HNoMS Stegg (1921)

The last of the ''Trygg'' class of Royal Norwegian Navy torpedo boats was HNoMS ''Stegg''. Her sister ships were ''Trygg'' and ''Snøgg''. The ''Trygg'' class vessels were the only additions to the Norwegian fleet of torpedo boats between the First and the Second World Wars. At the outbreak of the Second World War the ''Trygg'' class was mobilised together with eight 2. class and six 1. class torpedo boats.

''Stegg'' was constructed at Horten naval shipyard and had yard number 111. She was named after the Stegg, the Norwegian term for the male grouse.

Second World War

Intercepting German merchants

The Stegg had a brief and intense period of service in the Norwegian Campaign after the German invasion of Norway. When the invasion began on 9 April 1940 she was anchored at Skudeneshavn and commanded by Lieutenant H. M. Hansen. She entered the Hardangerfjord on 10 April 1940 and proceeded to capture two German merchant ships; first the 5,295-ton on 12 April 1940 and then the 6,567-ton iron ore laden five days later. Together with the 1. class torpedo boat HNoMS ''Sæl'', ''Stegg'' escorted ''Afrika'' to the port of Odda the same day she was captured. The German crews were held as POWs by Norwegian land forces.

''Cläre Hugo Stinnes'' was used by the Norwegian forces from 14 April as the depot ship of the Hardangerfjord naval air group in Eidfjord. The two captured ships were later to become the centres of battles at Kinsarvik (''Cläre Hugo Stinnes'') and Ulvik (''Afrika''). ''Afrika'', having been captured on her way from Narvik to Germany, ended up being scuttled by her Norwegian captors in the heat of battle at Ulvik, while ''Cläre Hugo Stinnes'' survived an unsuccessful Kriegsmarine attempted recapture at Kinsarvik and was eventually released with her crew on 2 May 1940 as Norwegian resistance in South Norway collapsed. On her way to Bergen ''Cläre Hugo Stinnes'' was attacked by the Royal Navy submarine ''Trident'' and damaged by gunfire.

Final battle

The end for ''Stegg'' came on 20 April 1940 as she was anchored at Herøysund. In the morning the 1,870-ton artillery training ship ''Bremse'' and the armed whaler ''Schiff 221'' blocked ''Stegg'' in the fjord and attacked her. Early on in the engagement two 57 mm shells from ''Schiff 221'' hit ''Stegg'' in the bow, set her ablaze and caused water to start flooding the torpedo boat. The heavier shells of ''Bremse'' meanwhile failed to find their target and the burning ''Stegg'' returned fire against ''Schiff 221'', hitting the whaler twice with her 76 mm main gun. However, for ''Stegg'' the war was over, as the fire on board got out of control and her crew had to abandon ship. Soon the fire reached ''Steggs torpedoes and ammunition hold and the ship went up in a large explosion. The entire bow of the ship disappeared and ''Stegg'' sank slowly to the bottom of the fjord. The crew got away without serious injuries, despite being bombarded by the two German warships as they fled inland.

References

Bibliography

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stegg
Ships built in Horten
Trygg-class torpedo boats
World War II torpedo boats of Norway
1921 ships
World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea
Maritime incidents in April 1940
Ships sunk with no fatalities