Svend Foyn (1809 - 1894) was a Norwegian from Tønsberg. In 1864 he sailed the first "purpose-bulit" steam whale catcher, the Spes et Fides (Hope & Faith), with seven whale guns (each firing a harpoon & grenade separately) mounted on the forcastle to North Norway to hunt rorquals. The vessel was 94 feet (29 m) long, with a 20 horsepower (15 kW) engine; it could reach a speed of 7 knots (13 km/h). After years of perfecting a cannon that could fire a grenade & harpoon simultaneously, he finally managed to catch 30 whales in 1868 . He patented this grenade harpoon gun in 1870. With this development, he "launched" Norway into a "new & profitable industry". Thus began the era of modern whaling.

Some authors attribute Foyn's pursuit of a better whale killer as a manifestation of a strong Christian-capitalist mindset that pervaded Norway at the time. The whaling industry as the world knew it was in decline when Foyn first began his trial and error development of the bow-mounted harpoon cannon. Foyn's eventual successful development of the cannon, in combination with fast, sleek steam-powered "catcher" vessels ushered in a modern whaling industry that was dominated by the Norwegians, then the British and finally the Russians and Japanese. Depleted stocks and the IWC's ban on commercial whaling eventually brought the pursuit of the largest whales to an end in the late 70s and early 80s.

When he died he left a fortune of NOK 4 million, and an industry that would nearly annihilate these large animals.

Whaling

1809 births | 1894 deaths | Norwegian people

Svend Foyn | Svend Foyn