SS Nordnorge ( 1923 ) SS " Nordnorge " was a Norwegian steamship built in 1923 – 24 by " Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted " , for the Narvik - based Norwegian shipping company " Ofotens Dampskibsselskap " . First employed on the company ' s Narvik - Trondheim route , she was transferred to the longer Hurtigruten route in late 1936 . Seized by the Germans following their April 1940 attack on Norway , she was used as covert troop ship and was sunk shortly after delivering her cargo of German troops behind Allied lines on 10 May 1940 . Construction . " Nordnorge " was ordered by " Ofotens Dampskibsselskap " to serve the company ' s Narvik - Trondheim route . She was built at " Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted " in Trondheim , Norway . She was laid down in September 1922 with yard number 186 , and was originally intended to be called " Solstrålen " , although the name was changed before launch . She was launched on 12 September 1923 , and completed on 17 January 1924 , being delivered to her owners the next day . " Nordnorge " was considered a beautiful vessel , and was one of the last of the traditional coastal cargo liners to be built in Norway . As built she had a tonnage of 873 gross register tons or 448 net register tons , a length on , a depth of and a beam of . Her 1 , 000 indicated horsepower triple expansion steam engine propelled her at . She was built with a promenade deck above the main deck , and was divided into three classes . The First Class section was aft , Second Class amidships and Third Class in the bow area . " Nordnorge " was licensed to carry 270 passengers in coastal traffic . Early coastal service . For the first 12 years of her existence , " Nordnorge " sailed between Trondheim and Narvik . She would depart Trondheim at 12 : 00 on Tuesdays and carry passengers and cargo to the coastal towns on her way north to Narvik and back again . She corresponded with " Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskap " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s Lødingen - Tromsø route . Until the delivery of " Nordnorge " , the Trondheim - Narvik route had been served by the older and slower steamer , without the call in Lødingen . In 1930 she was assigned the code letters LDHR . By 1934 these had changed to LENR , and remained so until at least 1939 . Rebuild and Hurtigruten service . In the fall of 1935 " Ofotens Dampskibsselskap " began negotiations with the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications with the intent on taking part in the expansion of the coastal Hurtigruten service along the Norwegian coast . The negotiations were concluded successfully on 1 November 1936 , with " Ofotens Dampskibsselskap " gaining a contract and Narvik being included in the Hurtigruten route . " Nordnorge " was designated as the company ' s ship on Hurtigruten service . Compared to the other companies ships on the service , she was both small and slow . " Nordnorge " was the only of the ships on the Hurtigruten service to retain the old three - class system , with all the other ships having dispensed of the Second Class . During 1936 " Nordnorge " was rebuilt at " Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted " . She had her hull extended by , making her a 991 gross register ton / 556 net register ton ship . The Third Class section was moved amidships and expanded , and a refrigerated cargo room was added . The bridge was moved up one deck . " Nordnorge " was fitted with an echo sounder , an electric logbook and radio telephone . " Nordnorge " departed Bergen on her first Hurtigruten voyage to Kirkenes on 3 November 1936 . When she was introduced into the service , the build - up of the Hurtigruten was complete , with daily departures from all the ports of the route . Second World War . Following the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 , " Nordnorge " continued to sail the coast of Norway . On 13 December 1939 she rescued a survivor from the British steamer , which had been torpedoed and sunk by the German U - boat . The Norwegian patrol boat rescued a further four survivors from the sunken steamer ' s 36 - man crew . Invasion and mothballing . When Nazi Germany invaded Norway on 9 April 1940 , initiating the 62 - day Norwegian Campaign , " Nordnorge " was in dry dock undergoing the final day of her annual maintenance work . During her maintenance period , one of the company ' s smaller steamers , , stood in for her on the Hurtigruten service . She was supposed to re - enter service on 10 April , an event which was postponed due to the German invasion . Instead " Nordnorge " was mothballed at Nyhavna in Trondheim . Operation Wildente and loss . On 7 May 1940 the German occupiers of Trondheim confiscated " Nordnorge " and replaced her Norwegian crew with " Kriegsmarine " personnel from the destroyers and . Late in the evening of 9 May the ship sailed northwards from Nyhavna under Norwegian flag , carrying a 300 - strong force consisting of a company of mostly Austrian " Gebirgsjäger " troops from the 138 Mountain Regiment of the 2nd Mountain Division , reinforced with a heavy mortar platoon and two mountain gun s . The troops and their equipment had been loaded at Muruvik near Hell . In " Operation Wildente " , the Germans aimed at using the Norwegian coastal steamer to bring their own troops the to Hemnesberget , well behind the Allied lines which were south of Mo i Rana . A successful operation would break up the Allied defence line in Nordland county and cut off Norwegian and British forces , leaving the way north open for the advancing Germans , which at that point were struggling to move forward in the Mosjøen area . The operation had originally been initiated on 8 May , but had been recalled after reports of Allied submarine activity in the area . While " Hauptmann " Anton Holzinger led the operation , " Kapitanleutnant " Ernst Vogelsang captained " Nordnorge " during the voyage north . The Germans had armed " Nordnorge " with two 20 mm automatic cannon and two machine guns , mounted respectively at the bridge and at the bow of the ship . At 09 : 50 on 10 May , the Norwegian military in Mosjøen was alerted that " Nordnorge " was sailing north , escorted by two German aircraft . The report , from observers in Rørvik , was forwarded to the British military , who after some initial hesitation , at 11 : 55 ordered the cruiser and the destroyer to intercept and sink " Nordnorge " . Delayed by German air raids on the Royal Navy base in Skjelfjord in Lofoten , the British warships only got under way at 15 : 00 , too late to intercept " Nordnorge " . " Nordnorge " was spotted again at 12 : 00 , by a Norwegian watch post as she passed Lyngvær . The post transmitted their sighting to the military communications central in Bodø . As it was uncertain where " Nordnorge " was headed , Norwegian militia and army units were alerted along the coast of Hålogaland . " Nordnorge " arrived at Hemnesberget at 18 : 30 on 10 May 1940 , after a 40 - hour journey . Flying the German war flag only at the last minute , the German troops on - board stormed the town . As " Nordnorge " approached the main quay in Hemnesberget , No . 3 Platoon of the 1st Independent Company and some 120 Norwegian " landvern " troops ( of Infantry Regiment 14 ) opened small arms fire at the ship from covered positions . After getting a hawser ashore , German soldiers attacked across the quay , engaging in close house - to - house fighting . During the fighting three German bombers attacked the town . After an hour of fighting the British and Norwegian troops pulled away from the area . Following the capture of Hemnesberget , " Nordnorge " was unloaded of ammunition and supplies , and Allied and German dead and wounded brought on board . As part of " Operation Wildente " , German troops were also landed by Dornier seaplanes at nearby Sund . The fighting in Hemnesberget cost the lives of five German and eight British soldiers , as well as two Norwegian civilians . In his contribution to the major work on Norway and the Second World War " Norges Krig 1940 – 1945 " in 1947 , Norwegian Major General Ragnvald Roscher Nielsen called " Operation Wildente " " as audacious as the original invasion " . At 20 : 15 , " Calcutta " and " Zulu " finally reached Hemnesberget . " Nordnorge " was immediately sunk by gunfire and two torpedoes . The ship exploded and sank stern first in deep water . As she went down , " Nordnorge " capsized and tore down the quay to which she was moored . The ammunition that had been unloaded on the quay was hit by gunfire and exploded . Sixteen houses were destroyed in the British shelling of Hemnesberget , and one Norwegian civilian was killed . Several of the wounded on board " Nordnorge " perished when she sank . As " Calcutta " and " Zulu " left the scene , they sank the small Norwegian steamer . Before " Nordnorge " was sunk , the Germans had managed to unload the two mountain guns , while the other supplies lost in the sinking were replaced the next day by seaplanes . The German capture of Hemnesberget was followed by an unsuccessful Norwegian counter - attack from nearby Finneid on 11 May . During the initial advance of the counter - attack the Norwegian forces captured three of the German naval personnel who had manned " Nordnorge " , before being pushed back . On 13 May the British and Norwegian forces in the area retreated northwards . The Germans continued their advance on 14 May , while two Royal Navy ships bombarded Hemnesberget the same day , destroying around 160 houses . Following the success of " Operation Wildente " , the Germans made another attempt at bypassing the Allied front lines in Nordland . On 19 May the German - manned cargo ship attempted to bring supplies to the German forces advancing in Nordland . When " Albion " was spotted by Norwegian lookouts early on in her voyage , she was intercepted and sunk by the Norwegian warships and . Aftermath . Having suffered the loss of " Nordnorge " , " Ofotens Dampskibsselskap " continued to use " Barøy " on her route . " Barøy " was herself torpedoed and sunk by a British aircraft on 13 September 1941 . In total , " Ofotens Dampskibsselskap " lost four ships during the war years , three to air and naval attack and one in a grounding .