Sleipner class destroyer

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Sleipner-class destroyer
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Class Overview
Class type:	Destroyer
Preceded by:
Succeeded by:
Ships of the line:	Sleipner, Gyller, Æger, Odin, Balder and Tor
General Characteristics
Displacement:	597 tons
Length:	74.30 m
Beam:	7.80 m
Draft:	2.8 m
Speed:	32 knots ( km/h)
Complement:	75
Power:	12,500 shp (9.3 MW)
Drive:	De Laval steam turbines
Fuel:	Oil
Armament:	3 x 10 cm guns 1 x 40 mm anti-air gun 2 x 12.7 mm machine guns 2 x 53.3 cm torpedutubes Depth charges
Armour	Belt: Bulkheads: Barbettes: Turrets: Decks: Conning tower:

The Sleipner class was a class of six destroyers built for the Royal Norwegian Navy from 1936 until the German invation in 1940. The design was considered advanced for its time, and it was the first class of vessels for the Norwegian Navy that used aluminum in the construction.

1 Armament
2 Fate
3 References
4 Footnotes

[edit] Armament

The armament within the class varied slightly. Æger had the armament listed in the infobox to the right. Sleipner, the lead ship of the class, carried just two 20 cm guns. Gyller had two extra torpedo tubes, for a total of four. Odin had a 20 mm anti aircraft gun instead of a 40 mm. Balder and Tor had not been finished when the Germans attacked, and it's not known if any changes in armament were planned.

[edit] Fate

The vessels had quite different fates. Æger was bombed by German planes on 9 April 1940, and sunk with loss of life. Sleipner was in Norwegian service during World War II, and was kept in service until 1959. Gyller and Odin were captured by the Germans in 1940.

Gyller and Odin were returned to the Norwegian Navy after the war and kept in service until 1959. Balder and Tor were finished by the Germans, but their fate after the war is unknown.

The Germans reclassed the ships as Torpedoboote Ausland and renamed them: Gyller to Löwe, Odin to Panther, Balder to Leopard, and Tor to Tiger.^[1]

In 1945 Löwe was one of the escorts to the Wilhelm Gustloff on her last voyage. The Wilhelm Gustloff was torpedoed and sank with a great loss of life. During the sinking, Löwe came alongside and rescued 472 of her passengers and crew.