Historic Norwegian vessels to visit Lerwick as part of VE Day flotilla

19 February 2025 10:23

A large gray ship named "Hestmanden" is docked at a harbor with red buildings and a town visible in the background under a clear blue sky.

Among the flotilla of vessels visiting Shetland will be the restored merchant cargo ship S/S Hestmanden, now officially the Norwegian War Sailor Museum and normally based in Kristiansand. Photo: Vest Agder Museum

A FLOTILLA of six restored historic vessels from World War Two will cross the North Sea to be in Lerwick for the 80th Anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day on 8 May.

Taking part in the flotilla, which is known as the ‘Liberation Convoy 2025’, will be Royal Norwegian Navy submarine chaser HNoMS Hitra, launched in 1943, alongside fishing vessels M/K Andholmen, M/K Arnefjord, M/K Erkna and M/K Heland.

All five vessels operated from Shetland across the North Sea as part of the covert activity to support the Norwegian resistance known as the Shetland Bus operation.

The largest ship in the convoy will be the 60-metre merchant cargo ship S/S Hestmanden – originally built in 1911 and which sailed in both the first and second world wars.

The vessel is now fully restored and officially entitled as Norsk krigsseilermuseum – the Norwegian War Sailor Museum, honouring the estimated 4,500 sailors who died in the Second World War.

The convoy of vessels will be berthed in Lerwick Harbour and be open for the public to visit during their stay.

Crew members from the vessels will take part in local commemorations being planned in Lerwick and Scalloway to mark VE Day, and will spend time ashore during their visit.

Some vessels in the convoy will then sail on from Shetland to Liverpool, in time for Norway’s Constitution Day on Saturday 17 May.

The ‘Liberation Convoy 2025’ is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, the Royal Norwegian Navy, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in London, the British Embassy in Oslo, the Norwegian-British Chamber of Commerce and others.

The convoy is organised by an informal group of museums, organisations, volunteers, professionals and enthusiasts of Norway’s maritime wartime history.

Shetland’s lord lieutenant Lindsay Tulloch said: “Shetland was a strategically important location for the Allied Forces during World War Two and the wartime history of the ‘Shetland Bus’ operations is well known.

“It’s a fitting recognition of the vital maritime alliance between the UK and Norway during the war that we will see the Liberation Convoy in Shetland on the 80th Anniversary of VE Day.”