SS Polarlys

SS Polarlys was a Hurtigruten coastal passenger/cargo steamer built in 1912. She was seized by the Germans during the Second World War, and served several stints in the Kriegsmarine. Having resumed her Hurtigruten service after the war, she was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy, and served under the name HNoMS Valkyrien as a motor torpedo boat tender between 1953 and 1963.

Ship history
The ship was built by Burmeister & Wain at Copenhagen for the Bergen Steamship Company. She was designed for their coastal service, and as a replacement for the ship Astraea, which had sunk in January 1910. Named Polarlys ("Aurora"), the ship was launched on 10 January 1912, and delivered in April 1912.

At 1,069 gross register tons and 536 tons deadweight Polarlys was 208 feet long with 65 first class cabins, 32 second class, and 44 third class. Her triple expansion steam engines developed 1,473 IHP, and during sea trials she attained a maximum speed of 13.45 knots. She was refitted in 1930 and the number of cabins reduced. Polarlys was in Bergen on 9 April 1940 when the Germans captured the town and was soon taken over by the Kriegsmarine for use as an accommodation ship under the names Satan and then Tan. She was returned to her owners in December, but was requisitioned by the Germans once again in October and November 1944 for use as a troop transport as they retreated from northern Norway. In March 1945, the ship laid up at Stamnes in the Osterfjord and remained there until the end of the war in Europe.

After a refit Polarlys returned to the coastal service in July 1945. However she was now showing her age, and was withdrawn from service on 12 October 1951. Laid up in Bergen, she was renamed Sylvia in April 1952, releasing the name for a new ship.

As Valkyrien
On 1 July 1952 the ship was bought by the Royal Norwegian Navy, converted to a motor torpedo boat tender at the Bergen Mekaniske Verksted yard at Laksevåg, and was commissioned as Valkyrien in June 1953.

In connection with a rescue operation in 1956 in the Arctic the ship was outfitted with a Bell helicopter. She had a displacement of 1,500 tons and a top speed of 12 kn. She had a crew of 76 and was armed with one 3-inch and three 40 mm guns.

She remained in naval service until 1963, and was sold for scrapping the following year.