[4] Nordlander was commissioned by the Swedish American Line in 1920 and subsequently served as naval officer on all its ships on transatlantic cruises as well as in other directions, including the West Indies.

Among these were the 1950 incident of the Norwegian ship Crown Prince Olav which caught fire off Halland, on the west coast of Sweden.

Despite no visibility due to heavy fog, helped only by radar, Nordlander managed to find and tow the deteriorating ship and her 120 passengers safely to the nearest port.

Under signs such as "Freigeleit – Protected, Drottningholm Sweden", she was one of the few ships that sailed hostile waters with all lights shining at night.

In September 1944 she was deployed by the Red Cross to transport prisoners of war and civilians being repatriated from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom via Sweden.

Then finally, when we drop anchor, a military band welcomed us by playing "God Save the King" and popular tunes.We were a day or two aboard this vessel glorying in our new found freedom.