Bamse

Norwegian for teddy bear, Captain Erling Hafto named his dog Bamse. The captain brought the dog from Oslo to Honningsvãg, where Bamse would sail on the Thorodd, a whaling vessel. During WWII, Thorodd entered into the Royal Norwegian Navy as a coastal patrol boat, with Bamse as an official crew member. Later, the boat swept for mines, with Bamse still aboard.

A mythology exists for this dog, where he broke up crew brawls and saved drowning sailors. One unbelievable true story exists where Bamse had a bus pass attached to his collar and he used this to travel by bus into town in order to fetch the crew.

Now, a statue of Bamse sits near the Honningsvãg port, still on duty. Bamse passed away from heart failure in 1944. The Navy buried him with full military honors. Nearly 1,000 people attended his funeral.

Even in recent years, the world remembers Bamse. In 2016, The English Forestry Commission planted a 17-acre forest in Cumbria, called Bamse’s Wood.