The ''Oslo''-class frigate is a

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 ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

design of the 1960s, based on the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

s. The forward hull was customized to suit Norwegian sea conditions better (higher

freeboard In sailing and boating, a vessel's freeboard is the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship. In commercial vessels, the latter criterion measured relativ ...

) and several sub-systems were European built. Ships of the class operated until 2007, when they were replaced by the .

Construction

All ships were built at the Navy Main Yard in

Horten is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the town of Åsgårdstrand an ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

between 1964 and 1966. The construction of the vessels was part of the Navy rebuilding program, approved by the Norwegian government in 1960. Half of the project expenses were funded by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

as a part of the Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP) (a program that ran from when it was passed by the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

in October 1949 until 1967–68).

Modernization

In the late 1970s, the class received new armament, most notably

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RIM-7 Sea Sparrow RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is a U.S. ship-borne short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system, primarily intended for defense against anti-ship missiles. The system was developed in the early 1960s from the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile as a ...

and Mark 32 torpedo launchers. Another modernization was carried out in the 1980s. During 1995 and 1996, after HNoMS ''Oslo'' experienced an engine failure, and subsequently sank after sailing in heavy weather, the rest of the class was once again modernized. The hulls were strengthened, which in turn increased the displacement with 200 tonnes. All of the ''Oslo'' class are now retired, with HNoMS ''Narvik'' preserved as a museum ship. The ''Oslo'' class were replaced by the frigates. This replacement started in mid-2006.

Ships

Five frigates of this class were built. All of them were modernized during the period 1987–1990. They bear the prefix ''KNM'' (Kongelig Norske Marine, meaning ''Royal Norwegian Navy'') in Norwegian and ''HNoMS'' (His Norwegian Majesty's Ship) in English.

''Oslo''

The lead ship, ''Oslo'', ran aground near Marstein island on 24 January 1994. One officer was killed in the accident. The next day, on 25 January, she was taken under tow. She sank on the same day in Korsfjorden outside Steinneset in

Austevoll Austevoll is a municipality and an archipelago in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Midthordland in Western Norway. The administrative centre is the village of Storebø on the island of Huftarøy. Other vill ...

county.

''Stavanger''

''Stavanger'' was decommissioned in 1998. She was later used for

target practice In the military and in shooting, target practice are exercises in which weapons are shot at a target. The purpose of such exercises is to improve the aim or the weapons handling expertise of the person firing the weapon. Targets being shot at ...

and sunk in 2001 by a single DM2A3

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

launched from the ''Utstein'' (S 302).

''Bergen''

''Bergen'' was decommissioned in August 2005, and scrapped in 2013.

''Trondheim''

On 17 March 2006 at 20:10

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast Ente ...

, ''Trondheim'' ran aground off Lines island in

Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag () was a county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. To the west is the No ...

. No injuries among the 121-man crew were reported. The incident was reported from the ship itself, and at 20:30 it came loose again. Water flooded two compartments (paint storage and forward pump room) of the ship. The compartments were sealed and three ships were sent to assist the frigate. The frigate was towed to port in Bergen by the coast guard vessel .Forsvarsnett
Godt redningsarbeid
HNoMS ''Trondheim'' was used after decommissioning as a target ship. On 5 June 2013, she was severely damaged in a test of the Norwegian-designed

Naval Strike Missile The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) is an anti-ship and land-attack missile developed by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA). The original Norwegian name was Nytt sjømålsmissil (literally ''New sea target missile'', indicating ...

system off the coast of the island of

Andøya Andøya is the northernmost island in the Vesterålen archipelago, situated about inside the Arctic circle. Andøya is located in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The main population centres on the island include the villages of ...

''Narvik''

''Narvik'', the last active ship of the class, has been transferred to the

Royal Norwegian Navy Museum The Royal Norwegian Navy Museum (Norwegian: ''Marinemuseet'') is a museum documenting the history of the Royal Norwegian Navy. It is located at the former main naval base of Karljohansvern in Horten. The museum was founded by C.F. Klinck on 24 Au ...

.Forsvarsnett
Narvik to be museum ship

References

External links

Kysteskadren Fregattvåpenet

KNM ''Narvik''

''Stavanger'' sunk by ''Utstein''
YouTube video {{Dealey class destroyer escort Cold War frigates of Norway Frigate classes