TYPE: Minesweeper/Patrol vessel/ex whaler
BUILDING SITE: Smiths Dock Co.Ltd, Middlesbrough, UK
OLD NAME: KOS XIII
OWNER: Hvalfangerselskapet Kosmos II A/S
LAUNCHED: June 1932
IN COMMAND: 29.04.1941 - 12.1945
WAR OPERATIONAL: 02.09.1941
ARMAMENT
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1x 37mm Pom Pom AA Cannon
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3x1 12.7x99mm Colt Browning MG/52
-Cooling system: water cooled
-Placement: uncertain, most likely 1 on each side of the brigde wing and one in the middle -
1x2 (twin) 0.303 Browning Mg
-SIghts: air type -
Radar Type 252
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Minesweep
-LL III
-SA II
TECHNICAL DATA
Displacement: 252 Metric tons standard
Length: 36.48 Meter
Width: 7.34 Meter
Depth: 4.17 Meter
MACHINERY
1x Triple expansion steam eigne
Power: 850 Indicated Horse Power
Speed: 12.5 Knots (23.15 km/h)
Bunkers: 60 Metric Tons of oil
Range: 2300n. miles at 10 knots (18.52 Km/h)
CREW
Estimated crew: varied between 26-32 Men
TIMELINE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS
1932 Built as a whaleboat by Smith’s Dock Co. Ld., Middlesbrough for Kosmos II A/S (Anders Jahre & Co), Sandefjord - KOS XIII
1939 The Kosmos II expedition in the Arctic Ocean.
1940 Requisitioned by the Norwegian Navy in July for use as a minesweeper with a Norwegian crew.
1941 New name - BREVIK
1941 Was in the 2nd minesweeper division, Kanalen. Stationed in Plymouth - Falmouth.
1945 Delivered back to the owners in June and got its old name back - KOS XIII
1953 Sold to Industrial Maritime SA, Morocco
1971 Sold to Masso Mermanos SA, Spain
1981 Continued operation
HISTORY
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The Norwegian Navy’s previous experience in demining was only neutralizing drift mines during and after the First World War. These were isolated cases, because no minefields had been laid out in Norwegian territory. It was not until the early thirties that it was realized that this could become relevant. It was therefore decided to equip six decommissioned Class 2 torpedo boats as combined guard boats and minesweepers. The torpedo guns of these vessels were taken ashore, and on a platform aft an arrangement was set up for Oropesa sweep. Incidentally, there is very little information about the equipment on these vessels. The Oropesa sweep was developed by the Royal Navy during the First World War and was named after the trawler Oropesa which first tried this type of sweep.
The Oropesa sweep, or O sweep as it is also called, consists of a cable or wire that the vessel releases. An otter is attached to the end of the cable, which causes the cable to pull outwards from the vessel. To mark where the otter is, there is a float on the surface, called a Paravan. Along the cable there are knives that will cut the anchoring of any mines so that they float up and can be neutralized. Another otter is attached to the inner side of the vessel, so that the sweep cable cuts into the water. The system is the same as on a trawl. The O-sweep, which is operated by one vessel, was a necessary further development of the English A-sweep. This consisted of a cable, pulled between two or more vessels. During an attack, it was very difficult to maneuver with the A-sweep in the sea. The growing threat of war and thus the danger of minelaying in Norwegian waters meant that, in addition to the rebuilding of the 2. kl. torpedo boats, it was decided to build two minesweepers. These, OTRA and RAUMA, were built at Akers mech. Workshop and were completely new and fully equipped when Great Britain announced that they had laid mines at Stad, Hustadvika and Landegode north of Bodø in April 1940. OTRA and RAUMA were in Horten and had received orders to go to Western Norway to clear the minefields, but was instead involved in the fighting at Horten harbor after the German attack on 9 April. OTRA was, following reports of foreign warships in the Oslofjord, sent out to observe and was able to 04.10 report that these vessels were German. RAUMA joined OLAV TRYGGVASON in battle with the German Raumboot R.17 and R.27 at Horten harbour. R.27 fired at RAUMA and badly damaged the vessel. The Chief, Itn. I. K. Winsnes, and one deckhand was killed and six others wounded, OTRA became the Germans’ prey at the quay at Filtvet, was named TOGO and was used as a guard boat until the navy got it back in 1947. Then OTRA was converted into a training vessel for minelaying.
It was after the rebuilding of the guard boats Bjerk, Syrian, Børtind, Nordhav II, Thorodd and Hval V that the navy got to try its hand at minesweeping duty in Great Britain. These were the vessels that made it over to Great Britain after the fighting in Norway ceased in June 1940. In addition to these, the navy took over its first vessel from the Roy Navy. It was the trawler ALCMARIA, equipped as a minesweeper and under Norwegian command from 15 October 1940 to 28 November 1944. The next minesweeper taken over from the Royal Navy was actually Norwegian. The whaleboat POLAR VI was requisitioned by the Royal Navy as early as March 1940 and transferred to the navy in February 1941. The minesweepers were first stationed in harbor towns on the east and north coast of Scotland. Later, it became most practical to gather the Norwegian minesweepers in a separate Norwegian minesweeper division, which had its station in Dundee.
The minesweepers were first stationed in port towns on the east and north coasts of Scotland. Later, it became most practical to gather the Norwegian minesweepers in a separate Norwegian minesweeper division, which had its station in Dundee. The development of new types of mines, such as the magnetic and the acoustic mine in 1939-40, led to countermeasures from the Allies. The Norwegian vessels were eventually equipped with sweeps to be able to take these new mines. A magnetic mine explodes when the magnetic field around a ship passing over or nearby is strong enough. The countermeasure was therefore to create a magnetic field stronger than the vessel’s.
The first LL (magnetic mine sweep) was introduced in early 1940 and was quickly developed and modernized into a standard anti-magnetic mine sweep for all Allied navies. The sweep consisted of two electric cables, one short and one long. which was towed after the minesweeper. Either batteries or a generator were placed on board the vessel, which produced approx. 70 kw., to provide the powerful magnetic field which caused the mines to explode aft of the vessel. An acoustic mine explodes on propelistoy from vessels. These mines were swept with fake noise, both high frequency and low frequency sound. This sound was produced by a pneumatic hammer mounted in a conical steel cylinder. This so-called “Kango hammer” was placed on a boom, mounted over the bow of the vessel, and could be lowered into the sea under the keel when the sweep started. The sweep type was called SA sweep (acoustic sweep). Later, the Kangohammer was towed behind the vessel in the same way as with an Oropesa sweep.
The first eight Norwegian minesweepers that operated from Great Britain were all originally equipped with Oropesa sweeps, but were later equipped with both LL sweeps and SA sweeps. In June 1940, the Norwegian High Command seized 16 Norwegian whaleboats. Seven of these were sailed from Canada to Great Britain in the spring of 1941 for conversion into minesweepers. The other whaleboats were converted into patrol vessels. The minesweepers were named GRIMSTAD, BREVIK VARDO, MANDAL, DROBAK, HARSTAD and KOS 16. The last one, KOS 16, sank on the night of 25 August 1941 outside Hull after a collision with a British fighter. The others were assigned to the 2nd Minesweeper Division with stations in Plymouth and Falmouth. HARSTAD sank on 27 February 1943, but the others survived the war.
ALBUM
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SOURCES
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Nasjonalbiblioteket
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Norske Marinefartøy – Bodoni Forlag
Leselystig 39: Modeller som forteller – Norsk Marinehistorie | Polar Coordinate
Nasjonalbiblioteket
skipshistorie
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