HNoMS Brage (1878)

HNoMS Brage was a Vale-class Rendel gunboat built for the Royal Norwegian Navy at Horten Naval Yard in 1874, with build number 58. She was one of a class of five gunboats - the other ships in the class were Vale, Nor, Uller and Vidar.

Vale-class gunboat
History
Norway
Name	Brage
Namesake	Norse skaldic god Bragi
Builder	The Royal Norwegian Navy's shipyard at Horten
Launched	1 November 1878
Commissioned	1878
Captured	by the Germans on 9 April 1940
Germany
Acquired	9 April 1940
Fate	Handed back to Norway after VE Day
Service record
Operations:	Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
Norway
Name	Brage
Acquired	May 1945
Decommissioned	1945
Fate	Scrapped in 1945
General characteristics as built
Class and type	Vale-class Rendel gunboat
Displacement	260 tons standard
Length	28 m (91.86 ft)
Propulsion	220 hp steam engine
Speed	8.5 knots (15.74 km/h)
Complement	41 men
Armament	1 × 21 cm (10.5 inch) RML gun 1 × 1pdr (cm / inch) QF gun 1 × 1pdr (cm / inch) revolving gun
General characteristics after rebuild
Displacement	260 tons standard
Length	28 m (91.86 ft)
Propulsion	220 hp steam engine
Speed	8.5 knots (15.74 km/h)
Complement	31 men
Armament	1 × 12 cm (4.72 inch) gun 3 × 37 mm (1.46 inch) guns 50 mines

Brage 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 Brage, like her sister ships, was rebuilt as a minelayer, and she served in this role when the Germans invaded in 1940. She was captured by German forces after the surrender of Norwegian forces in Southern Norway, and returned to Norway after the war.