The vessel depict alongside the wooden wharf at Port Stanley is the whale catcher BJERK.
Built as a steel hulled vessel under yard No 344 by Akers Mek. Verksted, Oslo for Hvalfangerselskabet Norge A/S (Chr. Nielsen & Co. A.S., Larvik.)
1912 Launched under the name BJERK.
Tonnage 182 gross, 64 net., dim. 112.8 x 21.5 x 12.3ft.
One triple expansion steam engine 117 nhp., manufactured by the shipsbuilder.
After completing used as a whale catcher in the waters round the South Shetland Islands in the Antarctic.
1932 Still owned by her first owner, and used in the waters of the South Shetlands
1935 Her owner given as A/S Norsk Hvalfangst, Oslo.
1938 Owned by Kr. Gjølberg at Oslo.
2 March 1940 she was requisitioned by the Kongelige Norske Marine, and used as a patrol guard boat BJERK, by the 13th Guard Division (2nd SFD).
Armed with 1 –65mm gun.
Speed is given as 10 knots, crew 18 men.
Stationed at Bøvågen on Radøy.
When Norway was occupied by German forces the BJERK escaped to England, where she arrived on 20 May 1940.
Converted in a minesweeper, and used by the Royal Navy with a Norwegian crew from 27 October 1940 and stationed at Rosyth by the Training Minesweeper Flotilla (Rosyth branch) as training vessel.
From 1 Sept. 1942 used as a minesweeper FY 1712 by 1st Minesweeper Division, Dundee.
20 Nov. 1944 taken out of service and laid up at Burntisland.
October 1945 returned to Norway owners, and laid up.
1948 Sold to Arnt & Simon Midtgard at Måloy, and hulked.
1951 The hull was sold to Kaspar Nilsen at Sand (in Ryfylke). The hull was towed to the yard of Brødrene Bjørneviks Motorverksted, Buøy in Stavanger, but she was not rebuilt.
1955 Sold to Endre Bjørnevik at Buøy and converted to a combined sein fishing vessel/freighter at owner’s yard. Tonnage given as 191 gross, dim. 112.8 x 21.2 x 12.3ft.
Powered by a Vølund 300 bhp. Diesel.
1956 delivered to Tørres Vesterheim & Jon Ytreland e.a. at Vedavågen, Karmøy as combined seiner/freighter m/s BJERK (R-6-A). Used for the herring fishing in the northwest of Norway in the wintertime and around Iceland in the summer, otherwise as freighter.
1960 Sold to P/r Thomas Sørensen at Vedavågen, Karmøy, and used in the same way for fishing and as cargo vessel.
During the 1960 she was somewhat altered for trawl fishing in the North Sea, without much success.
When several municipalities merged in the 1960 in Norway her fishing number was changed to R-365-K.
1969 Sold to P/r Jørgen J Botn at Stårheim, probably only used as freighter.
1972 Sold to Ansgar Kjørlesvik at Deknepollen near Måløy.
1975 Owned by Julius Solsnes at Borkenes in Kvæfjord, and used in the local sand trade.
After 1982 she got the engine of LANDANES, an 6 cyl. Vølund 420 bhp diesel.
Around 1987 laid up.
August 1988 sold to England and renamed GAMLE.
Sold at some point to the environmental organization Earthkind in Poole, Dorset and renamed OCEAN DEFENDER.
Thereafter used for marine training and environmental protection related projects- among other things used to clean birds after the tanker SEA EMPRESS grounding near Milford Haven in February 1996.
Docked in the summer of 1966 at Gloucester.
From Nov. 1997 till Jan 1998 she functioned as radio station for Radio London in the Saint Katherines Dock, Docklands, London.
December 1998 she was utilized in the cleaning of ocean birds in Germany following the oil spill caused by the Bahamian flagged cargo vessel PALLAS.
Remained in Poole from Jan. 1999 as floating classroom.
2001 She was placed on the sale list.
2003 The web-site of Earthkind gives that in July all activities in Poole were halted due to want of money.
2001 Converted to an expedition/diving ship at a yard in Gedansk. Polen, renamed in HARPOONER, her owner given as Slawek Makaruk.
She has berths for 22 persons.
According http://yachtbroker.escapeartist.com/boa ... index.html she is for sale again for $ 280.000 after she has made a voyage from Indonesia across the Indian Ocean.
Falkland Islands 1984 17p sg 485.
Palau 1997 32c sg 1211, scott 436i
Source: copied mostly from http://www.warsailors.com.freefleet/norfleetb3.html info received from Mr. Erik Th. Matzinger.