Skule Valentin Storheill,
| Born | 17 Aug 1907 | Brønnøysund, Norway | |
| Died | 25 Nov 1992 | (85) |
| Ranks
Decorations |
Warship Commands listed for Skule Valentin Storheill,
| Ship | Rank | Type | From | To |
| HNoMS St Albans (I 15) | Destroyer | 27 Jul 1941 | 6 Jun 1943 | |
| HNoMS Stord (G 26) | Kapt.ltn | Destroyer | 26 Aug 1943 | 25 Jun 1944 |
Career information
Skule Valentin Storheill (17 August 1907 – 25 November 1992) was a Norwegian naval officer who reached prominence in World War II while serving in Norwegian warships with the Royal Navy, and received Norway's leading military decoration, the War Cross with Sword.
In June 1940 as a Lieutenant he was the Norwegian liaison officer on board the heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire, flying the Flag of Vice Admiral John Cunningham, which evacuated Norway's King Haakon VII and Government ministers from Tromsø to Great Britain to continue the struggle against the German occupation of their country.[1] Then, as a Lieutenant-Commander, Storheill was in command of the Norwegian destroyer HNoMS St Albans from July 1941 to June 1943. With British warships, St Albans sank a German U-boat in the Atlantic on August 3 1941 [2]. For this he received the War Cross. Again as a Lieutenant-Commander he was in command of the destroyer HNoMS Stord from August 1943 until the end of June 1944. In the Home Fleet Stord escorted convoys to the USSR through the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea, and took part in the Battle of North Cape in which the German battleship Scharnhorst was sunk on December 26, 1943. He took his ship within 400 yards (360 m) of Scharnhorst before firing torpedoes [3]. In Stord he was also present at the Normandy landings in June 1944, and there is a small model of the ship in the D-Day Museum at Arromanches, Normandy, France [4]. Also as a result of his war service he was created a Commander with Star of the Order of St. Olav followed by awards of the St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch, the War Medal, the Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands), and Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog (Denmark). He was honoured by France with the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honour. He was awarded the British Distinguished Service Cross on three occasions.
After 1945 he remained in the Royal Norwegian Navy and was stationed at Harstad and then from 1963 in Bodø, and eventually reached the rank of Vice Admiral. He was born in Brønnøysund. He has a street named after him: Admiral Storheills Gate in his home town.
Events related to this officer
Destroyer HNoMS St Albans (I 15)
2 May 1942
During escort of a Murmansk convoy HNoMS St Albans detected and sank a submarine believed to be a German U-boat. The submarine however was the Polish submarine ORP Jastrzab P 551 which had by mistake manoeuvred herself into the convoy. HNoMS St Albans picked up the survivors and transported them to Murmansk. (1)
Destroyer HNoMS Stord (G 26)
26 Dec 1943
One of the group of destroyers (including the "S" class destroyers Saumarez, Savage and Scorpion) which finished off the Scharnhorst by torpedo fire. Stord fired 8 torpedoes at the Scharnhorst. It appeared to many of Stord's crew and other observers that her captain (Lieut. Cmndr Skule Storheill was intending to ram the Scharnhorst as he took the vessel in to within about 400 yards of his target before firing the torpedoes. Storheill was awarded a bar to the DSC for the Stord's part in the sinking of the Scharnhorst.
(Details in John Winton's book "The Death of the Scharnhorst; Cassell 2000) (1)
Sources
- Personal communication
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