TYPE: Minesweeper
CLASS: Glomma class minesweeper
BUILDING SITE: Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Great Britain
PREVIOUS NAME: HMS Bangor J00
LAUNCHED: 23 May 1940
HOIST NORWEGIAN COMMAND: 11 October 1945
ARMAMENT
1x QF 12 Pounder 3" cannon (76.2mm)
1x 40mm anti air cannon
2x Single 20mm Oerlicon anti air cannons
2x Drop devices for depth charges
2x Dept charge throwers
TECHNICAL DATA
Displacement: 700 Metric Tons
Lenght: 54.0 Meter
Width: 7.0 Meter
Depth: 2.8 Meter
MACHINERY
2x B&W Dieseleignes
Power: 2.000 BHP
Speed: 16.5 Knots (30.55 km/h)
CREW
Estimated crew: 61 Men
ARMOR
Hull material: Wood
TIMELINE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS
1940: Launched the 23rd of May
1945: Hoist Norwegian command the 11th of October
1945: Loaned to KNM to sweep mines along the Norwegian coast
1946: Purchased from Strobritania by the Royal Norwegian Navy and renamed “KNM Glomma”
1950: Assigned new pennant number M309
1961: Command canceled on 1 December
1962: Hewn up in Bergen
HISTORY
HMS Bangor J00 was a Royal Navy Bangor-class minesweeper, where it served throughout the war. The minesweeper was built at Harland & Wolf in Belfast, Great Britain and the leader of her class, while being one with a diesel engine. The ship was ordered built on 12 July 1939 and was laid down on 19 September of the same year.
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 Glomma class
Around the rest of the coast, in the North Sea and in the Skagerrak, at the end of the war, it was a formidable task to neutralize war mines. The bulk of the work was done by ex-German vessels, including our own Otra and Rauma, manned by retained German crews. The organization, which was named the German Minesweeper Administration, consisted of six divisions. The 4th division, which operated in Norway, consisted of no less than 175 vessels. To assist, and not least to follow up this work, Norway was allowed to borrow five rather large minesweepers of the Bangor class. These relatively large, ocean-going vessels were well equipped for ordinary sweeping of anchored contact mines, while they were not as suitable for sweeping of magnetic and acoustic mines. in the course of two months, these five vessels swept no fewer than 735 anchored mines. At some point it was found out from the Norwegian side that they wanted some of these minesweepers the future structure. In 1946, three of the five were therefore returned, while the last two were permanently taken over through a formal purchase. They were then given the Norwegian names Glomma (ex HMS Bangor) and Tana (ex HMS Blackpool. They both served until 1961, when they were sold for scrapping.
The clean-up work in Norwegian waters with German crews continued until the spring of 1947. In May 1947, all five Bangor vessels again operated together, when a control sweep was carried out in the Skagerrak. It was not until 1952 that responsibility for mine safety in own waters was transferred from an allied council (Mine Clearance Board) to the individual nation.
ALBUM
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90 år under rent norsk orlogsflagg - Deichman.no
Norske marinefartøy - samtlige norske marinefartøy 1814-2008 og marinens flygevåpen 1912-1944 | ARK Bokhandel
Harland and Wolff - Shipbuilding and Engineering Works
HMS Bangor (J00) - Wikipedia
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