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Thursday 3 July 2014

I have been to … Isafjordur Maritime Museum, Iceland

During our recent visit to Iceland we spent some time looking around the Maritime Museum in Isafjordur.

Close to the entrance to the Museum was a somewhat rusty example of a 3pdr Hotchkiss QF Gun. There was no explanation why it was there, but it may well have been left there as a result of the American and British 'occupation' or it may have been the armament from a former Icelandic fisheries protection vessel.




The mounting still had its original recoil maintenance and makers plates on it, and these indicate that it was built by the Royal Carriage Works in Woolwich in 1894 and was allocated Admiralty number 1324.



The Museum is housed in a former fishing hut of the sort used to store the equipment used by fishermen.


Next to the entrance are two reminders of the sort of fishing formerly undertaken by the Icelanders, a harpoon …


… and a pile of dried fish.


The main displays are on the ground floor …




… although there are further displays – including a collection of accordions used by fishermen to amused themselves whilst the were at sea – on the first floor.


To one side of the main building there were examples of locally built small boats, and it was interesting to note that they were built using he same basic design and construction methods used by the first Viking settlers on Iceland.


Inside the Museum were a large number of models of local fishing vessels.

Hrímnir


Isborg


Valbjörn


Gudný


Ásúlfur


Guđbjörg


Emma


Páll Pálsson


There were also a number of models whose names were obscured or unreadable.




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