HNoMS Odin
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.jpg/300px-HNoMS_Odin_(1939).jpg) The Sleipner class destroyer Odin in 1939 |
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| Career (Norway) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Odin |
| Builder: | The Royal Norwegian Navy's shipyard at Horten |
| Launched: | 21 January 1939 |
| Commissioned: | 1939 |
| Decommissioned: | 1959 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrapping in 1959 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Sleipner class |
| Displacement: | 735 tons [1] |
| Length: | 74.30 metres (243.77 ft) |
| Beam: | 7.75 metres (25.43 ft) |
| Draft: | 4.15 metres (13.62 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Two De Laval geared turbines with two shafts and 12,500 hp |
| Speed: | 32 knots (59.26 km/h) |
| Range: | 3,500 nautical miles (6,482.00 km) at 15 knots (27.78 km/h) |
| Complement: | 75 (10 officers and 65 sailors)[2] |
| Armament: | As built: 3 × 10 cm guns 1 × 20 mm anti-aircraft gun 2 × 12,7 mm Colt anti-aircraft machinegun 2 × 53.3 cm trainable torpedo tubes 4 × depth charge throwers After German rebuild: 1 × 10,5 cm gun 1 × 40 mm anti-aircraft gun 4 × 2 cm anti aircraft guns, 2 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes, 24 mines |
The Sleipner class destroyer HNoMS Odin was launched at Horten naval shipyard and put into Royal Norwegian Navy service in 1939. She had build number 126.[3] When the Germans invaded she formed part of the 3rd destroyer section in the Kristiansand Defence Sector of the 1st Naval District.[4]
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[edit] Name
She was named after Odin - the chief god in Norse mythology and Norse paganism.
[edit] Brief involvement in opposing the German invasion of Norway
[edit] Rio de Janeiro
On 8 April 1940 she had taken part together with the guard ship Lyngdal in the rescue of the surviving sailors and soldiers from the 5,261 ton clandestine German troop transport Rio de Janeiro[5][6] sunk by the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł near the small port of Lillesand.
[edit] Battle of Kristiansand
The next morning, 9 April 1940, Odin took part in the defence of Kristiansand, against landing group four of the German invasion of Norway. When the battle at Kristiansand between the Kriegsmarine flotilla and Odderøya fort began Odin steamed out into the Toppdalsfjord and opened up on attacking Luftwaffe bombers with her Oerlikon 20 mm cannon and two 12,7 mm anti-aircraft machine guns. Continuous evasive manoeuvring saved the destroyer from being hit by the many bombs dropped at her and several hits were recorded on the attacking aircraft, although none were shot down. At about 0730 hrs a twin-engined plane attacked the interned German U-boat U-21 that was docked in Kristiansand harbor, having been seized by Norwegian warships for neutrality violations after running aground on the Oddene shallows near Mandal 27 March that year,[7] and had been docked in Kristiansand since 28 March.[8] Odin fired at the plane, only to discover it was a RAF Lockheed Hudson reconnaissance aircraft. Neither this time did the Odin's fire bring her target down. At 1000 hrs an order not to fire at British and French forces came to the commander of Kristiansand. This order, combined with confusion of which flags were flown by the intruding warships, led to the German force being able to enter the harbour unopposed on their third attempt at 1030 hrs. Odin was captured at Marvika naval station together with numerous other naval vessels in the Kristiansand area, including her sister ship HNoMS Gyller.[9]
[edit] German service as the Panther
After the German capture of Kristiansand Odin was handed over to the Kriegsmarine on April 11 and officially entered service as the Panther on April 20.[10] However, before entering the Kriegsmarine she was partially rebuilt and rearmed. During the remainder of the war she operated in Skagerak and Kattegat as an escort with the 7. T-flotilla, as a training ship, and from January 1942 as a torpedo recovery vessel in Gotenhafen.
[edit] Post-war RNoN service
After the end of the Second World War the Panther/Odin was found in Holmestrand, Norway, May 1945 and returned to the Royal Norwegian Navy.
After three more years in Norway as a destroyer Odin was converted to a frigate in 1948.
Odin was phased out and sold for scrapping in 1959
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Abelsen 1986: 30
- ^ Johannesen 1988: 89
- ^ Horten municipal archive of local history: Build numbers at Horten yard (Norwegian)
- ^ Battle of Order for the Kristiansand sector of the Royal Norwegian Navy on 8 April, 1940
- ^ Rio de Janeiro, skovheim.org shipwreck website (Norwegian)&(English)
- ^ Rio de Janeiro, norgeslexi.com (Norwegian)
- ^ Steen 1954: 103
- ^ Sivertsen 2001: 69
- ^ Berg 1997: 19
- ^ german-navy.de on the Panther
[edit] Literature
- Abelsen, Frank: Norwegian naval ships 1939-1945, Sem & Stenersen AS, Oslo 1986 ISBN 82-7046-050-8 (English)&(Norwegian)
- Berg, Ole F.: I skjærgården og på havet - Marinens krig 8. april 1940 - 8. mai 1945, Marinens Krigsveteranforening, Oslo 1997 ISBN 82-993545-2-8 (Norwegian)
- Johannesen, Folke Hauger; Gå på eller gå under, Faktum Forlag AS, Oslo 1988 ISBN 82-540-0113-8 (Norwegian)
- Sivertsen, Svein Carl (ed.): Sjøforsvaret dag for dag 1814-2000, Sjømilitære Samfund ved Norsk Tidsskrift for Sjøvesen, Hundvåg 2001 ISBN 82-92217-03-7 (Norwegian)
- Steen, E. A.: Norges Sjøkrig 1940-1945 - Bind I, Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Oslo 1954 (Norwegian)
[edit] See also
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