Embassy Hosts Event On Arctic Security Policy

0

Security Policy in the Arctic was the main topic of this year’s Henry Bacon event. The event is held in memory of the efforts of the crew of SS. Henry Bacon during the Second World War.

On February 23, 1945, the U.S. merchant ship S.S. Henry Bacon, on her way from Murmansk to Scotland with 19 Norwegian refugees aboard, was sunk by German torpedoes. With two of the ship`s four lifeboats damaged, the crew, including the captain and chief engineer, bravely gave their seats to the civilians, who were eventu­ally saved. Of the crew of 68, 15 merchant sailors and seven Navy Armed Guards were lost. The Norwegian Embassy hosted the Henry Bacon seminar at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C Dec. 08. The seminar was titled “The North Atlantic: Old Security Landscape Reemerging?”. Henry Bacon has been an annual event since 2003.

The event started with presentations from Lt. General Morten Haga Lunde, Director of the Norwegian Intelligence Service, and Christine Wormuth, Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy at the US Department of Defense. This was followed with a panel discussion lead by Executive Vice President at the Atlantic Council Darmon Wilson. Participants in the panel was Magnus Nordenman from the Atlantic Council, Dr. Kristian Åtland from the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment and Dr. Katarzyna Zysk from Norwegian Defense University College/Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies.

“Today we look at an extraordinary American sacrifice made in 1945, while also looking forward toward the need for continued stability in the Arctic region”, Ambassador Kåre R. Aas said in his introduction speech.

(Royal Norwegian Embassy USA)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *