Thor (1903)
Thor was a Danish research vessel from 1903 to 1927. It was built in Newcastle in 1899 as a steam trawler. Thor conducted hydrographical and oceanographical research in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean and helped locate the spawning grounds of the Icelandic cod. Most importantly, Thor conducted two expeditions to the Mediterranean Sea in 1908-1910 with Johannes Schmidt as cruise leader. The aim of the expeditions, funded by the Carlsberg Foundation, was to locate the spawning grounds of the European eel. Contrary to their expectations the expeditions found that fewer eel larvae were found the deeper they went into the Mediterranean, but they also grew larger. The logical conclusion was that the spawning grounds were not in the Mediterranean, but in the Atlantic Ocean.
In a broader perspective the largest result from the two expeditions was the very large contribution to the general understanding of the oceanography and pelagic fauna of the Mediterranean.
