DF Hydro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Hydro at Mæl in 1925 |
|
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | D/F Hydro |
| Operator: | Norsk Hydro |
| Port of Registry: |  Norway |
| Completed: | 1914 |
| Out of service: | 1944 |
| Fate: | sunk by resistance movement in WW2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 494 tonnes |
| Length: | 53 m (174 ft) |
| Installed power: | 2x 186 kW steam engines |
| Capacity: | 120 passengers |
D/F Hydro was a Norwegian steam powered railway ferry that operated on Tinnsjø in Telemark. The ferry operated between Mæl and Tinnoset between 1914 and 1944, connection the two railways Rjukanbanen and Tinnosbanen. The railway was used to trasport raw materials to and fertilizer from Norsk Hydro's factory at Rjukan to the port in Skien. It is famous for being one of the targets of the Norwegian heavy water sabotage on February 20, 1944 when the ferry was sunk to 430 metes deep in Tinnsjø to prevent Nazi Germany from developing nuclear weapons.
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[edit] History
In 1909 Norsk Hydro opened its fertilizer factory in Rjukan, Rjukan Salpeterfabrikk along with the hydro electric power plant Vemork in addition to a 130 km long railway and seaway transport corridor. The chain consisted of the following sections
- Rjukanbanen, railway line from Rjukan to Rollag (Mæl), 16 km
- Tinnsjø railway ferry from Rollag to Tinnoset, 30 km
- Tinnosbanen from Tinnoset to Notodden, 34 km
- Telemark canal from Notodden to Skien, 54 km with barge
- In 1919 the canal was replaced with the railway Bratsbergbanen from Notodden to Skien.
D/F Hydro was the second ferry that Norsk Hydro built to operate on Tinnsjø. The first, D/F Rjukanfoss, was delivered along with the opening of the railway in 1909 while D/F Hydro was delivered five years later. The ferries each made two round trips each day. In 1929 the plant was expanded and a third ferry, D/F Ammonia was delivered. It can still be seen docked at Mæl.
[edit] Heavy water sabotage
The ferry was to end its life in an exceptionally dramatic and memorable way. During World War II the German occupation of Norway had resulted in the factory at Rjukan supplying German scientists of heavy water, a necessary product to make nuclear weapons. The Norwegian resistance movement had performed a number of sabotage actions against Rjukan, but still the Germans possessed an estimate of 600 kg of heavy water.
To prevent the heavy water from reaching Germany, the resistance movement planned an attack on D/F Hydro, planning to sink the ship at the deepest part of Tinnsjø, at 430 meters depth. On the evening of February 19, 1944 8.5 kg of plastic explosive was placed on the ferry and the next day, during the transport from Mæl to Tinnoset the ship was sunk. 18 people, 14 Norwegians and four Germans, were killed in the sabotage. This efficiently prohibited Germany from acquiring any heavy water for nuclear development.
[edit] Post war interest
In 1948 a Norwegian film, The Fight Over the Heavy Water, was made that depicted the sabotages, including the sinking of D/F Hydro. This film featured some of the original saboteurs. In 1965 an American film, The Heroes of Telemark depicted the same events, though in a less accurate way. A monument in memory of the deceased of the accident has also been put up near where the ship sank.
In the early 1990s the wreck of Hydro was found by a mini-submarine. 600 kg of heavy water was also found onboard, confirming any doubt as to whether Hydro actually was carrying the heavy water the day it was sunk. Two of the barrels have been salvaged, and one of them can be seen at Norsk Industriarbeidermuseum at Vemork, Rjukan.
