| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Armstrong Whitworth, UK |
| Operators: | Norway |
| Preceded by: | Tordenskjold-class |
| Succeeded by: | Bjørgvin-class |
| Completed: | 2 |
| Lost: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Coastal defence ship |
| Displacement: | 4,233 tons |
| Length: | 94.60 m |
| Beam: | 15.70 m |
| Draft: | 5.40 m |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 17.2 knots (31.8 km/h) |
| Complement: | 270 |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: | |
The Eidsvold class was a class of coastal defence ships, two of which were 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).
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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. Obsolete by the time of the German invasion, both Eidsvold class ships were sunk during the first Battle of Narvik.
The Eidsvold class carried a mixed armament, typical of coastal defense ships:
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:
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