Tordenskjold

Tordenskjold. 1911 Halibut Schooner. Built in Seattle’s historic Ballard neighborhood in 1911, Tordenskjold (Norwegian: Thunder Shield) is now the oldest of its kind. This wooden fishing boat, of a uniquely Pacific Northwest design called a halibut schooner, fished for 101 years in the rough waters of the North Pacific and Bering Sea., Halibut schooners were designed for open ocean fishing, catching the world’s largest flatfish, the halibut, via miles of line with thousands of baited hooks. Tordenskjold and its sisters were also some of the first fishing boats anywhere designed with an engine for primary propulsion, although all were built with a schooner sailing rig and most carried sails as backup for many years. Tordenskjold itself stopped carrying sails after World War II and is currently on its fifth engine. , Fishing for halibut and other bottom fish such as cod and sablefish (black cod) is still done using essentially the same methods pioneered by halibut schooner crews 100 years ago. Several of the original boats are still actively fishing. Over the years they have been upgraded with all the latest technology but reamin distinctive, seaworthy, and very profitable members of the North Pacific fishing fleet. Tordenskjold itself is now set aside as a representative of this legacy, the embodiment of a whole class of boat., Tordenskjold, although still capable of fishing, was retired in 2012 after a storied century-long fishing career. The boat participated in not just the halibut and cod fisheries, but during a period between 1948 and 1979 was rigged for trawling and caught shrimp, king crab, and tuna. During World War II, Tordenskjold even fished for sharks and caught a record haul of them in 1942 (shark livers were used to make vitamin supplements for the troops). After the war, the boat was used for several king crab fisheries surveys in Alaska before being re-converted to a halibut longliner. , Tordenskjold represents the long history of fishing in the Pacific Northwest and the significance that industry still has on the Seattle waterfront. It has always been a "lucky boat" (having never lost a crew member) and is now a floating museum vessel for Northwest Seaport. Contact us today for more information!