Thor (ship, 1898)
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 The Thor after the renovation in 1916 |
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| Overview | |
| Type | Coastal armored ship |
| Shipyard | |
| Keel laying | October 26, 1896 |
| Launch | March 7, 1898 |
| Namesake | the Norse god Thor |
| Commissioning | June 29, 1899 |
| Decommissioning | July 16, 1937 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
3328 t, maximum 3720 t |
| length |
86.3 m over everything |
| width |
14.8 m |
| Draft |
5.5 m |
| crew |
240-254 men |
| drive |
6 cylinder boilers , |
| speed |
16.5 kn |
| Armament |
2 × 254 mm Canet cannons in single turrets |
| Coal supply |
300 t |
| Armor |
Harvey system |
| Belt Armor Tower Barbette Deck |
100-240 mm |
The Thor , put into service in 1899, was the sixth (coastal) ironclad (Swedish Pansarskepp ) of the Swedish Navy . The Thor was after the lead ship Oden , the second by the company Bergsunds Mekaniska Verkstads in Stockholm built ship of the second series ( Oden class). This class also included the Niord built by Lindholmens Verkstad in Gothenburg , whose equipment time was considerably shorter. The new armored ships resembled scaled-down ships of the line , as they carried their main artillery in a bow and stern tower on the center line, even if they were single towers and the caliber used was considerably smaller.
In 1916 the Thor was overhauled as the second ship in the class. This became clear to the outside through the elimination of the tubular tower and the merging of the two original chimneys in a wide chimney. In 1937 the Thor retired from the Navy.
Building history
The Thor and the Niord , started at Lindholmen at the same time, were an improved version of the Oden type ship , which had been given Creusot steel armor like its predecessor. In the two replicas, hardened armor plates were built according to the Harvey system , some of which were the same thickness or only slightly thinner. The replicas thus had improved armor protection. With a slightly reduced displacement, it was possible to set up six 120 mm L / 45 Bofors rapid-fire cannons, model 94, instead of the four on the Oden . In the light weapons category , ten 57 mm L / 55 Finspång rapid-fire guns Model 89BE were used instead of the four L / 26 Model 95 and six 47 mm L / 50 guns Model 95. The Palmcrantz automatic cannons were also on the Thor and the Niord double barreled. However, the different light armament of the Oden was adapted to the sister ships as early as 1901. As the main weapon, 254 mm L / 42 cannons of the French Canet Model 94 type were installed for the first time instead of the Armstrong guns used in the previous series . The new main weapons were set up in individual turrets in order to rule out the total failure of the heavy artillery through a chance hit. The armored ship's torpedo armament consisted of an underwater bow torpedo tube of 45.3 cm caliber of the Model 93.
In 1916 the Thor was overhauled as the second ship in the class. The tubular mast was removed and the two previous chimneys were merged into one wide chimney above the new boiler system. The changes to the armament were minor: the Palmcrantz automatic cannons and the bow torpedo tube were removed and two of the 57 mm guns were replaced by their anti-aircraft variant.
Mission history
The Thor came into service on June 29, 1899 as the sixth seaworthy ironclad in the Swedish Navy. The Navy now had two divisions of relatively similar ships. In 1899 the Thor took part in a visit to the coastal squadron with the sister ships Oden and Niord , the torpedo cruisers Claes Horn and Jacob Bagge , as well as three gunboats and seven torpedo boats in Kiel .
In 1901 the three ironclad ships of the Oden class, together with the torpedo cruiser Claes Uggla, were the first ships in the Swedish Navy to receive a radio system.
In 1906, the Thor became a cadet training ship without undertaking very long journeys, as the training ships of other navies did. From July 3 to August 17, 1907, she carried out a training trip from Karlskrona to Danzig , Bordeaux , Cowes and Portsmouth and back. 1908 followed in July and August a trip together with the Dristigheten to Gravesend and Le Havre . In 1913, the ship, together with the Jacob Bagge, first visited Rouen in France, then Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire , Ireland ), Dover , Esbjerg and finally Saint Petersburg .
The Thor was one of the first ships to be sent to the Aaland Islands when the Russian Empire collapsed to protect the Swedish population there from attacks. On February 20, 1918, the ironclad ships Oscar II and Sverige arrived in support of the Thor off Eckerö . On February 25, Swedish troops on the gunboat Svensksund and chartered ships were also transferred to the islands.
As part of the Finland intervention , the German Reich claimed the Aaland Islands from alleged logistical constraints. When the Germans arrived on the morning of March 5th with the liners Westfalen and Rheinland , they demanded control of almost the entire archipelago, which they also received, contrary to the assurances made by German representatives in Stockholm. Despite protests in Sweden, Swedish troops were gradually withdrawn by April 25. The Thor and the Niord finally evacuated the inhabitants who wanted to move to Sweden.
After the Niord had been deleted from the fleet list on August 7, 1922, the Thor and the Oden were also decommissioned on July 16, 1937 . The ship was only demolished during the Second World War .
The Swedish coastal armored ships
| Number & name | Launch | displacement | length | speed | Main armament |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3, Svea class | 1885-1893 | 3100-3300 t | 77.6-82.0 m | 15-16 kn | 1-2x25.4 cm, 4-15.2 cm guns |
| 3, Oden class | 1896-1898 | 3300-3400 t | 86.3 m | 16.5-17 kn | 2-25.4 cm, 6-12 cm guns |
| 1, Dristigheten | 1900 | 3550 t | 89.0 m | 16.5 kn | 2-21 cm, 6.2-15.2 cm guns |
| 4, Äran- class | 1901-1903 | 3650 t | 89.7 m | 17 kn | 2-21 cm, 6.2-15.2 cm guns |
| 1, Oscar II. | 1905 | 4270 t | 95.6 m | 16.5 kn | 2-21 cm, 4-2x15.2 cm guns |
| 3, Sverige class | 1915-1918 | 6850-7125 t | 120.0-121.6 m | 22.5 kn | 2-2x28 cm, 1-2x + 6-15.2 cm guns |
The coastal armored ships of the Oden- class
| Surname | Shipyard | Launch | In service from | Final fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odes | Bergsund Finnboda Varv , Stockholm | March 9, 1896 | June 8, 1897 | 1937 a. D., |
| Thor | Bergsund, Stockholm | March 7, 1898 | June 29, 1899 | 1937 a. D., |
| Niord | Lindholmens Varv , Gothenburg | March 31, 1898 | February 23, 1899 | 1926 barge, |
literature
- B. Weyer: Taschenbuch der Kriegsflotten , JF Lehmanns Verlag, Munich, 1905.