HNoMS Sleipner (1936)

The lead "Sleipner" class destroyer "Sleipner" was commissioned into the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1936 and would gain legendary status in Norway by enduring over two weeks of intense attack by Luftwaffe bombers after the 9 April 1940 invasion of Norway. After the resistance in southern Norway started unravelling she made her way over the North Sea to continue the fight against the enemy from exile. She was constructed at Horten naval shipyard and had build number 120. [Horten municipality archive for local history: [http://www.lokalhistoriskarkiv.no/arkivet/historiske_sider/horten_verft/byggenummer Build numbers at Horten yard] no icon] Unlike the rest of her class, "Sleipner" had only two 10 cm guns and was unable to elevate her main pieces high enough to fire at aircraft.

Name

She was named after Sleipnir - Odin's magical eight-legged steed, and the greatest of all horses.

Outbreak of war

When "Sleipner"'s commander got a word of the German attack the destroyer was part of the 2^nd Naval District's 2^nd destroyer division [ [http://niehorster.orbat.com/022_norway/navy_02.htm Administrative Order of Battle Royal Norwegian Navy] ] , covering an area roughly the same as the Vestlandet and Trøndelag regions, and anchored in Hustadvika bay watching over a fictitious British minefield laid there on 7 April, 1940 (Operation Wilfred). She was immediately ordered to join the torpedo boats HNoMS "Trygg" and HNoMS "Sild" in order to defend the mouth of the Romsdalsfjord against any German attempt at intrusion.

Establishment of Romsdalsfjord Naval District

On 11 April Captain Ullring of "Sleipner" was ordered by the commander of the 2^nd Naval District, Rear Admiral Tank-Nielsen, to take command of the improvised Romsdalsfjord Naval District. The district had been established the day before by lieutenant Münster of the "Trygg". [Sivertsen 1999: 112] Captain Ullring had at his disposal to defend the Romsdalsfjord his own ship "Sleipner" and the torpedo boats "Trygg", "Sild" and "Skrei". [Sivertsen 1999: 107] In addition to the warships he also had at his disposal the unorthodox Romsdalsfjord Air Group consisting of one Norwegian Høver M.F. 11, one captured German Arado Ar 196 and (from 12 and 13 April respectively) two Fleet Air Arm Supermarine Walrus'. [Sivertsen 1999: 117] The aircraft would be used mostly for reconnaissance before being evacuated to the UK on 18 April due to lack of fuel and ammunition. The hope was that the air crews would be able to return in a short time with better planes. [Sivertsen 1999: 112] Due to the evacuation of the allied forces in the southern parts of Norway only sixteen days later, on 4 May, this objective would not come to fruition.

"Sleipner" in action against the invasion forces

German ships move down the coast

The "Sleipner's" first hostile encounter with the German foe occurred on 12 April. At this date Captain Ullring decided to act on information received on 10 April that two German vessels were making their way down the coast towards the south. The ships were the 1,060 ton merchant "Ruhrort" of Duisburg [ [http://chrito.users1.50megs.com/handelsmarine/verlustliste8.htm Losses of the German merchant navy: Q-R-S] de icon] and the 500 ton trawler "Thüringen". [ [http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/miszellen/fischdampfer.htm German steam trawlers off Norway in 1940] de icon] When the war broke out on 9 April the two ships had been at Ålesund, but they had sailed off immediately after news of the German attack spread. As the two ships moved south the local people along their route became anxious that there might be German landing troops hidden onboard the vessels and Capt. Ullring felt the need to decisively put an end to the situation.Sivertsen 1999: 113] As the German ships had anchored up in Stettevika bay near Skodje the local municipal police officer, Henrik Daae Quale, was contacted to coordinate his actions with those of the Romsdalsfjord Naval District. Quale had in the days since the invasion organised a militia force of around 100 civilian volunteers armed mostly with Krag-Jørgensen rifles and shotguns, though with a sprinkling of more improvised arms such as clubs, pitchforks and knives. Although to a large degree without military training Quale's men were motivated to do their bit in the defence of their local area.

The action at Stettevika

Capturing the ships
The Norwegian plan of action against two German ships was to seize the vessels for use by the Royal Norwegian Navy as guard ships and intern the crews. "Sleipner", "Trygg" and the 179 ton guard boat "Commonwealth" [Abelsen 1986: 221] were to form the naval part of the operation. Before the arrival of the RNoN warships officer Quale was to negotiate with the Germans to attempt to persuade them to surrender peacefully and bring the German officers to a conference with the Norwegian commanders. These negotiations however failed and as the three Norwegian vessels entered the bay the Skodje militia had surrounded the area to prevent any escape over land. As the ships made their appearance, led by the "Commonwealth", the German crews abandoned their ships and went into the lifeboats. Marines of the "Sleipner", led by the ship's second in command, Lieutenant Dagfin E. Kjeholt, boarded the "Ruhrort" and searched the ship. The search and later inspections revealed that "Ruhrort" had had vital parts of her machinery removed and was thus useless for the RNoN without major work being carried out. As there was no time for such measures she was abandoned at Stetteviken, soon becoming the target of Luftwaffe bombers and finally sunk after a number of attacks. "Thüringen", on the other hand, had not been sabotaged in such a way, but two armed bombs were discovered on board, one each in the engine and boiler rooms. [Sivertsen 1999: 56] After the explosive charges had been safely disarmed the trawler was armed with a 12,7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun and put into service as a guard vessel off Molde. However, the ship was not in good technical condition and spent most of her time at quay at Ålesund. When the RNoN high command left southern Norway in early May "Thüringen" was scuttled. [Sivertsen 1999: 114-115]

The fate of the German crews
The two German crews, totalling 34 officers and men, came ashore in three lifeboats and were met by Quale, one officer and two armed militiamen. The rest of the Skodje militia had taken up positions in the area around the bay and had been given orders to shoot if anyone tried to resist or escape, but the Germans surrendered without putting up a fight. After their capture all 34 Germans were searched and put on a requisitioned bus which drove them to the community hall in Skodje where they were to be kept under guard by the militia for the next eighteen days. The Germans' imprisonment in Norway lasted until 1 May when, on the eve of the Norwegian capitulation in southern Norway, they were driven to Emblemsvågen from where the steam merchant D/S "Borgund" sailed off with them towards the UK. [Sivertsen 1999: 114] Two days later, on 3 May, "Borgund" arrived at Shetland and handed the German sailors over to the authorities there as PoWs. [ [http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/borgund.html warsailors.com on D/S "Borgund"] ]

"Sleipner" against the Luftwaffe

The small Norwegian destroyer cooperated with the torpedo boat HNoMS "Trygg" in supporting Norwegian and allied forces in the Molde - Åndalsnes area. As her job included defending the Allied landings in southern Norway and the city of Molde "Sleipner" was a prime target for the Luftwaffe's bombers.

Attacked by bombers in Romsdalsfjord on 20 April, "Sleipner" shot one German bomber down, which crashed into the sea near the island Sekken, and damaged several others with her Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. Two days later she shot down another bomber, this one crashing at Norvik. The same day she successfully defended a shipload of requisitioned horses from air attacks. In all 48 bombs were dropped on "Sleipner" that day, the closest landing 20 meters from the ship.

Between battles "Sleipner" was anchored up in the Sognefjord and camouflaged with tree branches to avoid detection by the ever-present Luftwaffe.

On 25 April "Sleipner" was continuously attacked by 12 strafing German bombers and hit numerous times, but without injury to the crew.

By then, however, she had run out of ammunition and had damages that needed repair. At 2325hrs on 25 April she sailed west from the port of Åndalsnes and arrived at Lerwick in the Shetlands at 1900hrs on 26 April. [Sivertsen 1999: 69-70]

Propaganda effect - "the unsinkable ship"

While "Sleipner" was fighting in the Romsdalsfjord reports of her exploits, many exaggerated, were transmitted to the Norwegian people from radio stations in areas still under Norwegian government control. These reports were important for the morale of the Norwegian people as one of the few beacons of light amongst the many disasters of that spring (see also: Battle of Vinjesvingen and Battle of Hegra Fortress). Although she probably only shot down two German bombers during her service in the Norwegian campaign contemporary news reports spoke of over a dozen enemy planes brought down by the guns of the small warship.

During her service in Romsdalsfjord "Sleipner" was claimed by the Germans to have been sunk twice. The Luftwaffe would make one more such claim during her service in exile in the UK.

In recognition of her war service the Norwegian government-in-exile in London used her likeness when designing the 5 øre issue of the war stamps printed in the United Kingdom. [Johannesen 1988: 106-107]

UK service

For the rest of her war service the "Sleipner" would escort coastal convoys off the east coast of Britain, escorting 156 convoys before being decommissioned 10 March 1944 and mothballed for the remainder of the war. When she had her main guns exchanged for new 4 in. pieces in 1942 the old 10 cm guns were sent to the Norwegian garrison in Svalbard for use as coastal artillery, arriving there 16 October 1942. The 10 cm guns were destroyed by German landing troops when they were caught by surprise at Longyearbyen during the German attack on Svalbard 6 September 1943.

Wartime C.O.s

* Captain E. Ullring: 8 April 1940 - 28 June 1940
* Captain T. Horve: 28 June 1940 - December 1941
* Captain Rolf Hag: December 1941 - 22 July 1942
* Lieutenant Kleppe: 22 July 1942 - 10 March 1944

Post-war

In May 1945 "Sleipner" sailed back to Norway where she continued to be mothballed until her conversion to frigate in 1948.

"Sleipner" was scrapped in 1959.

Footnotes

Literature

* Abelsen, Frank: "Norwegian naval ships 1939-1945", Sem & Stenersen AS, Oslo 1986 ISBN 82-7046-050-8 en icon and no icon
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* Sivertsen, Svein Carl (ed.): _no. "Jageren Sleipner i Romsdalsfjord sjøforsvarsdistrikt april 1940", Sjømilitære Samfund ved Norsk Tidsskrift for Sjøvesen, Hundvåg 1999 no icon

External links

* [http://www.tmbk.no/sleipner1no.htm Jageren Sleipner website] no icon