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MV Gay Viking was a British blockade runner that carried out a mission of vital importance during the Second World War. Originally laid down as one of several Gunboats for the Turkish Navy, the ships were seized by the Royal Navy at the outbreak of World War 2. Several were taken for a special blockade running mission known as Operation Bridford. The purpose of Operation Bridford was to secure as many ball bearings from the Swedish SKF (Svenska Kullagerfabriken or "ball bearing factory"). These ball bearings were critical to British manufacturing at the time and the German blockade of Sweden at the time could greatly hamper industrial output. The five gunboats were modified to make them suitable for feeding cargo. The superstructure was moved aft to create a large, open cargo hold amidships that could be loaded quickly. As Sweden was still neutral, several measures had to be taken. The ships were operated under the British merchant marine, the crew was made up of civilians, and they were given names. Gay Viking was joined by her four sisters Hopewell, Nonsuch, Master Standfast, and Gay Corsair. The first blockade run was carried out in October of 1943. Gay Viking was the only one to successfully complete the first run, returning to Britain with 40 tons of ball bearings and other cargo. Over the winter of 1943/1944, Gay Viking would complete a further two trips in additon to the blockade runs of her sister ships. The Germans only managed to intercept the ships once, catching and sinking MV Master Standfast in November. The ships remained idle until September of 1944 when they began running the blockade again (the Royal Navy only allowed the missions during winter months to take advantage of less daylight), this time under the name Operation Moonshine. The ships ran the blockade several more times. However, Gay Viking accidently collided with Hopewell during a mission on 5 February 1945. Gay Viking. Gay Viking sank though her crew was able to abandon ship safely. Supposedly, the hull of Gay Viking was in good enough shape that she was refloated after the war and turned into a civilian yacht. She sat around as a pleasure craft until deteriorating and sinking in 1990. A rather sad end to such an important ship, one that kept vital war material flowing into Britian during the war. Photo from the Imperial War Museum Archives Photo: FL 22261