The 114-year-old Norwegian war vessel and 'floating museum' that has berthed at Edinburgh docks

It was one of more than 1,000 Norwegian merchant ships that provided critical medicine, food, fuel and weapons to the Allies throughout two world wars - and now remains the only one still sailing.

D/S Hestmanden, known as “The Lucky Ship”, arrived in time to commemorate VE Day in the Shetland Islands earlier this month. And the vessel has now berthed at Leith docks as part of her voyage from Bergen to Newcastle, with the vessel to remain in Edinburgh until Thursday.

Archie Borthwick and Ollie Little, from the Loretto School Pipe Band piping onboard D/S Hestmanden on Monday. | Contributed

Visitors are welcomed to explore the quarters, tour the engine room, and learn the war stories of Norwegian sailors, while the vessel is in Edinburgh. Students from the Loretto School Pipe band played traditional Scottish music onboard D/S Hestmanden on Monday to welcome visitors.

Hallvard Klungtveit, captain of D/S Hestmanden, said: “It is an honour to bring Hestmanden to Edinburgh.”

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Built in 1911 in Laksevag, near Bergen, the cargo vessel originally served on the icy coastal route between Bergen and Tromso.

But with the outbreak of the First World War, Hestmanden’s mission changed. She carried coal across the English Channel to fuel the Allied war effort, later serving under the British flag with a British crew, braving treacherous North Sea convoys to France and as far as Arkhangelsk in support of the Allies’ Russian Intervention.

Lisa Ferguson / The Scotsman

Requisitioned once more during the Second World War, Hestmanden joined Nortraship - the Norwegian government-in-exile’s vast merchant fleet, which supplied the Allies with critical cargo across perilous waters. She is the only vessel from that 1,000-strong fleet to survive.

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Norwegian historian Ragnhild Bie, whose two grandfathers were both war sailors, said: “Hestmanden is a floating museum and tribute to the 30,000 Norwegian war sailors who served the Allied resistance during World War Two, alongside Britain’s own mariners.”

Following decades of neglect, Hestmanden was relaunched in 2011 and transformed into Norway’s official national war memorial for seafarers.

Students from the Loretto School Pipe band played traditional Scottish music onboard D/S Hestmanden on Monday to welcome visitors onto the vessel. | Contributed

Defying all odds, the vessel powered through and continues to at her own discretion today. This month highlights the first time Hestmanden has left Norway in 60 years. The ship’s voyage from Bergen to Newcastle has taken the vessel from Shetland to Orkney, Aberdeen and now Edinburgh.

The vessel’s arrival in Leith on Monday forms part of a wider mission to honour the international brotherhood of wartime sailors and commemorate the 80th anniversary of peace in Europe, honouring the close relationship between the UK and Norway.

Captain Klungtveit said: “She is a proud vessel, a survivor of two world wars, and a floating memorial to thousands of Norwegian sailors who risked everything for freedom. And now she is opening her decks to a new generation. May her stories remind us of courage, resilience, and the enduring friendship between Norway and Britain.”

Inside the Hestmanden engine room | Lisa Ferguson / The Scotsman

Scout groups and schools are welcome aboard Hestmanden from 9am to 11am until Thursday. The open ship hours start from 11am until 5pm, for the public and self-guided visits.

Mr Bie said, “We look forward to welcoming visitors in Edinburgh this week who will be able to explore the quarters, engine room, and war stories of Norwegian sailors.”