Tordenskjold

Built in Seattle’s historic Ballard neighborhood in 1911, Tordenskjold, meaning “Thunder Shield” in Norwegian, is the oldest known wooden halibut schooner, a uniquely Pacific Northwest fishing boat design. It fished for 101 years in the rough waters of the North Pacific and Bering Sea, using the open-ocean halibut schooner method of setting miles of line with thousands of baited hooks to catch halibut and other bottom fish such as cod and sablefish. Tordenskjold and related boats were among the first fishing boats designed with an engine for primary propulsion, though they were built with schooner rigs and most carried sails as backup for many years; Tordenskjold stopped carrying sails after World War II and is now on its fifth engine. Between 1948 and 1979 it was rigged for trawling and caught shrimp, king crab, and tuna, and during World War II it also fished for sharks, taking a record haul in 1942 when shark livers were used to make vitamin supplements for troops. After the war it was used for several king crab fisheries surveys in Alaska before being converted back to a halibut longliner. Retired in 2012 after a century-long fishing career, Tordenskjold remains capable of fishing and stands as a representative of the long history and continuing significance of the Pacific Northwest fishing industry, having never lost a crew member and now serving as a floating museum vessel for Northwest Seaport.

Seattle, Washington · United States