HNoMS Sperm - A whaler requisitioned by the Royal Norwegian Navy

Til_Dovre_Faller · October 26, 2024, 8:13pm

HNoMS SPERM

TYPE: Patrol vessel/Whaler
BUILDING SITE: Akers mekaniske verksted, Kristiania, bnr 425
PREVIOUS NAMES: Chr. Nielsen
LAUNCHED: September 1925
REQUISITIONED: Autumn 1939
IN COMMAND: 1939 - 12.04.1940
OWNER: Oluf Holm A/S Ålesund

ARMAMENT

Spoiler

1x 65mm M/II Hotckiss rapid firing cannon
-Caliber: 65mm L/45
-Manufacturer: Hotchkiss
-Model: M/II
-Shell: 65x307R
-Reload time: 2.4 Seconds
-Rounds per minute: 25
-Ammunition types
–Armour Piercing (AP)
–High Explosive (HE)
–Muzzle velocity: ca 700-715 mps
-Armored shield: I am quite certain the cannon in the picture is the 65mm cannon, i will try to be 100% certain about it, but it looks similar in design. it has a armored shield, probably around 3-10mm

TECHNICAL DATA
Displacement: 239 Gross registered tons
Length: 34.56 Meter
Width: 7.04 Meter
Depth: 4.05 Meter

MACHINERY
1x piston steam machine (steam reciprocating)
Type: triple expansion, 3-cylinder
Boiler: 1x Boiler
Cylinder diameter: 14.0"-22.0"-37.5"
Stroke: 24.0"
Built by: Akers mechanical Workshop, Oslo.
Power: 140 NHP
Speed: 10 Knots (18.52 km/h)

CREW
Estimated crew: 18 men

HISTORY
Yes, you read that right, this is HNoMS Sperm! Sperm being related to the Sperm oil, which is a liquid obtained from the fat of a sperm whale… but enough about that!

HNoMS Sperm was built at Aker’s mechanical workshop for the whaling company Valfangerselskapet Norge A/S (Chr. Nielsen & Co. A/S), Larvik. The ship was launched in 1925 and named Chr. Nielsen (which, among other things, can be seen in the picture above, which was the only image I had managed to find of the ship). The ship was then put into whaling in the Antarctic. In 1935, after many seasons of fishing, the ship was sold to A/S Moss Verft, Moss, where it remained until it was sold again in 1937, this time to Oluf Holm A/S in Ålesund, where some small changes were made to the ship, before it was renamed the name we know it as today, namely Sperm. in 1939 this ship, like the many other ships, was requisitioned by the Royal Norwegian Navy and equipped with a cannon to serve as a patrol boat. This ship in particular had a rapid-firing 65mm cannon mounted on the foredeck. This was then after Germany invaded Poland in 1939. The war finally broke out in Norway on April 9, 1940, what happened to this ship at that time is extremely poorly documented, but they probably participated a little in the resistance as they stayed away from the Germans until on 12 April, when the ship was sunk by its own crew at Vikedal in Ryfylke in order not to end up in the hands of the enemy.