Lars Halvorsen Sons Pty. Ltd.
| Industry | Shipbuilding |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1925 |
| Founder | Lars Anderson |
| Headquarters | Sydney, Australia |
| Subsidiaries | Kong & Halvorsen Marine & Engineering Company |
Lars Halvorsen Sons was an Australian pleasure craft and boat building company, described as "one of the most famous [names] in Australian marine engineering".
Halvorsen Boats traces its roots to 1887 when Halvor Anderson, a farmer, launched his first wooden craft near Arendal in the south of Norway. His son Lars followed in his father's footsteps and became a boat builder. After Lars lost his fortune in the sinking of an uninsured sailing ship Nidelv on its maiden voyage, Lars moved from Norway to Cape Town, South Africa in 1922 to start over. Lars built a successful business repairing lifeboats damaged on the voyage to Cape Town, but with five sons, realised there would not be enough business there to support them all.
Lars and his eldest son Harold settled in Sydney, Australia in 1924, and the rest of the family arrived in 1925. From 1925 through 1980 the family enterprise built over 1,500 craft, initially from a yard in Neutral Bay before moving to larger premises in Ryde making the 'Halvorsen' name an Australian byword for quality and style."
During World War II, the Halvorsens built more than 250 boats for the American, Netherlands, and Australian armed forces employing a staff of 350 tradesmen. During World War II, 178 air-sea rescue Halvorsen craft defended Sydney Harbour and Australia. Halvorsen also built eleven 110 foot Fairmile B motor launches for the war effort. These saw active service in the north of Australia and in New Guinea area.
When Lars died in 1936, his eldest son Harold took over as managing director of the newly formed company, Lars Halvorsen Sons Pty Ltd and continued as designer for most of the wartime vessels as well as commercial and pleasure boats. In recognition of his contribution to the war effort Harold was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2000, while previously Carl Halvorsen had been made a Knight First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit by King Harald in 1991.
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