Plans of the Tordenskjold class coastal defense ships. Note heavy guns in forward and aft turret, and secondary armament in central battery. Harald Haarfagre in drydock at Karljohansvern naval base. |
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| Career (Norway) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Harald Haarfagre |
| Namesake: | Harald I of Norway |
| Ordered: | 1896 |
| Laid down: | 1897 |
| Launched: | 4 January 1897 |
| Commissioned: | 21 March 1898 |
| Captured: | by the Germans in 1940 |
| Career (Nazi Germany) | |
| Name: | Tethis |
| Acquired: | 1940 |
| Fate: | Handed back to Norway after VE Day |
| Service record | |
| Operations: | Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany |
| Career (Norway) | |
| Name: | Harald Haarfagre |
| Acquired: | 1945 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1948 |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Class and type: | Tordenskjold-class coastal defence ship |
| Displacement: | 3,858 long tons (3,920 t) |
| Length: | 92.66 m (304 ft 0 in) |
| Beam: | 14.78 m (48 ft 6 in) |
| Draught: | 5.38 m (17 ft 8 in) |
| Propulsion: | Coal-fired reciprocating steam engines, 4,500 hp (3,356 kW) |
| Speed: | 16.9 knots (19.4 mph; 31.3 km/h) |
| Complement: | 245 |
| Armament: | • 2 × 21 cm (8.3 in)/45 guns • 6 × 12 cm (4.7 in)/45 guns • 6 × 7.6 cm (3 in)/40 guns • 6 × 1-pounder Quick Fire guns • 2 × 45 cm (18 in) submerged torpedo tubes |
| Armour: | Belt : 7 in (178 mm) Turrets : 8 in (203 mm) |
| General characteristics after German rebuild | |
| Displacement: | 3,858 long tons (3,920 t) |
| Length: | 92.66 m (304 ft 0 in) |
| Beam: | 14.78 m (48 ft 6 in) |
| Draught: | 5.38 m (17 ft 8 in) |
| Propulsion: | Coal-fired reciprocating steam engines, 4,500 hp (3,356 kW) |
| Speed: | 16.9 knots (19.4 mph; 31.3 km/h) |
| Complement: | 245 |
| Armament: | • 6 × 10.5 cm AA guns • 2 × 40 mm AA guns • 14 × 20 mm AA guns[1] |
| Armour: | Belt : 7 in (178 mm) Turrets : 8 in (203 mm) |
HNoMS Harald Haarfagre, known locally as Panserskipet Harald Haarfagre, was a Norwegian coastal defence ship. She, her sister-ship Tordenskjold and the slightly newer Eidsvold-class were built as part of the general rearmament in the time leading up to the events in 1905. Harald Haarfagre remained an important vessel in the Royal Norwegian Navy until she was considered unfit for war in the mid-1930s.
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Built at Elswick[2] and nearly identical to her sister ship Tordenskjold, Harald Haarfagre was named after Harald I of Norway, known as "Harald Fairhair" in English, the semi-mythical first king of a united Norway. Built as a typical pre-dreadnought battleship on a smaller scale, she carried guns of a wide range of calibers: two 8.2-inch guns in barbettes, six 4.7-inch, six 3-inch, and six smaller quick-firing guns. The ship could manage a speed of over seventeen knots. Protected by belt armor of seven inches thickness, the ship also featured gun barbettes with nearly eight inches of steel armor and an armored deck.[3]
A vital part of the Royal Norwegian Navy, Harald Haarfagre performed ordinary duties until she was considered "unfit for war" in the mid-1930s. After the German invasion of Norway, she was seized by the Germans and rebuilt as a floating Flak battery under the name Thetis. After the war Harald Haarfagre was used briefly as a floating barracks, and for transporting German POWs, before she was sold for scrapping in 1948.
It was intended to augment the Norwegian Panserskip fleet with the two ships of the Bjørgvin-class, ordered in 1912, but after these were confiscated by the British Navy at the outbreak of World War I the Tordenskjold class and the slightly newer, two ship strong, Eidsvold-class was forced to soldier on long after they were obsolete.
Today the name KNM Harald Haarfagre is used on the Royal Norwegian Navy and Royal Norwegian Air Force Basic Training Establishment, located in Madla, Stavanger.
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