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Sleipner-class destroyer

Ship class

Field	Value
section1	{{Infobox ship/image
image	HNoMS Sleipner (H48).jpg
image_caption	The lead Sleipner-class destroyer at sea in 1937
section2	{{Infobox ship/class overview
name	Sleipner class
builders	*The Royal Norwegian Navy's shipyard at Karljohansvern, Horten
operators
class_before
class_after	* (planned)
in_service_range	1936–1959
total_ships_completed	6
total_ships_lost	1
total_ships_scrapped	5
section3	{{Infobox ship/characteristics
type	Destroyer
displacement	735 tons
length	74.30 m
beam	7.80 m
draught	4.15 m
propulsion	12,500 shp De Laval oil fuelled steam turbines
speed	32 kn
complement	75
armament	*3 × 10 cm guns

Fredrikstad Mekaniske Verksted (Tor)
(actual)
1 × 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun
2 × 12.7 mm Colt anti-aircraft machine guns
2 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes
4 × depth charge throwers

The Sleipner class was a class of six destroyers built for the Royal Norwegian Navy from 1936 until the German invasion in 1940. The design was considered advanced for its time, and it was the first class of vessels for the Norwegian Navy that used aluminium in the construction of the bridge, the mast and the outer funnel. Extra strength special steel was used in the construction of the hull. Unlike the earlier the Sleipner class had comparatively good capabilities in both main guns, anti-aircraft artillery and anti-submarine weapons. The class was named after Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse of Odin.

Armament

The armament within the class varied slightly. Æger had the armament listed in the article info-box. Sleipner, the lead ship of the class, carried just two 10 cm guns and could not elevate them for use as anti-aircraft weapons. Gyller had two extra torpedo tubes, for a total of four. Odin had a 20 mm anti aircraft gun instead of a 40 mm. Balder and Tor had not been finished when the Germans attacked, and it is not known if any changes in armament were planned.

Although classified by the Norwegians as destroyers they have been widely regarded as torpedo boats because of their displacement and armament.

Fates

The vessels had quite different fates. Æger was bombed by German planes on 9 April 1940, and wrecked with loss of life. Sleipner was in Norwegian service throughout World War II, and was kept in service until 1959. Gyller and Odin were captured by the Germans in 1940 at Kristiansand. Balder and Tor were captured unfinished at the shipyard and put into German service after completion.

Gyller and Odin were returned to the Royal Norwegian Navy after the war and kept in service until 1959. Finished by the Germans, Balder and Tor were used by them until the end of the war in 1945. Balder was scrapped in 1952, Tor in 1959.

The Germans re-classed the ships as Torpedoboot Ausland and renamed them: Gyller to Löwe, Odin to Panther, Balder to Leopard, and Tor to Tiger.

In 1945 Löwe was one of the escorts to the Wilhelm Gustloff on her last voyage. The Wilhelm Gustloff was torpedoed and sank with a great loss of life. During the sinking, Löwe came alongside and rescued 472 of her passengers and crew.

Ship list

Name	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned
120	1936	1959
122	1936	1940
125	1938	1959	renamed Löwe in German service
126	1939	1959	renamed Panther in German service
	1940	1959	renamed Tiger in German service
	1940	1952	renamed Leopard in German service

Footnotes

| Another source regards these ships as two classes of three; Sleipner, Æger and Gyller (the Sleipner class) and Odin, Balder and Tor (the Odin class).

References

Literature

References

Fosland, Roger. "Jageren Sleipner". Tromsø Modellbåtklubb.
(1980). "Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946". Conway Maritime Press.
A.V. Dashyan: ''Korabli Vtoroy mirovoy voyny – VMS Polshy i stran Skandinavii (Danii, Norwegii, Shvecyi i Finlandii)'' [WW2 ships - Navies of Poland and Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland)], Morskaya Kollekcya nr. 3/2005 {{in lang. ru
Emmerich, Michael. "Torpedoboote Ausland". German Naval History.
"Sinking".
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Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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