The ''Tordenskjold'' class of
coastal defence ship
Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships) were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrifi ...
s was ordered by Norway as part as the general rearmament in the time leading up to the
events in 1905 - when Norway broke out of the
union with Sweden - the two ships in the class ( and ) remained the backbone (alongside the slightly newer ) of the
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy ( no, Sjøforsvaret, , Sea defence) is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of Norway. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 in mobilized state, 3 ...
until they were considered 'unfit for war' in the mid-1930s.
Description
Designed and built as typical
pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, prote ...
battleships, although on a scale more suited to the
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...
s and narrow waters of Norway, the ''Tordenskjold'' class carried guns in a wide range of calibers:
* Two 21 cm/45 (8.2 inch) guns in turrets fore and aft as the main armament.
* Six 12 cm/45 (4.7 inch), mounted three on each side in a central battery, as the secondary armament.
* Six 7.6 cm/40 (3 inch) guns, also mounted in the central battery, as the tertiary armament.
* Six 1-pdr Quick Fire guns. These were meant to be used against
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...
s.
The ''Tordenskjold'' class was armoured to withstand battle with ships of a similar class, but her protection system could not withstand attacks from heavier ships nor underwater attacks very well:
* 7 inch (17.78 cm)
Harvey armour
Harvey armor was a type of steel naval armor developed in the early 1890s in which the front surfaces of the plates were case hardened. The method for doing this was known as the Harvey process, and was invented by the American engineer Hayw ...
in the belt
* 8 inch (20.32 cm) of the
same armour on the turrets
Fate
Both ships were phased out from
active duty
Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, the equivalent term is active service.
India
The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be one ...
in the mid-1930s, and were used as training vessels. After the
German invasion of Norway
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
in 1940, they were taken by the Germans and turned into floating Flak batteries. After the war they were returned to the Royal Norwegian Navy and served as barracks for a short time before they were sold for scrapping.
Ships
Gallery
File:Tordenskjold.jpg, Photograph of
P/S Tordenskjold from 1900.
File:HNoMS Eidsvold and HNoMS Tordenskiold (models).png, Models of the coastal defence cruisers ''Tordenskiold'' (front) and ''Eidsvold''.
References
Bibliography
*Brook, Peter. ''Warships for Export: Armstrong Warships 1867–1927''. Gravesend, UK: World Ship Society, 1999. .
*Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik. ''Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905''. London: Conway's Maritime Press, 1979. .
*
External links
Naval History via Flix: KNM Harald Haarfagre retrieved 12 December 2005
{{Norwegian coastal defence ships
Coastal defense ship classes
Ships built by Armstrong Whitworth