SS Polarlys was a Hurtigruten coastal passenger/cargo steamer built in 1912. It 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 until 1951, and in 1952 it was renamed Sylvia. At the same year, it 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. Laid up in Bergen, she was renamed Sylvia in April 1952, releasing the name for a new ship which was built in Ålborg same year.