TYPE: Minesweeper
BUILDING SITE: Fleming & Ferguson Ltd, Paisly, Scotland
CLASS: Isle-class minesweeper
NAME: HNoMS Oksøy (2) T200
PREVIOUS NAME: HMS Kerrera
LAUNCHED: 22 September 1941
HOIST NORWEGIAN COMMAND: 4 August 1944
ARMAMENT
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1x (76m)12 Pounder Quick Firing Mk.V cannon
Gun Weight: 510 kg
Gun Length oa: 3,139 m
Bore Length: 3,048 m
Rifling Length: 2,617 m
Grooves: in depth 0.953 x 9.27 mm
Country: 5.69 mm
Twist: Uniform RH 1 in 30 2
Chamber Volume: 1,994 dm3
Rate Of Fire: 15 rounds per minute
Projectile Type and Weight: HE - 5.87 kg
Propellant Charge: 0.95 kg SC061 or 1.25 kg NF059
Cartridge: Up to 4.3 kg with propellant
Muzzle Velocity: 681 mps
Working Pressure: 2,520 kg/cm2
Approximate Barrel Life: 2,700 rounds -
3x1 20mm Oerlicon cannons
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1x2 (twin) 0.303 Browning Mg
-SIghts: air type -
35x Mk.VII Depth charges
-Throwers: 2x throwers
-Racks: 2x launchers/racks -
Mine Sweep
-2nd Oropesa Sweep.
SYSTEMS
Radar: Type 291 - 242 - 253, IFF.
Asdic: Type 123D.
TECHNICAL DATA
Displacement: 770 Metric Tons
Lenght: 50.0 Meter
Width: 8.4 Meter
Depth: 3.4 Meter
MACHINERY
Triple expansion steameigne
Power: 850 IHP
Speed: 12 Knots (22.22 km/h)
Bunkers: 183 Metric Tons of coal
CREW
Estimated crew: 40 Men
ARMOR
Hull material: Wooden
TIMELINE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS
1941: Launched the 22 of September
1944: Hoist Norwegian command the 4th of August
1944: Transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy on 4 August with the new name “Oksøy”
1944: Marine department, scapa flow on the Oknøyene
1945: Minesweeper Division Northern Norway
1946: Returned to the Royal Navy in September
1946: Sold to Norsk Bjergingskompani AS, Bergen in September. Was converted to salvage boat named “DS Jason”
1950: Shipwrecked by Solvær on 1 March
HISTORY
When the Government, in Tromsø on 3 June, decided to give up fighting in Norway, the remaining Norwegian naval vessels were ordered to Great Britain. Norway built up a new fleet here, mainly consisting of warships that were lent to Norway in accordance with the military agreement with the British. With a Norwegian crew, but subject to allied operational command, this force made a significant war effort. One of the least noticed, but in terms of scope, the largest parts of this effort was the cairn that was carried out by Norwegian minesweepers. The bulk of these were not actual warships, but Norwegian trawlers and whaleboats that were requisitioned and converted into minesweepers. Already among the first ships to come over in June 1940 were six requisitioned guard vessels that were converted into minesweepers. Together with two further converted ships, they operated as the 1st Minesweeper Division on the east side of Scotland. The main station for the Norwegian minesweepers was Dundee and the primary task was to keep the convoy channel from Aberdeen to the entrance of the Forthfjord, the combined sailing routes from this channel, free of mines. During the war, these swept between 2-300 mines. Later, seven of 16 requisitioned whaleboats from South Africa, most from Kosmos, were also converted into minesweepers. They formed minesweeper divisions based in Plymouth and Falmouth. There were even more.
The Isle class
When the Germans withdrew from Finnmark in the autumn of 1944, there was a desire from the Norwegian side to support the civilian population with supplies, and for this purpose they wanted to use Norwegian naval vessels. In this context, minesweepers were of significant importance, but due to the support for the Murmansk convoys and the Russian vessel activity in Finnmark, it was not straightforward. The result was that Norway was allowed to take over four British minesweepers of the Isles class. They were ordinary warships, but built on a trawler concept, and only calculated on oropesa sweeps. From December 1944 to May 1945, these formed Minesweeper Division Northern Norway, with Orlogkaptein Hafto as commander. The mission was to sweep the fjords in SørVaranger and the convoy routes from the Varangerfjord to the Kolafjord. As protection against German submarines, they were normally supported by the corvettes Tusberg Castle and Eglantine. It was during such an operation that Tunsberg Castle stepped on a mine, or was torpedoed, on 12 December 1944. By the end of the war, this area was thus virtually cleared of mines. The four vessels were therefore returned to Great Britain already in 1946. It is doubtful whether they physically returned to Great Britain, because all corvettes were sold to Norwegian shipowners.
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