- Yes
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KNM NARVIK - Destroyer Hunt-class III
BUILDING SITE: Cammell Laird, Birkenhead, great Britain
PREVIOUS NAME: L 44 HMS Glaisdale
LAUNCHED: 5 January 1942
HOIST NORWEGIAN COMMAND: 1 July 1942
ARMAMENT
1942-1953
4x 102mm cannons
1x 37mm Pom-Pom cannon
3x 20mm Oerlicon cannons
4x 12.7mm machineguns
2x 53.3 cm torpedotubes
1953-1961
4x 102mm cannons
2x 40mm cannons
2x squids AU-weapon
TECHNICAL DATA
Displacement: 1.590 Ton
Hull: Steel
Length: 85.3m
Width: 9.6m
Depth: 3.8m
Crew: 180 men
MACHINERY
2x Parson turbines
Power: 19.00 AHK
Speed: 26-27 Knots
CALENDAR
1942: Transferred to KNM 1 July, new name Glaisdale
1942: 1 Destroyer flotilla, Porthsmouth
1942: Participated in the sinking of the German auxiliary cruiser Komet
1944: In the invasion of France, the destroyer played an active role until it struck a German mine on 23 June
1944: Published 12 July
1946: New name KNM Narvik 10 August with pennant number J 21
1947: Towed to the Marinens Hovedverft and repaired, arrived on Horten 5 February
1950: New pennant number D 309
1956: Reclassified with pennant number F 309
1961: Sold to Denmark in December for scrapping
THE HUNT CLASS
Throughout the 30 years, the British had built relatively large destroyers, also known as “fleet hunters”. they were around 110 meters long, weighing 13-1800 tonnes and they made over 30 knots, so that they could follow the even larger warships they were supposed to protect. when the danger of war increased in 1938, they became aware that they should acquire more destroyers, with the aim of escorting merchant ships that would be threatened both by aircraft, surface vessels and submarines. they could therefore be somewhat smaller and they did not have the same need for speed. in the first instance, the need for a transatlantic escort was not seen either, and the requirement for an operational radius was therefore not dimensioned based on this. It was also important to keep the price down and the pace of construction up. in addition to the relatively slow-moving Black Swan class, it was the Hunt class that was supposed to solve this need. The development time for the concept was forced in relation to what was usual. On 1 December 1938, it was decided to build the first 10. the short development time meant that, during negotiations with the various shipyard groups, specifications and weight requirements had to be revised several times, and they finally ended up with a displacement of 1,000 tonnes. a lot of off-the-shelf goods were used and the guns were standardized to double 4 inches, of which they initially had 3 pieces. in addition, they received two 20mm Orelicon as anti-aircraft weapons and a quadruple 2 pounder cannon against patrol vessels. they also had 50 sinking mines, but the first edition did not have torpedoes. during the construction period, 10 new vessels were ordered, without the first ones having been tested. When the Second World War broke out on 1 September 1939, a total of 18 Hunt vessels were under construction. it soon became apparent that the stability was not good enough and the vessel was called “overcrowded”. The concept was therefore adjusted to Hunt class II with 36 vessels which received a higher bow, a lower bridge and more ballast, so that the displacement increased to 1050 tonnes. later in 1940, you got the Hunt class III with 27 vessels which were produced in parallel with class II. the difference was that here one had removed a double cannon and inserted a torpedo cannon with two torpedoes and two sinking mine launchers. the total of 86 Hunt-class vessels that were built made a great and decisive effort. 19 of them were lost, and in addition to Norway, they were also operated by Poland (3), Greece (7) and France (1).
HUNT CLASS AFTER THE WAR
Glaisdale, which had been delivered back to the British in 1944, was formally sold to Norway in 1946. That was probably in the cards, because already in 1945 it was towed to Horten where it was rebuilt with, among other things, a new chimney and mast arrangement. it was named Narvik and it served for several years as a cadet ship for the Naval Academy. from 1956 it, like the other Hunt vessels, was reclassified as a frigate. in 1961 it was sold to Denmark for scrapping. During a transitional period, Arendal had the status of being loaned to Norway, before it was also formally purchased in 1946 and decommissioned in 1961, it also underwent some rebuilding and, like Narvik, it also served as a training vessel, both for the Naval Academy and the Naval Corps
TROMSØ AND HAUGESUND
Norway had already received an offer from Great Britain in 1950 for the free loan of two escort destroyers of the Hunt II type, which had been in storage after their war service. The navy estimated costs for overhaul at 4 million Norwegian kroner and in the summer of 1952 an agreement was entered into regarding such measures. before this was completed, however, the Navy’s Supply Command came up with well-reasoned proposals for further conversions, and by the autumn of 1954 the estimated sum was up to around 20 million Norwegian kroner. due to the large investments, it was now thought that it would be most appropriate to buy the vessels. in November 1955, Norway received a good offer from the British, where parts of the expenditure could be settled against the “in-kind scheme”. Thus, Norway got away with a payment of only NOK 12-14 million, and thus the procurement did not extend beyond the MTB project, as had been threatened. in the Storting’s decision, great emphasis is placed on the Navy’s own emphasis on the uniqueness of these vessels in relation to Norway’s needs, as well as their “partly very good condition”. The two vessels managed a short period as Norwegian fighters before they were also reclassified as frigates in 1956. pending the new Oslo class, they were also kept operational until 1966, when they were sold to ophugginh in Østfold. KNM Haugesund was in any case almost a wreck as it had been used as a target vessel for the first firing tests with the Penguin missile
PICTURES AND IMPORTANT DETAILS
Spoiler
SOURCES
Spoiler
https://www.antikvariat.net/sv/ada18406-90-ar-under-rent-norsk-orlogsflagg-thomassen-marius-adamstuen-antikvariat
Norske marinefartøy - samtlige norske marinefartøy 1814-2008 og marinens flygevåpen 1912-1944 | ARK Bokhandel
Fylkesbaatane – Om saluttkanoner - Kulturhistorisk leksikon
90 år under rent norsk orlogsflagg - Deichman.no
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2347286451/media
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