CLASS: 2nd class gunboats after rebuild 2nd class minelayer
TYPE:
1884 Gunboat
1913 Minelayer
BUILDING SITE: Karljohansværns Værft, Horten
NAVY SHIP LIST NUMBER: Serial number 61
BUILD NUMBER: 64
CONSTRUCTION COST: 353.500,- Norwegian Kroner included weapons
LAUNCHED: 7 May 1884
HOIST COMMAND: 1884
ARMAMENT
1884 AS GUNBOAT
Spoiler
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1x 260mm Krupp rifled breech lading cannon
-Caliber: 26cm L/30 NO2
-Weitght: 25.200 Kilograms
-Placement: Bow gun
-Mount: Fixed in sled footing without protection
-Manufacturer: Krupp -
1x 37mm Armstrong cannon
-Caliber: L/45
-Mount: Armstrong Rapid-firing cannon as stern gunner with shield of 6mm special steel
-Armor: 6mm shield with special steel
-Manufacturer: Armstrong -
2x 37mm Hotchkiss Revolvercannons
-Caliber: L/20
-Barrels: 5x
-Placement/mount: Placed on the bridge wings in shields of 5mm special steel
-Armor: 5mm shield with special steel
-Manufacturer: Hotchkiss -
1x 35.6cm Underwater torpedotube
-Torpedo: Whitehead Torpedo Mk.II class 1d
-Diameter: 35.6 Centimeter
-Lenght: 4.42 Meter
-Weight: 275 Kilograms
-Explosive charge: 30 Kilograms of Wet Nitrocellulose
-Travelling ranges
–400 Meter at 27 Knots (50.01 Km/h)
–800 Meter at 21.5 Knots (39.81 Km/h)
-storage 4x ca
1911 AS MINELAYER
Spoiler
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1x 76mm Armstrong rapid firing cannon
-Caliber: 76mm
-Barrel lenght in caliber: L/40
-Placement: Bow, replaced the 260mm cannon
-Manufacturer: Armstrong -
1x 76mm Armstrong rapid firing cannon
-Caliber: 76mm L/40
-Serial number: 9348
-Placement: Stern gunner
-Manufacturer: Armstrong -
1x 37mm Armstrong cannon
-Barrel lenght in caliber: L/45
-Mount: Armstrong Rapid-firing cannon as stern gunner with shield of 6mm special steel
-Manufacturer: Armstrong
-Serial Number: Unknown
-Placement: Stern gunner -
2x 37mm Hotchkiss Revolvercannons
-Barrel lenght in caliber: L/20
-Placement/mount: Placed on the bridges
-Serial numbers: 1981, 1982 -
SEA MINES OPTIONAL
-50x pendulum mine M/1911
-50x pendulum mine M/1913
-50x swing arm mines M/1915
1928 AS MINELAYER
Spoiler
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1x 120mm Armstrong rapid firing cannon
-Serial numbers: 9057
-Barrel lenght in caliber: L/44
-Armor: Armored shield Front: 114mm Sides: 51mm Roof: 25mm regular steel
-PLacement: Replaced the 76mm bow cannon -
1x 76mm Armstrong rapid firing cannon
-Caliber: 76mm L/40
-Serial number: 9348
-Placement: Stern gunner
-Manufacturer: Armstrong -
1x 37mm Armstrong cannon
-Barrel lenght in caliber: L/45
-Mount: Armstrong Rapid-firing cannon as stern gunner with shield of 6mm special steel
-Manufacturer: Armstrong
-Serial Number: Unknown
-Placement: Stern gunner -
2x 37mm Hotchkiss Revolvercannons
-Barrel lenght in caliber: L/20
-Placement/mount: Placed on the bridges
-Serial numbers: 1981, 1982 -
SEA MINES OPTIONAL
-50x pendulum mine M/1911
-50x pendulum mine M/1913
-50x swing arm mines M/1915
TECHNCAL DATA
Displacement: 286 Metric Tons fully loaded
Lenght: 31.5 Meter
Width: 8.6 Meter
Depth: 2.2 Meter
MACHINERY
2x Vertical compound machines
-Power: 420 Indicated Horsepowers
2x Cylindrical tube boilers
-Working pressure: 6.0 kg per kilovolts per centimeter
Propellers: 2x
Speed: 10.5 Knots (19.44 Km/h)
Bunker: 22 Metric Tons of Coal
CREW
Estimated crew: 44 Men
The size of the crew varied between: 16 and 48 men during the various voyages
ARMOR
Hull material: Steel
TIMELINE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS
1884: Launched 7th may
1884: Hoist command
1913: Remodeled as minelayer
1928: 76mm bow cannonn replaced with a 120mm armstrong cannon taken from HNoMS Fritjof 1rst class gunboat
1940: The command retired on 5 May after defending the parish fjord
1940: Taken over by German forces on 13 May at Kjelkenes
1940: Converted to a distillation vessel for distilling ferry water
1945: Used as a water barge
1947: Sold to Fjeldberg Bruk Stavanger, and converted to MT Gor
1958: Sold to Goteborgsom barge
1959: Scrapped
HISTORY
The picture is the latest verison from 1928, when the one 76mm cannon wich replaced the old 269mm in the bow, was again replaced with the 120mm Armstrong cannon.
BRIEF
In 1913, GOR was transformed into a minelayer. The equipment was changed somewhat
On 8 April 1940, Gor was anchored near Herdla north of Bergen, when it was ordered to go to its station to prepare the vessel for war. In the morning it arrived in Bergen, where it completed its stocks, and then it continued to Flatøy so as not to fall into the hands of the Germans in the event of a German occupation of Bergen. On 10 April the commander received orders to go to Sogn, and on 12 April the vessel arrived in Leikanger. On 14 April, Gor was placed as a floating battery at Kvamsøy. Should the vessel come into battle, the mines on board would be a danger, and these were therefore transferred to the car ferry Torefjell, which had been summoned. On one of the last days in April, Gor was bombed by a German plane, while it lay still at Indre Kvamsøy, without the vessel being hit. When the defense of the Sognefjord was abandoned on 1 May, Gor and Vale were ordered to go to Tromsø.
On the morning of May 4, they entered Midtgulen and moored alongside the quay at Kjelkenes. Although both captains were determined to follow orders, they were aware that the trip would be very risky, with the old vessels only able to perform a cruising at six knots through waters where they had to wait to be attacked by German sea and air forces. After receiving word that several Norwegian warships had given up the fight, the ship’s commanders decided to remain in Kjelkenes. In the afternoon of the same day, the crews were dismissed, and on 5 May the command of the vessels was removed after the vessels’ handguns, machine guns, several of the cannons and more had been brought ashore and hidden away. Among other things, one of the 76mm cannons was transferred to one of the cannon cars (Chevrolet m/1937 suggestion)
On 13 May, both vessels were captured by the Germans. Gor was converted by the Germans into a distillation vessel for distilled water.
At the conclusion of peace in May 1945, GOR was again taken over by the Norwegian navy, which used it as a water barge. In 1947 it was sold to Fjeldberg Bruk in Hundvåg.
CANNON BOATS OF THE SECOND CLASS
the monitors were something new and unforeseen that all seafaring nations simply had to have. our construction of these thus meant a breach of the fleet plan of 1859 and in 1872 a new construction program for naval vessels was therefore drawn up. we were in the initial phase of the struggle for parliamentarism and the initiative for the new program was taken by the civilian navy minister Broch. he distinguished himself both by accepting his position in relation to the Storting and by investing in younger and innovative officers in leading positions. it was his chosen successor, Admiral Jakob Lerche Johansen, who in 1877 had this program adopted as a plan for the Norwegian navy’s development over the next 15 years. Rather than continuing to invest in the large ocean-going vessels, or the more stationary monitors, one would now invest in the construction of steam gunboats of 3 different classes, as far as possible with armour-piercing protection. This shift towards a strengthened archipelago defence, which to some extent was to be distributed along the coast, was perceived from a political point of view as a more national defence. the plan was therefore well received and to a greater extent followed up with grants than many previous plans, although this time we also did not come close to the number the plan had adopted. When rebuilding old rock cannons, we also got 16 cannon boats of 3rd class.
second-class gunboats were to be relatively short and wide so that they could withstand the weight of a 27cm Armstrong cannon of 20 tonnes in the bow. with such a large cannon it was believed that they would be able to threaten even larger battleships. they were supposed to have double propellers to ensure good manoeuvrability, but self-protection was given a lower priority. it was bet that they would hide behind the archipelago’s islets and reefs, and partly that they constituted a small target in themselves. speed could not be prioritized either, which a top speed of 8 knots should emphasize.
in the first instance, the gunboats “vale 1874” and “uller 1876” were built. later followed “nor 1878”, “brage 1878” and “vidar 1880” which were also iron boats, while “gor 1884” and “tyr 1887” were steel boats, which, unlike their sister ships, got a 26cm breech-loading cannon. with the development of the torpedo, Nor, Gor and Tyr also got a built-in torpedo launch tube in the bow. in 1894, after the 1877 plan had been replaced by the concerned defense friends’ needs analysis of 1891, but still before the seriousness had dawned on the anti-Union left-sided, with Ææger we secured yet another vessel in this class. It was somewhat larger than its sister ships and distinguished itself, among other things, by having armored decks and a special waterline protection (cellulose belt), and also a 21cm breech-loading cannon in a 40mm shield as bow gun
investment in defense was, as mentioned, not a high priority and until 1895 the training budgets were very tight. Several years could therefore pass between each piece of equipment. once equipped, they practiced in smaller groups together with the monitors, but they maintained the assumption of a certain spread of activity along the coast
They undoubtedly received the most attention in the spring of 1893, when the tension between the king and the Storting over the appointment of a new government was at its peak. then the supposedly king-friendly commanding admiral Koren was accused of having equipped some of the gunboats in great haste and on his own initiative, with the aim that they could be sent to Oslo and used to support King Oscar II. This revelation led to ever-long investigations and open hearings in the Storting, and it meant that the choir had to resign. at one point in the process he gave a slightly disappointed expression that people did not understand how little a gunboat like Tyr could do in relation to a possible rebellion against the king
After an ever-increasing number of exercises, as is well known, the union battle culminated in a mobilization in 1905. There, the second-class gunboats were distributed respectively Hvaler (Æger, Tyr and Gor), Karljohansvern -Nor, Trønsberg Brage and Vidar and the mountains Uller and Vale, but the dispute was resolved as is known, without fighting taking place
When peace had subsided again and the concept of invasion defense had taken a long step in the direction of minesweepers as the good solution for poor nations, the need and usefulness of converting the solid gunboats into minesweepers was seen. during this rebuilding between 1911 and 1914, they switched from large and or slow-firing guns to smaller and faster guns. thus, there was room for around 50 mines, and little by little the torpedo equipment was also removed.
All 2 class gunboats served in the Neutrality Guard and most of the First World War. Vale and Uller did their service in the west, while the others stayed around melomsvik/tønsberg or Hvaler. their task was partly to lay and remove mines. it was a relatively undramatic service, but with so much sailing they were naturally exposed to some accidents, while on a number of occasions they provided assistance to other vessels with problems. Uller also participated in putting out a city fire in Bergen in January 1916. Towards the end and a little after the war, the task became to a greater extent to neutralize mines that had drifted into Norwegian waters, and this was not a risk-free task. the last and somewhat larger Æger had not been rebuilt and it was used as a flagship for the Hvaler department, until it was decommissioned in 1932.
In the inter-war period, the equipment became rarer and when these vessels were re-equipped, except the barge, for neutrality guard in 1939, following the pattern from the previous war, barges Vale, Uller, Tyr had been in stock since the First World War. They didn’t make a big effort during the battles in Norway either, and they were all taken over by the Germans. Some had gotten mines on board without having to lay them, while others didn’t get that far. throughout, the captains believed that the vessels were so old and vulnerable that their voluntary surrender to the Germans was no great problem. an exception was Tyr, which had mines laid in both Lerøyosen and in Vatlestraumen, which later sank several German ships. but Tyr was also eventually taken over by the Germans. after the war, the Germans returned the vessels in a different condition, but they were soon scrapped and disposed of. Tyr was the longest-lived vessel. First as a well-known car ferry in western Norway, before it has had other services in the farming industry until quite recently
IN GAME
The Norwegian 2nd class gunboats are old and slow, but with a large cannon to pose a treath to larger vessels. Many of these has the 270mm Armstrong muzzle loader mounted, but some of the others have more modern cannons from 260mm, 210mm etc, in addition to various smaller cannons
In game i believe this would be placed at rank 1-2, it would have to be used in a smart way due to it’s lack of speed, and the reload time of the large caliber cannon, but if a player can manage that, it has a lot of potentional as the larger cannon can deal a lot of damage to vessels, even larger destroyers. and wile reloading this cannon, the smaller and higly effective 37, 47, 25, cannons can be used to fight off other smaller boats.
I believe the 26.7cm Muzzle loader cannon are of the more modern and last of it’s kind, and while being only one cannon and have much in common with the later breech loading cannons like the 260mm l/22 cannon this could be useable, the ammunition should be pretty simlar, but i have not managed to find information on that.
after it was rebuilt into a minelayer, it now has acess to 3 different seamines and up to ca 50x of them! one could therefore make a barrage of mines, depending on the map, to slow down or prevent the sone from being attacked/captured by the enemy
the torpedoes wich it has, they are not big and strong, but can still do a decent amount of damage to close vessels, and them being forward-firing is an advantage
If it is doubted that the vessel itself, or some of the weapons like the muzzleloader would work, it could be implemented in the most relevant nation to be tested, then await the result and feedback from players
SKETCHES OF HNoMS GOR
HNoMS Gor Torpedo armament sketch
PICTURES
Spoiler
SOURCES
Spoiler
MAIN SOURCE (Limited acess)
Nasjonalbiblioteket
OTHER
90 år under rent norsk orlogsflagg
Norske marinefartøy - samtlige norske marinefartøy 1814-2008 og marinens flygevåpen 1912-1944 | ARK Bokhandel
Nasjonalbiblioteket
Leselystig 39: Modeller som forteller – Norsk Marinehistorie | Polar Coordinate
- Yes
- No