Kjeld Stub Irgens

Kjeld Stub Irgens
Captain Irgens on board Stavangerfjord.
Provisional Minister of Shipping
In office 25 September 1940 – 25 September 1941
Minister of Shipping
In office 25 September 1941 – 31 January 1942
NS Minister of Shipping
In office 1 February 1942 – 12 June 1944
Personal details
Born	23 May 1879
Died	26 August 1963
Nationality	Norwegian
Political party	Nasjonal Samling
Relations	Albert Viljam Hagelin (brother-in-law)
Profession	Naval officer Sea captain

Kjeld Stub Irgens (23 May 1879 – 26 August 1963) was a Norwegian politician during the German occupation of Norway.

He was born in 1879 to vicar Jens Stub Irgens and his wife Sophie Cathinka, née Altschwager. He had several brothers and sisters. He was a distant relative of eighteenth-century bishop Ole Irgens and politicians Ole and Johannes Irgens.

A sea captain by profession, Irgens had received his education in the Royal Norwegian Navy, which he left with the rank of First Lieutenant (Norwegian: Premierløytnant) in 1903. From 1913 onwards Irgens worked for the Norwegian America Line (NAL) shipping company, in 1918 assuming command of the NAL's 12,977 GRT passenger ship SS Stavangerfjord. In 1921 Irgens purchased the island of Ravnøy in Vestfold on behalf of the crew of Stavangerfjord, as a holiday resort at which to spend time with their families after spending long periods of time at sea. The 270-decare property, located between the island of Nøtterøy and Stokke on the mainland, was bought at a price of 10,000 Norwegian kroner and later transferred to the Norwegian America Line. The shipping company remained in ownership of the island until 1983 when it was sold on to the Holiday Resort Ravnøy Foundation (Norwegian: Stiftelsen Feriestedet Ravnøy).

He was not involved with the Norwegian Nazi party, Nasjonal Samling, before the Second World War reached Norway in 1940. However, he was married to a sister of Albert Viljam Hagelin, a leading member of Nasjonal Samling, and one day after the German invasion he was summoned by Hagelin and Vidkun Quisling to Hagelin's suite at the Hotel Continental in Oslo. Here, he was asked to persuade King Haakon VII to abdicate and to name Quisling as Prime Minister. Together with Curt Bräuer he traveled to Elverum to negotiate, but his efforts proved fruitless. On his way to Elverum Irgens encountered some members of the Storting at Hamar Station, stating his intention to meet with the King. Irgens arrived at Elverum late in the evening of 10 April, being allowed to sleep in Minister Hjelmtveit's bed for a few hours before seeing the King the next morning. The meeting led nowhere, as the final Norwegian decision to resist the invasion had already been taken the previous day. The Norwegian government refused Quisling's demands and vowed to resist the German invasion as long as possible.