Norge (ship, 1937)
 The Norge at her summer berth in Oslo
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The Norge is the yacht of the Norwegian royal family, she is one of the last two remaining royal yachts in Europe with the Danish Dannebrog .
History of the ship
When Prince Carl of Denmark , a trained naval officer, ascended the Norwegian throne as King Håkon VII in 1905 , a royal yacht was to be purchased. Due to economic bottlenecks in the national budget at the time after the separation from Sweden , however, no ship could be purchased.
Only after the end of the Second World War was it possible to acquire the almost 10-year-old British yacht Philante for NOK 1,500,000 through a large-scale foundation and donation campaign among the Norwegian population in 1947 . This ship was one of the largest private yachts of the time and was owned by aviation pioneer Thomas Sopwith . During the Second World War it was confiscated by the Royal Navy and used as an auxiliary cruiser in the Atlantic.
The ship was presented to the king for the first time on King Haakon's 75th birthday in 1947. After completing the necessary conversion work, the ship was finally put into service under the new name Norge ( Norwegian for: Norway) in 1948 .
From then on, King Haakon and his family used this ship for their travels at home and abroad. After the death of his father in 1957, King Olav took it over and modernized it continuously. In a devastating fire in 1985, triggered by welding work during a stay in the shipyard, the entire ship was completely destroyed except for the hull. King Olav decided to restore the yacht according to the old model, but to have the most modern safety, navigation and communication equipment installed.
After King Olav's death in 1991, the new King Harald - an enthusiastic and successful sailor - took over the ship and continues to use it during the summer months for representation and government purposes as well as for private trips and state visits. In the winter half of the year, the yacht is launched with a reduced crew of around 20 men.
The ship is privately owned by the King of Norway but is operated by the Royal Norwegian Navy .
Web links
- Official website of the Norwegian royal family about the yacht
- German side to the ship
- Kongeskipet Norge Website of the Royal Norwegian Navy