FjordX - Historic viking cruise

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Historic viking cruise
Experience the history of the Battle of Fimreite and the submarine hunt in the Sognefjord during the Cold War on a fjord excursion to Fimreite and back (1 hour 40 min). Take the trip as a round trip (Sogndal - Fimreite - Sogndal), or order one of our cycle packages where you can take the boat to Fimreite, and cycle the beautiful road from Fimreite to Sogndal.

The battle of Fimreite

In the evening of the 13th of June 1184 Magnus Erlingsson and Sverre Sigurdsson clashed in a major naval battle off the hamlet of Fimreite. The main part of the battle evidently took place inside the small island of Storholmen. Sverre came out victorious after a tactical triumph over his main adversary. Forty longships took part in the battle; Magnus with 26 ships compared to Sigurd’s 14. Magnus’s army counted about 3200 men, whereas Sverre could muster about 1900. In other words, 5000 soldiers took part in the battle. The battle at Fimreite was a brutal affair. According to the Sverre saga, 2160 men lost their lives. Magnus suffered the heaviest losses by far. Many of his men lost their lives by drowning when three or four big battleships sank because of the extra weight of the soldiers who fled in panic from these ships. King Magnus was among those who drowned at Fimreite. His body was found nine days after the battle. The corpse was taken to Bergen where he was buried. A number of those who lost their lives were buried at Danøyri on the Slinde side of the Sogndalsfjord.

The dramatic submarine chase

Sunday 12 November 1972 five persons at Vangsnes observed a periscope in the sea heading further into the fjord. The Royal Norwegian Navy considered this observation to be reliable and responded quickly. Major defence resources were put into action, both at sea and in the air. Monday 20 November the frigate KNM “Trondheim” used depth charges against what was understood to be a foreign submarine at Breisnes in the Aurlandsfjord. Saturday 25 November at 3 a.m. the unknown submarine left Norwegian waters, according to the newspaper Aftenposten. Military sources had revealed to the paper that this was a Soviet W-class submarine, operating out of Poland or East Germany.

Roundtrip
Sogndal - Fimreite - Sogndal

Price:

Adults (15+) 449,-

Children (5-14) 225,-

Children under 4 years: Free