THE Norwegian King Haakon VII and his family and his ministers had arrived in Britain in the summer of 1940 to begin a government in exile and lead a resistance effort, his own country having been invaded by German forces.

In December 1941 the king, wearing the uniform of his royal navy, travelled to the Clyde where a merchant ship named in his honour was launched.

This paper observed that the 7,000-ton motorship King Haakon VII ‘stood proudly on the slipway, gay with flags, symbolic of Norway’s determination to fight on.’ It was the first merchant ship to be built for an Allied government as part of Britain’s war-time shipbuilding programme.

The king mounted the yard’s launch platform accompanied by Norwegian officers and took the salute from his country’s naval personnel.

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Herald Diary

In a speech recorded in English he declared: “It gives me great pleasure to be present here today when the first new Norwegian ship is to be launched to replace the losses of the Norwegian tonnage according to agreement with the British government ... The combination of British shipbuilding skill and the seamanship of Norwegian sailors provides further evidence of the way in which Norway is pooling her resources for the destruction of our common foe.”

The Norwegian merchant fleet was by now being organised and operated in partnership with the British government, to be made available whenever needed for war purposes.

Over dinner that night, the king said the newly-launched vessel was symbolic of his country’s determination to fight on and to "contribute in full measure to an Allied victory over Hitlerism."