The ''Norwegian gun-ships'' were a class of ten armed schooners that served first in the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy, and then after 1814 in the Royal Norwegian Navy. The first was launched in 1808 and the last was lost in 1872. Following the near total loss of the Danish-Norwegian fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen in September 1807, the

Gunboat War The Gunboat War (, ; 1807–1814) was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the materially superior Royal Nav ...

and the British blockade of Danish ports was fought primarily in the relatively confined seas around Denmark. The Danes built their naval strategy on small

gunboats A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to shore bombardment, bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for troopship, ferrying troops or au ...

that rarely ventured very far from their sheltered harbours. As the British extended their blockade to the longer Norwegian coastline and up to Russia during the

Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812) During the Napoleonic Wars, the Anglo-Russian War (2 September 1807 – 18 July 1812) was the phase of hostilities between Great Britain and Russia after the latter signed the Treaty of Tilsit that ended its war with France. Anglo-Russian hostil ...

, a different type of vessel became necessary. The result was the Norwegian gun-ship, a class of ten pine schooner-rigged vessels all built to the same plan. Each was equipped with 30 oars to permit their crews to row them in calm weather; all were more or less identically armed. These ships had a reputation for seaworthiness, a characteristic much needed in the waters of the Norwegian Sea that was their main area of operations. The Dano-Norwegian navy stationed eight in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

and two in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

, though this is a little deceptive. After the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

captured two at the

Battle of Silda Battle of Silda (''Affæren ved Silden'' or ''Affæren ved Stadt'') was a naval battle fought on 23 July 1810 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Denmark–Norway near the Norwegian island of Silda in Sogn og Fjordane cou ...

, the Danes built two more to replace them. The two new schooners received the same names (''Thor'' and ''Balder'') as the lost schooners. Thus there was only a maximum of eight schooners on active duty at any one time. Eight of the schooners were still in service in 1814,Fra Krigens Tid
Marinen
/ref> all of them based in the Norwegian ports of Bergen and Trondheim. Under the

Treaty of Kiel The Treaty of Kiel ( da, Kieltraktaten) or Peace of Kiel (Swedish and no, Kielfreden or ') was concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on the ...

, which provided for the separation of Norway from Denmark, those naval vessels in Norwegian ports automatically transferred to the new Norwegian navy. The schooners therefore continued their careers in the Norwegian navy, with the last serving until 1872.

The Ten Schooners

Notes

Citations

{{Reflist, 30em *Individual record cards in Danish for ships of the Danish Royal Navy can sometimes be found on the internet
link here
The Danish Naval Museum is buildin
a new website
at which details, drawings and models may be available. For individual ships already listed, se

but so far the Norske Kanonskønnerter are not named except for ''Hother''. Design plans for ''Hother'' are the only ones that appear to be available on this site.

References

*Christiansen, Henrik (2010)

Orlogsflådens skibe] gennem 500 år. (Danish Naval Ships over 500 years – in three volumes) *Fra Krigens Tid (1807 -1814) (From the wartime) edited by N A Larson, Christiana (Oslo) 1878.
- Marinen
*Royal Danish Naval Museum

Ships of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy Ships of the Royal Norwegian Navy 1808 ships 1810 ships 1811 ships Schooner classes 1814 in Norway