TYPE: Steamboat/patrol vessel
NAMES:
Norwegian service: BB Smart, Ex Kya, Ex Wangarei, Ex Gunnar Hamundarson
German service: No change
BUILDING SITE: Nylands Verksted, Kristiania
LAUNCHED: March 1907
REQUISITIONED: Autumn 1939
IN COMMAND: 1939 - 02.05.1940
UNIT: 2. Sjøforsvarsdistrikt 13.Bevokningsdivisjon
OWNERS: Chr. Bjelland & Co A/S, Stavanger
ARMAMENT
Spoiler
- 1x 65mm L/43 Cockerill Quick Firing cannon
-Barrel length in calibers: L/43
-Placement: foredeck
-Firerate/reloading time: highly likely the same as the 65mm hotchkiss 25 rpm/2.4 Seconds.
–Muzzle velocity: ca 700-715 mps
-Shell: a little uncertian, but the Hotchkiss is 65x307R
-Range: 4km
TECHNICAL DATA
Displacement: 122 Gross tonnage
Length: 27.79 Meter
Width: 5.48 Meter
Depth: 3.44 Meter
MACHINERY
1x piston steam machine (steam reciprocating)
-Type: triple expanding (3-cylinder)
-Cylinder diameter: 10.5"-17.0"-28.5"
-Stroke: 20.0"
-Built by: Nylands Verksted, Kristiania.
1x Boiler
-Dimensions: 10.8’ x 9.9’ and 2 fire aisles
-Heating area: 1,157 ft²
-Built by: Nylands Verksted, Kristiania.
Power: 38 BHP/60 NHP
Speed: 10 knots (18.52 Km/h)
CREW
Estimated crew: 18 Men
TIMELINE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS
1907: Delivered as GUNNAR HAMUNDARSON to Hans Ellifsen, Mjoafjordur, Iceland
1912: Sold to A/S New Zealand Whaling Co Ltd ( Chr. Nielsen & Co new name WHANGAREI
1913: Transferred to A/S The Freemantle Whaling Co Ltd ( Chr. Nielsen & Co ) Larvik
1918: Transferred to A/S The Freemantle Whaling Co Ltd in liquidation (Chr. Nielsen & Co) Larvik
1920: Sold to Statens Havnevesen, Kristiania, new name KYA
1921: Transferred to the Statens Havnevesen, Ålesund
1928: Transferred to the Norwegian Port Authority (Engineering) Ålesund
1929: Sold to Chr. Bjelland & Co A/S, Stavanger, new name SMART
1937: Transferred to Chr. Bjelland & Co A/S (Ingeniørkontoret) Stavanger
1939: Requisitioned by the Norwegian Navy
1940: Abandoned by the crew in Grindheimsvågen
1940: Taken over by Die Deutsche Marine, Hafenschutzflotille Stavanger
1946: Returned to Chr. Bjelland & Co. A/S, Stavanger
1946: Sold to A/S Seilas (John Burkeland) Bergen
1948: New engine: Paxman BHK 380 Speed 10 knots
1949: Sold to Salmon Havn and others, Eikefjord, Bergen
1950: Sold to Tollef & Olav Jacobsen (Tollef Jakobsen) Stavanger
1951: New engine: Wichmann BHK 150 Speed 10 knots
1956: Sold to Brødrene Nilsen, Oddernes, Kristiansand S
1964: New engine: Alpha BHK 280 Speed:
1974: Sold to Gunnar Havsgård P/R, Eikelandsosen, Kristiansand S
1975: Transferred to Gunnar Havsgård P/R, Eikelandsosen, Bergen, new name HAGANES
1977: Transferred to P/R Haganes (Gunnar Havsgård, Eikelandsosen) Bergen
1990: Transferred to Kristian & Gunnar Havsgård (Gunnar Havsgård, Eikelandsosen) Bergen
1995: Remeasured: Dead weight: 140 tonnes. Gross: 118 tonnes. NET: 47 tonnes
1998: Sold to Løkeland Sjøtransport (Terje Løkeland, Askvoll) Bergen
1999: Sold to P/R Brødrene Opstad ANS (Ola Opstad. Midsund) Bergen
2000: Sold to North Sea Commander Shipping A/S, Bakkasund, Bergen
2003: Sold to Deepocean Shipping III A/S. Re-sold to unknown owner in the USA.
2012: Has been used as a cruise boat in the East
2019: Was registered with Inter Yacht Charter, Kingstown, St. Vincent & Grenadines
HISTORY
This vessel was built at Nylands Verksted, located in Kristiania, Norway and launched in March of 1907 and delivered by the name “GUNNAR HAMUNDARSON” to Hans Ellifsen at Mjoafjordur in Iceland whom it serverd until 1912 when it was sold to New Zealand Wgaling Co Ltd. (Chr. Nielsen & Co) with a new name “WHANGAREI”. in 1913 it was Transferred to A/S The Freemantle Whaling Co Ltd, in 1918 Transferred to A/S The Freemantle Whaling Co Ltd in liquidation (Chr. Nielsen & Co) Larvik and in 1920 it was Sold to the The Norwegian State Port Authority in Kristiania with the new name “KYA”. In 1929 it was sold to Chr. Bjelland & Co A/S, in Stavanger, with the new name “SMART”. And in 1939 it was requisitioned by the Royal Norwegian Navy to serve as a guard vessel after the breakout of ww2. The vessel recieved a 65mm L/43 Cockerill cannon.
Cannons on Steamships
In September 1939, the navy requisitioned six steamships. These steamships were to do guard duty for the Royal Norwegian Navy, and cannons were therefore mounted on the steamships. The steamships that were requisitioned were; “Lindaas” from Lindaas-Masfjorden, “Haus” and “Oster” from Indre Nordhordland, “Øygar” from Hjelma and Herdla, and “Alversund” and “Manger” from Alversund and Manger.
When Norway was invaded by Germany on 9 April 1940, these ships were on post. These then reported enemy attacks, and some of the ships, such as “Haus” and “Øygar”, later took part in battles, and “Øygar” was nearly sunk in one of these battles. “Alversund” was sunk by its own crew in an attempt to avoid it falling into the hands of the enemy, but was soon raised by the Germans. The Germans eventually confiscated all these boats during the war.
These ships were the glue between village and town in these areas, as both people, cattle, foodstuffs, dairy products and much else were transported via these ships, and they were also the biggest collective travel offer at that time here. The route offer was seriously weakened in 1939 when they were requisitioned, and weakened even more when the Germans took these ships in addition to a number of others during the war. this was the case for a long time after the war as well, because the Germans damaged the ships so much that they had to be repaired and modernized at the same time.
Smart took part in some incidents, before a little while later it docked in Uskedalen, where this ship in a team but many others made the guns available for land forces to either deliver to some companies or mount them on trucks. the vessel “smart’s” 65mm cockerill cannon was mounted on a truck, and used in combat against the Germans on the 20th of April. The vehicle was destroyed at a time the 20th August at Ljosnes. I am not sure if this was during combat, or by its own crew or the Germans.Smart itself was later bandoned by the crew in Grindheimsvågen, where it was later taken over by Die Deutsche Marine, and transferred to Hafenschutzflotille in Stavanger.
The vessel was in 1946 returned to Chr. Bjelland & Co. A/S, Stavanger. trough the years it served many purposes and was modified multiple times both with new eignes and remeasuring.
IN GAME
The vessel is old and slow, the cannon is not of the newest make either but it is still a very good cannon with high damaging shells and a great firerrate. Range seems a bit limited tough, as from waht i can see the effective range is 4 kilometer. The vessel can only make it to 10 knows, 18.5 km/h and that is not good at all, but it should have decent maneuverability. It will not survive many incoming bullets, but if used correctly, and you get the first shot it would definitely do much and devastating damage to the enemy, as most of the coastal vessels would be knocked out or sunk by one or two shots. Larger vessels would be a issue, but it should have acess to AP shells to, but i have no information about the ammunition regarding these cannons unfortunately.
ALBUM
SOURCES
Spoiler
Redirecting…
Norske Marinefartøy – Bodoni Forlag
Leselystig 39: Modeller som forteller – Norsk Marinehistorie | Polar Coordinate
Primary (Note that the source say 76mm, but according to the information i have been given the cannon was a 65mm Cockerill cannon)
Nasjonalbiblioteket
- Yes
- No