Iceland . The route between Hamburg and Norway sailed by " Sirius " and other ships was interrupted by the First World War in 1914 - 18 , and was resumed as a reduced service between Hamburg and Bergen in 1918 . By 1918 , " Sirius " was an old and rat - infested ship , barely fit for passenger transport , and was replaced on the route by newer vessels . Cargo ship conversion . In 1927 , " Sirius " had further rebuilding carried out . The rebuild , which cost , saw the removal of her passenger accommodation and a conversion to carry only cargo . Twelve cabins were retained , although not used for regular passenger traffic . As a cargo ship , she had a tonnage of ( ) . For the rest of her career , she carried cargo between the Norwegian capital city of Oslo and Norway ' s northernmost county , Finnmark . By 1930 , she had been assigned the code letters JVTL , and had wireless radio on board . In 1934 , the code letters were changed to LEUS and remained so for the remainder of the ship ' s life . Second World War . German invasion . When Germany invaded neutral Norway on 9 April 1940 , " Sirius " was located in Northern Norway . On 8 April , the day before the Germans launched their attack on Norway , she had left Narvik , bound for Tromsø . Along with other ships in the still - unoccupied areas of Norway , " Sirius " was requisitioned by the Norwegian authorities to support the war effort against the Germans . Following her requisition , " Sirius " sailed as a supply ship for the Norwegian civilian authorities and military in Northern Norway . In all , the Norwegian government requisitioned 30 ships during the April – June fighting in Norway , of which six were sunk by the Germans . Sinking . On 18 May , " Sirius " was on her way from Tromsø to Risøyhamn to retrieve a number of requisitioned civilian motor vehicles . The vehicles were destined for Helgeland further south in Northern Norway , where Norwegian forces were opposing advancing German units . " Sirius " sailed in ballast , having unloaded a cargo of hay at Røsneshavn after departing Tromsø . She had left Røsneshavn in the morning of 17 May 1940 . " Sirius " was under instructions to use an outer route off the island of Senja , but due to misunderstandings was sailing close to the coast , where German bombers were regularly patrolling . In the late evening of 18 May , " Sirius " was spotted by a German bomber aircraft in the strait Solbergfjorden off Finnlandsnes on Dyrøya in Troms county . The bomber came from a westerly direction , and after first strafing " Sirius " , the German aircraft attacked with seven bombs , and despite evasive manoeuvring by the Norwegian vessel , hit " Sirius " with two of them , sinking her . The first bomb hit the bow area , while the second struck amidships , breaking the ship in two lengthwise , in what was described by eyewitnesses on shore as " opening up like a book " . Seven crew members , including both the captain and the first mate , were killed in the sinking , while 11 survivors were rescued from the water by local people in rowing boat s . The survivors , who had been strafed in the water by the German aircraft , were later retrieved by the local steamers and and brought to Harstad . The wreck of " Sirius " lies north of Dyrøya , at depths between and .