HNoMS Uller (1876)

HNoMS Uller was a Vale-class Rendel gunboat constructed for the Royal Norwegian Navy at Karljohansverns Verft Naval Yard in Horten in 1874-1876 and had yard build number 55.[1] She was one of a class of five gunboats - the other ships in the class were Vale, Brage, Nor and Vidar.

For other ships with the same name, see HNoMS Uller.
Vale-class gunboat
History
Norway
Name: Uller
Namesake: Norse god Ullr
Builder: Karljohansverns Verft Naval Yard in Horten
Yard number: 55[1]
Laid down: 1874
Launched: 21 July 1876
Commissioned: 1876
Captured: by the Germans on 9 April 1940
Service record
Operations: Opposing the German invasion of Norway
Nazi Germany
Name: Uller
Acquired: 9 April 1940
Fate: Bombed and damaged by Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service Heinkel He 115, then scuttled by Tyr
Service record
Operations: Norwegian Campaign
General characteristics as built
Class and type: Vale-class Rendel gunboat
Displacement: 250 tons
Length: 27.3 m (89.57 ft)
Beam: 7.9 m (25.92 ft)
Draft: 2.2 m (7.22 ft)
Propulsion: Two Compound steam engines with 200 hps
Speed: 8 knots (14.82 km/h)
Complement: 41 men
Armament:
  • 1 × 21 cm (10.5 inch) Armstrong RML gun
  • 1 × 1pdr (cm / inch) QF gun
  • 1 × 1pdr (cm / inch) revolving gun
General characteristics after rebuild
Displacement: 250 tons
Length: 27.3 m (89.57 ft)
Beam: 7.9 m (25.92 ft)
Draft: 2.2 m (7.22 ft)
Propulsion: Two Compound steam engines with 200 hps
Speed: 8 knots (14.82 km/h)
Complement: 31 men
Armament:
  • 1 × 12 cm (4.72 inch) gun
  • 3 × 37 mm (1.46 inch) guns
  • 50 mines

Uller was, in addition to the heavy, muzzle-loading main gun, armed with a small Quick Fire gun and a 37mm Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon (broadly similar to the Gatling gun).

Later Uller and her sister ships were rebuilt as minelayers, and she served in this role when the Germans invaded 9 April 1940.

The invasion

Capture

When the Germans attacked, Uller was mining the sea lanes to Bergen, and was taken by surprise by the German forces.

Sinking

After being pressed into Kriegsmarine service Uller and fellow captured minelayer HNoMS Tyr were mining the entrance to the still Norwegian-held Sognefjorden on 1 May 1940 when they were first bombed unsuccessfully by two Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11 maritime reconnaissance aircraft of the Sognefjord Air Group and then attacked again later the same day by a Heinkel He 115 of the same unit. In the second attack Uller was hit by a bomb, beached and then scuttled by Tyr.

Notes
  1. Horten municipal archive of local history: Build numbers at Horten Yard Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine (in Norwegian)

Bibliography
  • Abelsen, Frank (1986). Norwegian naval ships 1939-1945 (in Norwegian and English). Oslo: Sem & Stenersen AS. ISBN 82-7046-050-8.
  • Hauge, Andreas (1995). Kampene i Norge 1940 (in Norwegian). 1. Sandefjord: Krigshistorisk Forlag. ISBN 82-993369-0-2.


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