S/S Styrbjörn and
Grängesberg

In the year of 1892 was Carl Fredrik Liljevalc in London meeting the English bankier Sir Ernest Cassel.
The company Sir Ernest Cassel was the director of, Biscofstein & Goldsmith, was a major shareholder in The Swedish Assosiation.
Cassel see here the opportunity to make big money.
At the 30th. of July 1896 the company Trafikaktiebolaget Grängesberg - Oxelösund was founded.
It was signed 19090 stocks each on 1000.- Swedish kronor, hold by

In 1870 the first plans for an railroad from the baltic sea to Fagernes,later Narvik, was launced. In 1882 the the 2nd. of December the Swedish goverment granted the plans for an railroad from Vassijaure to Luleå. The Norwegian goverment said yes to the railroad further to the Ofoten at the Antlantic coast of Norway at the 16th.of July 1883.
The British company Wilkinson & Jarvis was given the job. Problems with raising capital for the project was the reason to that the first ore transportation was carried out by horses fromGällivare to Svartön, for furthet transportation to the buyer in England.
In 1890 the Luossavaara - Kirunavaara AB ( L.K.A.B.) was founded by G.E. Broms and the Ljungren Brothers.
They want to finnish the railroad in 1896. Now the goverment say they will do it, and the track should be operatable by 1903.
On the Norwegian side the they have to build an port in Viktoriahavn. This was build in the same way the ports of Minnesota.
The berth was 350 meters long and 9 meters over the water, the depth was 9 meters also. With a tide on 4 meters it was an impressive constuction.
The 14th. of November the Norwegian and Swedish General Directors of the railroad connected the las bolt.
The official opening was carried out of King Oscar II, king of Sweden and Norway.
Viktoriahavn was now an city with 4000 innhibitans and named Narvik.
Under the constuction period it was an battle between the major stockholder for the conrtoll of the companies AGM ( Ab Gällivare Malmfelt ) and L.K.A.B. The result was that Gränges get 5750 shares of a total of 6000 in AGM and 1774 in L.K.A.B. AGM had the contoll over 3609 shares of L.K.A.B. this means that Gränges controlled 90% of the company.
The price was 8.9 mill. kronor plus royalties for 50 years.
At the 2nd.of September 1903 G.E. Broms dies.
In the result of the merging between AGM - L.K.A.B and Gränges, Gränges become now the owner of three steam ships Anna,Max, and Johan. This was the beginning of one of the worlds largest iron ore carrier company.

At the 16th.of February 1910 sign D.A. Welin ( Grängeberg - Oxelösund) , and Sven Almquist ( Göteborgs Nya Verkstad ) the contract for building one steam tug, serving the growing fleet of ore carriers in Narvik. S.S. Styrbjörn was born.
This was the first vessel build by Götaverken for Gränges, but not the last. In the next 50 years they build 37 more, and was still ordering.
At the 27th.of July 1910 Styrbjörn was deliverd and goes directly to Narvik in the Northern Norway.
Styrbjörn should last longer than the company. January the first 1980 leave the last ship of the fleet, the THORNE, Rotterdam renamed to RHINE ORE.
Styrbjörn served the growing fleet at the Narvik port untill 1963. The iron ore export from the port is still growing, in 1995 there was exported 15 millions ton.
Gränges had a fleet of 23 ships at the beginning of WW II, and lost 16. Under the battle of Narvik April 1940 that last for 8 weeks, 45 ships was destroyed at the harbour, thousands of soldiers and 70 sivilian lost there life.
After the war Styrbjörn was due for an major overhaul, in 1950 she went back to Gothenburg where she was build. Some changes to the brigde and interior was taken place. The steam engine is still onboard. Styrbjörn is now one out of two coalfired steamships left in Norway, former the worlds largest shipping nation.
Styrbjörn was saved from the shipwrecker by The Norwegian Veteran ship Club. Styrbjörn is now undergoing restoration in Oslo. In june 1996 it was steam pressure in her boiler for the first time for over 30 years.
The spring 1997, will the Compound engine again take her out from the berth in Oslo, after thousands of working hours.