HNoMS Sleipner (1877)

HNoMS Sleipner was a 1. class gunboat built for the Royal Norwegian Navy. Like all other Norwegian gunships of her era, she carried a heavy armament on a diminutive hull. The vessel was built at the Naval Yard at Horten, and had yard number 56.

For other ships with the same name, see HNoMS Sleipner.
Sleipner after the rebuild in 1900
Sleipner after the rebuild in 1900
History
Norway
NameSleipner
NamesakeSleipnir – the eight-legged steed of Odin
BuilderNavy Yard, Karljohansvern
Yard number56
Laid down1 January 1877
Launched7 August 1877
Christened20 May 1878
Decommissioned1935
Out of service1 January 1919
FateScrapped in 1935
General characteristics
Class and type.1 class gunboat
Displacement720 long tons (732 t)
Length53.26 m (174 ft 9 in)
Draught3.35 m (11 ft 0 in)
Propulsion650 hp (485 kW) Reciprocating steam engines and sails
Speed
  • 12.7 knots (14.6 mph; 23.5 km/h) under power
  • 13.4 knots (15.4 mph; 24.8 km/h) under power with sails
Complement90
Armament

Fitout

Sleipner's main weapon was a 26 cm (10-inch) cannon, of the same make and model other navies mounted[1] on battleships. Sleipner also carried an underwater torpedo tube in her bow for firing Whitehead torpedoes, and she was the first vessel in the Royal Norwegian Navy equipped with this weapon.

Rebuild

In 1900 Sleipner was rebuilt, and her masts and rigging removed. After her rebuild she was used as a cadet ship (training vessel) until 1915, when she started a new life as a floating barracks. Between 1921 and 1932 Sleipner was used as a floating depot for the fledgling Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service, before she was finally decommissioned and scrapped in 1935.

Notable crew
  • Sleipner at the opening ceremony of the Kiel Canal in 1895
    Sleipner at the opening ceremony of the Kiel Canal in 1895
  • The crew and cadets aboard Sleipner photographed in 1904
    The crew and cadets aboard Sleipner photographed in 1904

References
  1. GR 10in 26cm 22cal Krupp BL, retrieved 2 March 2006
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