HNoMS Nidaros

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Career

Ordered:	1912
Laid down:	1912
Launched:	1913
Commissioned:	Never commissioned by the Royal Norwegian Navy, compulsorally purchased by the Royal Navy during WW1
Fate:	Sold for scrap in August 1928
General characteristics
Displacement:	4,900 tons
Dimensions:	94 m ( ft) x 16.8 m ( ft) x 5.4 m ( ft)
Armament:	2 x 24 cm (9.45 inch) guns 4 x 15 cm (5.90 inch) guns 6 x 10 cm (3.94 inch) guns 2 x submerged torpedo tubes
Aircraft:	none
Propulsion:	4,000 hp (2,982.8 Kw), 15 knop (27.8 km/h, 17.3 mph)
Crew:	305

For the corvette HNoMS Nidaros, please see HNoMS Nidaros (corvette).

HNoMS Nidaros, which would have been known in Norway as either KNM Nidaros or as P/S Nidaros (where P/S stands for Panserskip - litt.: armoured ship) was the second ship of the Bjørgvin class. She and her sistership HNoMS Bjørgvin was ordered by Norway in 1912 to supplement the older Eidsvold class and Tordenskjold class coastal battleships. The two ships laid down were requisitioned by the Royal Navy when WW1 broke out and classified as monitors.

[edit] Description and fate

With heavier main guns than the previous Eidvold class and Tordenskjold class battleships, and her secondary armament in turrets instead of in a battery, the Nidaros would have given a significant boost to Norwegian naval power. When WW1 broke out however, the Royal Navy requisitioned most warships being built in Britain for foreign powers and pressed them into service. The UK government paid Norway £370,000 as compensation. The Nidaros was renamed HMS Gorgon and classified as a monitor. She was kept in service after the war, and sold for scrapping in August 1928.