The Polar Boy

Owner	1919 A/S Ishavsfangst, Bodø (Julius Jensen, Ludvig K. Næstby, Johan A. Drage and Johan Iversen, Rognan) 1923 Bodø Savings Bank 1923 Ludvig K. Næstby and Lars Johnsen 1925 Carl Sæther, Tromsø
Ship type	Seal hunters
Reg. brand	N-1-SL (1920) N-36-B (1923) N-1-SL (1923)
Home port	Saltdal
Construction site	Rognan Patent slip, shipyard and boat building AS, Rognan
Year built	1919
Building materials	Three
Length, year of construction	81,7 feet
Length measurements after conversion	92,5 feet
Dimensions in width, year of construction	21,7 feet
Dimensions in depth, year of construction	9,9 feet
Tonnage	98,9 GRT 1919 99,67 GRT 1925
Machine, original	Avance 2 cyl. 100 hp
Skippers	Lars Johnsen (1923) Jens Øien (1924)
Shipwrecked	Wrecked March 9, 1927 in the White Sea while hunting
Additional information	1921 picked up in the White Sea by the "Rusanow" and held back in Arkhangelsk until the fall. The crew was towed free, but the skippers remained on board. The cargo was confiscated and the ship was fined 10,000 gold rubles. The crew was able to pick up the ship in Arkhangelsk in December 1921. In 1924, the "Polargutten" was chartered by two German counts and a baron for a "pleasure trip to the Arctic Ocean". The trip lasted over a month and began with shooting eagles and auks on Nord-Fugløy. The expedition visited Samoyeds on Korttyn Skjera and was north of the northern tip of Novaya Zemlya and captured polar bears in the Kara Sea. In an attempt to get as far north as possible, they had to turn at 79.25 degrees north. During the pleasure trip, they shot 15 polar bears and some seals, and they were on land fishing for trout on Bjørnøya. Consul Carl Sæther chartered the ship in the summer of 1925 to transport zinc blende from the Northern Exploration Company's trial operation in Bellsund on Svalbard to Tromsø, before it was sent on to Belgium. The "Polargutten" sank in the White Sea during the storm on March 9, 1927. They had a catch of 1424 seals on board. They were stuck in pack ice on March 8. In the early morning, two large ice floes came and crashed together right in front of the ship's rigging, and the crew in the cabin came running up and reported that there were holes in the ship's side. The ship was taking in too much water for the pumps to hold it, and the skipper saw no hope of sealing the leak. 7 frames were torn off and the skin and trim were broken. The skipper sent a message over the radio and the distress flag was hoisted. The Oslo ship "Seløy" was the first to reach the wreck. But they did not have room for the entire crew, and they also had no plan to interrupt the hunt now. So they waited until "QUEst" and "Storsælen" arrived. The three schooners tried to salvage part of the catch, but the water rose too fast for this to be closed in any way. After some time the ship sank 14 minutes ATN of Gorodetsky. The crew returned home with "Quest".