Shetland bus
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The Shetland Bus was the popular name for the clandestine naval operation between the Shetland Islands (Scotland) and occupied Norway, operated initially by a large number of small fishing boats and later by three US made submarine chasers: HNoMS Vigra, HNoMS Hitra and HNoMS Hessa. Hitra is still afloat as a museum ship at Haakonsvern i Bergen and in summertime cruises the Norwegian coast as a mobile exhibition[1]. From the summer of 1942 the Shetland Bus was officially designated as Norwegian Independent Naval Unit or NOR.N.U.
The crossings were mostly made during the winter to ensure the Norwegian coast was reached under the cover of darkness. This meant that the crews and passengers had to endure very heavy North Sea conditions, with no lights, and constant risk of discovery by German planes or boats. There was also the possibility of being captured whilst carrying out the mission on the Norwegian coast. However, early on it was decided that camouflage was the best defence and the boats were disguised as working fishing boats, the crew as fishermen. The operation was under constant threat from German forces, and several missions went awry, of which the Telavåg tragedy is the prime example.
Several fishing boats were lost during the initial operations, but after receiving the three fast and well armed submarine chasers no more losses occurred during the crossings.
Leif Andreas Larsen (popularly known as Shetland Larsen) was perhaps the most famous of the Shetland Bus men. In all he made 52 trips to Norway, and became the most highly decorated allied naval officer of the Second World War.
[edit] External links
- Shetlopedia.com - The Shetland Bus - Detailed information about the Shetland Bus operation, including information on boats and people lost
- Shetland Bus - Contains a bibliography
- Shetland Bus - Pictures of the ships
- Splinter Fleet - 1st section is about Hitra
- HNoMS Hitra - the Norwegian Naval museum's site on Hitra (Norwegian language)
