She had been ordered by the Norwegian shipping company Ofotens Dampskibsselskab for the local route from the port city of Narvik to the smaller towns of Lødingen and Svolvær.

[3] The outbreak of the Second World War led to Norwegian government restrictions on the Hurtigruten from 1 October 1939 onwards, with a reduction in both sailing speed and the number of departures from Bergen, which was cut from seven to five a week.

One of the reserve ships on the Hurtigruten service was Barøy, standing in for the 873-ton SS Nordnorge, which was undergoing maintenance work at Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted.

[3] A year and a half after the German invasion Barøy was still sailing the Hurtigruten route as the fifth weekly northbound departure from Trondheim to Narvik.

[8] At 03:50 on 13 September Barøy was struck by a torpedo some 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) west of Tranøy Lighthouse, sinking within minutes.

[3] The torpedo ripped open the ship's hull, quickly flooding her with water,[9] and immediately knocking out the electrical power on board.

[10] Due to the ship sinking so rapidly there was no time to lower the lifeboats, and the people on board had to jump into the water in order to survive.

[12] On their way back to the UK the Albacores on board Victorious were assigned anti-shipping and bombing missions on the Norwegian coast and 12 aircraft took off at 03:00 and flew east, navigating by moonlight.

The shipwreck stamps were designed by German-born Norwegian Nazi propaganda artist and war reporter Harald Damsleth.