Eidsvold class battleship

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Eidsvold-class coastal battleship

Sideview of the Eidvold class. Note heavy guns in the front and aft, with lighter guns in the superstructure and masts.
Class Overview
Class type: Coastal defence ship
Preceded by: Tordenskjold-class
Succeeded by: Bjørgvin-class
Ships of the line: HNoMS Eidsvold, HNoMS Norge
General characteristics
Displacement: 4,233 tons
Length: 94.60 m
Beam: 15.70 m
Draft: 5.40 m
Speed: 17.2 knots (31.8 km/h)
Complement: 270
Power: 4,500 shp (3,355.6 KW)
Drive: Reciprocating steam engines
Fuel: Coal
Armament: 2 x 21 cm (8.26 inch) guns
6 x 15 cm (5.90 inch) guns
8 x 7.6 cm (3 inch) guns
4 x BR 4.7cm/50cal (3pdr)
2 x 45 cm (18 inch) submerged torpedo tubes
Armour Belt:6 inches (17.78 cm)
Bulkheads:
Barbettes:
Turrets:9 inch (20.32 cm)
Decks:

The Eidsvold class was a class of coastal battleships (also referred to as coastal defence ship), two of which where built for the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1899 by Armstrong Whitworth. The class consisted of two ships, the HNoMS Eidsvold and HNoMS Norge. Locally they were referred to as panserskip (lit.: armoured ship).

Contents

[edit] Description

Built as part of the general rearmament in the time leading up to the events in 1905, the two ships of the Eidsvold class remained, along with the slightly older Tordenskjold class, the backbone of the Norwegian Navy until the German invasion of Norway in 1940. Norge and Eidsvold were the largest vessels in the Norwegian Navy, displacing 4,233 tons and crewed by 270 men. It was intended to augment the Norwegian Panserskip fleet with the two ships of the Bjørgvin class, ordered in 1912, but both were confiscated by the British Navy at the outbreak of World War I.

The Eidsvold class carried a mixed armament, typical of coastal defense ships:

  • Two 21 cm (8.26 inch) guns mounted in turrets fore and aft as the main armament
  • Six 15 cm (5.90 inch) guns, mounted three on either side in casemates as the secondary armament
  • Eight 7.60 cm (3 inch) guns, four mounted in the battery (two on either side) and the remaining four mounted fore and aft
  • Four 4.7 cm (1.85 inch / 3 pdr) rapid-fire guns for use against torpedo boats
  • Two submerged torpedo tubes

The Eidsvold class was armoured to withstand battle with ships of a similar class, but the underwater armour and internal partitoning were not designed to withstand torpedo hits, which caused both ships' demise:

  • 6 inches (15.24 cm) of Krupp cemented armour in the belt.
  • 9 inches (22.86 cm) of the same armour on the main gun turrets.

[edit] Ships in class

[edit] HNoMS Eidsvold

[edit] HNoMS Norge


[edit] See also

[edit] References

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Norwegian coastal battleships
Tordenskjold class:
Eidsvold class:
Bjørgvin class':
Battleships of the Royal Norwegian Navy