HNoMS Thorodd (FY-1905) - A requisitioned Whaler, armed as a minesweeper and served during WW2

Til_Dovre_Faller · September 2, 2024, 8:26pm

HNoMS THORODD (FY-1905)

TYPE: guard boat/Minesweeper/anti submarine
OLD NAME: Ex Fleurus (french navy)
OWNER: A/S Thorodd, Ålesund
BUILDING SITE: Foundation Co, Savannah, GA, USA
LAUNCHED: 1919
HIRED: 1939
IN COMMAND: 1939 - 10.1945
WAR OPERATIONAL: 14.03.1941 In Great Britain

ARMAMENT

Spoiler

1x 12 Pounder 12 Cwt Mk.V VA 1942
-3"/40 (76.2 cm) 12cwt Quck Firing HA
-Placement: Bow, front
-Gun Weight: 510 kg
-Gun Length oa: 3,139 m
-Bore Length: 3,048 m
-Rifling Length: 2,617 m
-Grooves: 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
-Ammunition;
-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
1x 20mm Oerlikon Mk.II
-Barrel length in caliber: L/70
-Placement: platform, a coupple meter aft, behind the chimney
-Total gun barrel weight: 68.04 kilograms
-Minus breech mechanism: 20.86 kg
-Overall: 2,210 mm
-Barrel length: 1,400 mm
-Shell L70: 20×110mmRB
-Rate of fireL70:
-Cyclic: 450 rounds per minute
-Practical: 250-320 rounds per minute
-Muzzle velocity L70: 820 m/s
-Effective firing range L70:
-Against low-flying aircraft (HE round): 914 m
-Maximum firing range HE round at 45°: 4,389 m
-Feed system: Cylindrical magazine holding 60 rounds, Later adjusted to be a belt fed gun
2x1 12.7x99mm Colt Browning MG/52
-Cooling system: water cooled
-Placement: might be together, uncertain, but some mg is located right behind the chimney
1x 12.7x99mm Colt Browning MG/52
-Cooling system: water cooled
-Placement:
4x1 .303 Hotchkiss Mk.I
-Placement: might be together, uncertain, but some mg is located right behind the chimney
-Mass: 12 kg
-Length: 1.23 m
-Barrel length: 64 cm
-Cartridge: .303 British (Britain)
-Action: Gas-operated
-Rate of fire: 400-600 rounds per minute[1]
-Maximum firing range: 3800 m
-Feed system: 30-round feed strip, or belt-fed
4x Br. Patt. Admiralty Standard Depth Charges
-2x depth charge racks
Minesweep
-Sweep type: Oropesa Sweep
-SA Gear Type C Mk.I
-Single Oscillator F. P.

TECHNICAL DATA
Displacement: 422 Gross tonnage
Length: 42.79 Meter
Width: 7.65 Meter
Depth: 4.08 Meter

MACHINERY
1x Triple expansion steam eigne
Power: 590 Indicated Horse Powers
Speed: 10 knots (18.52 Km/h)
Bunkers: 130 Metric Tons of Coal
Range : 3200n. miles at 7.5 knots (13.89 Km/h)

CREW
Estimated crew: 23 Men

TIMELINE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS
1919: Delivered as FLEURUS to The Franch Navy, France
1923: Sold to Huret Sauvage, Boulogne, France
1924: Sold to A/S Tønsbergs whaling company (Hans Borge) Tønsberg
1934: Sold to Einar Veim, Bergen
1935: Sold to Skibs A/S Thorodd ( R. J. Falkevik ) Ålesund, new name THORODD
1939: Requisitioned by the Norwegian Navy
1940: Minesweepers 17 June 1940-1946 - FY 1905
1942: 1st Minesweeper Div.Dundee FY 1905
1946: Returned to A/S Thorodd ( R. F. Falkevik ) Ålesund
1947: New engine: Crossley BHK 600
1952: Lengthened 10.8’- GROSS: 452 tons. NET: 200 tonnes
1952: New engine: Ruston BHK 408 Speed: 11 knots
1952: Sold to A/S Grindhaugs Fiskeriselskap (G.Grindhaug) Kopervik
1955: Sank 6/10 outside Risør when the cargo shifted in rough weather on the journey Vigsnes to Tofte with kis.

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.

HNoMS Thorodd was built in 1919 by Foundation Co, Savannah, GA, USA and delivered to the French Navy under the name Fleurus. later in 1923 the ship was sold on to another, Huret Sauvage, Boulogne, France. and in 1924 the ship ended up in Norske hender, when it was sold to A/S Tønsberg whaling company (Hans Borge) in Tønsberg. then it was sold to Einar Veim, Bergen in 1934, and after that to Skibs A/S Thorodd ( R. J. Falkevik ) Ålesund, where it was renamed THORODD. It was used there for a couple of fishing seasons before it was leased/requisitioned by the Royal Norwegian Navy. The ship was sailed to Britain and prepared for service, and cannons and machine guns were installed, the ship was completed on 14.03.1941. The ship was subsequently assigned to: 1st Minesweeper Division Dundee FY 1905. The ship was returned to A/S Thorodd ( R. F. Falkevik ) Ålesund in 1946, and in later years it received a new engine and various modifications, until one day in 1955 it capsized and sank.

HNoMS Thorodd 2nd ship from the left