M/B Olaf (M73V)
Owned by Ansgar Sønderland and Johan O. Rørvik, Vigra. 52 feet long and with a 60 hp (45 kW) June-Munktell engine.
The owners gave their approval to use the Olaf in a refugee transport. It arrived at Lerwick on 30 September 1941 with seventeen refugees. The vessel was handed over to the "Shetland Bus" operation and Per Blystad from Fana became skipper. In the winter of 1942, the 'Olaf' made five voyages to Norway with agents and supplies, and returning with refugees. The crew on these tours were; Olai Hillersøy, Arne Nipen, Leif Kinn and Olav Kinn. On 17 April 1942, the Olaf went to Telavåg with the Company Linge agents Arne Værum and Emil Hvaal. The agents were discovered by the Germans, and that led to the "Telavåg Tragedy", were the whole population were jailed or put into concentration camps, and all the houses burned in revenge for two German Gestapo officers deaths.
The Olaf was attacked and damaged by German aircraft several times, but it always managed to get back to Shetland. The worst damage occurred on 12 May 1942. Three crew from the wrecked Frøya, along with some others, went out with the Olaf to search for a raft with four of the Frøya crew. They were attacked five times by a German Dornier bomber. The vessel was severely damaged, and some of the crew wounded. One of the three men from the Frøya, Hans Johansen, later died of his wounds. The Olaf made no more journeys and after the war it was returned to the owners who sold it in 1948.
Read more about this topic: Shetland Bus Boats, Boats Used in The Shetland Bus Operation