Photos

A bird, a minesweeper and a fortress

Oslo, Rådhus bryggene. This chick seems to be discovering that it can be cold out there. Behind is the minesweeper M314 Alta, named after a Norwegian river as it is the norm for the Norwegian minesweepers. Further back is the Akerhus Fortress.

M314 Alta was launched in January 1953. She served for a year in the U.S. Navy as AMS-104 and for 12 years thereafter in the Belgian Navy as BNS Arlon (M 915). She was then taken over by the Royal Norwegian Navy in May 1966 and was decommissioned 30 years later in May 1996. The vessel is now owned by the Armed Forces Museum in Oslo. This minesweeper is the only one of her kind left in Norway.

Akerhus Castle and Fortress (Akerhus slott/festning in Norwegian) was strategically built at the head of Oslo Fjord and has had to withstand a number of sieges throughout the ages. The construction began in 1299 under king Håkon V and was completed in the 1300s. King Christian IV (1588-1648) had the castle modernized and converted into a Renaissance castle and royal residence. Akershus Fortress is still a military area but is open to the public. The castle can be visited and the fortress also hosts two museums (the Norwegian Armed Forces museum and the Norwegian Resistance museum).