[1][4] Skomvær entered the public eye once again in 1960, when musician Erik Bye wrote the song "Skomværsvalsen" as a tribute to the ship and her crew.

[1][2] Hansen, who was known for his use of clipper-style bows and soft lines, drew up a plan for the ship, to which Gunnar Knudsen made a few alterations to increase the carrying capacity by 50 register tons.

Construction took place at the shipyard Laxevaags Maskin- og Jernskibsbyggeri in Laksevåg, Bergen, and the ship was launched on 23 April 1890, costing 284,995 kroner in all.

[7] Although steamships had already begun to dominate the shipping trade, Skomvær still did good business in the first few decades of the 20th century due to her high storage capacity and advanced construction.

However, disaster struck on 3 July, when a strong gust of wind caused the ship to heel and the cargo to shift, resulting in her sailing with an unsafe angle of list.

[4][10] In August 1915, Skomvær was sold to Ole Christian Axelsen, a wealthy businessman and member of the Order of St. Olav from the town of Bakke in Flekkefjord who briefly rechristened it as Yarkey Sabar.

By the time she was decommissioned, the ship had transported many types of goods all across the world, including grain from Australia, coal from England, lumber from Sweden, saltpeter from Chile, cognac from Marseille, and break bulk cargo from Spain.

[10] In 1960, Skomvær was given a new lease of life when Norwegian folk singer and television and radio presenter Erik Bye released his first studio album, Vi går ombord.

The sixth track on the album, "Skomværsvalsen" (English: The Skomvær Waltz), which was co-written with Bjarne Amdahl, became one of Bye's biggest hits and received heavy rotation on the NRK radio show Ønskekonserten.

The track gained additional popularity from being featured on the annual NRK Christmas broadcast "Vi går ombord," where the song was performed by the Norwegian Seamen's Choir.

The contract to build the boat was signed with the Stord-based firm AS Stord Verft by NRK director-general and later Labour Party politician Kaare Fostervoll.

[6][11] In 1986, the NSSR spent 5.3 million kroner on a new rescue boat, Skomvær III, with two 625-horsepower MAN Diesel engines giving her a top speed of 25 knots.

They sold Skomvær II that same year for 1.6 million kroner to the Swedish Sea Rescue Society, who renamed the boat Hans Hansson.