TYPE: guard boat/Minesweeper/anti submarine
OLD NAME: Ex HMS William Forbes (RN) 1919
OWNER: Hans S. Haram, Borgund, Ålesund
BUILDING SITE: Goole S.B. & Rep. Co., Goole, UK
LAUNCHED: 25.05.1919
HIRED: 1939
IN COMMAND: 1939 - 09.1945
WAR OPERATIONAL: 29.12.1940 In Great Britain
ARMAMENT (1939)
Spoiler
- 1x 76mm L/40 Armstrong Whitworth Fast Firing cannon
-Barrel length in caliber: L/40
-Placement: Bow, on a platform
ARMAMENT (29.12.1940)
Spoiler
-
(57mm) QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss
-Designer: Hotchkiss et Cie
-Designed: 1883
-Manufacturer: Elswick
-Variants: 40 to 58 calibre
-Mass: 372–385 kg barrel & breech
-Length: 2.5 m
-Barrel length: 2.3 m 40 calibre
-Shell: 57x307R
-Caliber: 57-millimeter
-Breech: Vertical sliding block
-Recoil: Hydro-spring, 4 inch
-Elevation: Dependent on mount
-Rate of fire: 25 / minute
-Muzzle velocity: 554 m/s
-Effective firing range: 3,700 m -
3x1 12.7x99mm Colt MG/52 Machinegun
-Cooling system: Water cooled
-Placement: -
4x Type Depth Charge Pistol Mk.VII
-2x Slip hooks on the stern -
Minesweep
-Oropesa Sweep
TECHNICAL DATA
Displacement: 298 Gross tonnage
Length: 45.11 Meter
Width: 7.23 Meter
Depth: 3.88 Meter
MACHINERY
1x Triple expansion steam eigne
Power: 600 Indicated Horse Powers
Speed: 10 knots (18.52 Km/h)
Bunkers: 100 Metric Tons of Coal
Range : 3086n. miles at 9 knots (16.66 Km/h)
CREW
Estimated crew: 25 Men
TIMELINE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS
1939: Chartered in Norway in autumn 1939 as a patrol vessel in autumn -39.
1940: Sailed to England. Under the 1st Minesweeper Division in Dundee. Was ready for war on 29/12/1940.
1945: Sailed to Norway, Returned owner, Reg. no. M-90-B
1960: Sold to Thoralf Rønstad, Kjærstad, Reg. no. M-65-H
1964: Condemned
HISTORY
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.
In 1939, HNoMS Syrian was chartered to the Royal Norwegian Navy to serve as a guard vessel, it was then fitted with a single 76mm rapid-fire cannon. after the outbreak of war and the invasion of Norway, the ship was sailed to England, where it was further armed with 1x 6 pdr. Hotchkiss cannon, 3x 0.5 Colt Mg 52 (Colt 12.7mm) water-cooled machine guns. What I am not quite sure of, as there are not many pictures of this ship, or information for that matter, is whether the 76mm cannon was replaced with the 57mm 6pndr hotchkiss cannon, most likely it was. The ship was then assigned to the 1 Minesweeper Division in Dundee and was fully equipped on 29 December 1940 where it served until the end of the war. In 1945 the ship returned to Norway, and returned to its original owner.
ALBUM
Spoiler
SOURCES
Spoiler
Nasjonalbiblioteket
Redirecting...
Norske Marinefartøy – Bodoni Forlag
Leselystig 39: Modeller som forteller – Norsk Marinehistorie | Polar Coordinate
Nasjonalbiblioteket
https://www.sjohistorie.no/no/skip/28514/dokumenter
- Yes
- No