Draug class destroyer
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 Plan of Draug. Note placement of QF guns (green) and torpedo tubes (blue). .jpg/300px-HNoMS_Draug_(destroyer).jpg) The lead ship Draug at some point before WW2. Note QF guns in blisters along the side to allow forward fire. |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | The Royal Norwegian Navy's shipyard at Horten |
| Operators: |  Royal Norwegian Navy |
| Preceded by: | HNoMS Valkyrjen |
| Succeeded by: | Sleipner class |
| In service: | - 1949 |
| In commission: | 18 March 1908 |
| Completed: | Draug, Troll, Garm |
| Active: | Three |
| Lost: | One |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 578 tons |
| Length: | 69.20 metres (227.03 ft) |
| Beam: | 7.30 metres (23.95 ft) |
| Draught: | 2.9 metres (9.51 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 8,000 shp coal fuelled reciprocating steam engines |
| Speed: | 26.5 knots (49.08 km/h) |
| Complement: | 76 (? officers and ? ratings) |
| Armament: | 6 x 7.6 cm (3 in) Quick Fire guns 1 x 12,7 mm Colt anti-aircraft machine gun 3 x 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes |
The Draug class was the first multi-vessel class of destroyers built for the Royal Norwegian Navy, the first destroyer ever built for the RNoN being the HNoMS Valkyrjen, commissioned 17 May 1896. As the single Valkyrjen was not enough to fulfill the need for the so-called torpedobåtjagere (litt: torpedoboat hunters), the Draug class was ordered and built in the years 1908-1913. Draug was the lead ship, commissioned in 1910, followed by Troll in 1912 and Garm in 1913. Garm was also the first turbine engined vessel in Norway. Equipped with two Germania steam turbines, she consumed enormous amounts of coal.
They were fast vessels for their day, reaching speeds of up to 26.5 knots. The Draug class vessels carried six Quick Fire guns to combat enemy torpedo boats, as well as three trainable torpedo tubes to attack larger vessels.
Locally they were known as torpedojagere (litt.: torpedo hunters) or simply jagere (litt.: hunters).
The class was named after the Draugr - a sinister, malevolent being of Nordic origin and often connected with mariners and the sea.
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[edit] Fate
All three ships were kept in commission until World War II, although they were mothballed years before 1939.
As war became imminent, the three ships were ordered returned to active service, Troll and Garm on 28 August, Draug on 5 September 1939. As all three ships were in poor condition, it took much time and work before they could be declared operational.
After mobilisation, the Draug class vessels were considered fit only for escort and guard service.
On April 8 1940, as the invasion was about to begin, all three Draug class ships were posted to the 2nd Naval District in south- and mid-western Norway. Draug was based at Haugesund, Garm at Bergen and Troll at Måløy.
While Draug escaped to Great Britain on 9 April 1940, Garm was sunk by German bombers at the village of Bjordal in the Sognefjord 26 April 1940 and Troll was captured at anchor in Florø by the advancing German forces on 18 May 1940.
Draug served as an escort vessel along the east coast of Britain until she was scrapped in 1944.
[edit] Source
- Abelsen, Frank: Norwegian naval ships 1939-1945, Sem & Stenersen AS,
Oslo 1986 ISBN 82-7046-050-8
[edit] External links
- A detailed model of T/J Draug, from the Navy Museum (part of the Armed Forces Museum in Norway).
- Detail of a model of T/J Draug, ships boat.
- Detail of a model of T/J Draug, bridge and forward 7.6 cm QF gun.
- Detail of a model of T/J Draug, aft 7.6 cm QF gun.
[edit] References
- Naval History via Flix: KNM Draug, retrieved 29 January 2006
- Ships of the Norwegian navy, retrieved 29 January 2006
- Draug, from the Armed Forces Museum website, retrieved 29 January 2006 (in Norwegian)
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