Uller (ship, 1876)

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flag
A Vale-class gunboat
A Vale- class gunboat
Overview
Type Gunboat
Shipyard

Marine shipyard , Horten hull
number 55

Launch July 21, 1876
delivery 1876
Whereabouts lost in German service on May 1, 1940
Technical specifications
displacement

229 t,

length

27.3 m over everything

width

6.9 m

Draft

2.2 m

crew

38 men

drive

2 cylinder boilers ,
steam engine
200 HP ,

speed

8 kn

Armament

1 × 274 mm Armstrong gun,
2 × 37 mm Hotchkiss revolver cannons,
1 × 37 mm Hotchkiss cannon,

Coal supply

22 t

1913 mine layers

maximum 250 t

Armament

1 × 120 mm gun,
3 × 37 mm guns,
50 mines

The Uller , built in 1876, was a 2nd class gunboat of the Norwegian Navy , which was converted into a mine-layer before the First World War . It was captured by the German Navy during World War II and put into service, but was lost on May 1, 1940 after a bombing raid by Norwegian naval aviators. The boat was named after the Norse god Uller .

Construction and technical data

The Uller was one of five Vale class boats built for the Norwegian Navy between 1874 and 1876 on Carljohansværn Værft in Horten (Norway) . Her sister ships were Vale , Nor , Brage and Vidar . The boats were designed for coastal defense. The Uller in 1874 with the hull number 55 on down Kiel , expired on 21 July 1876 from the stack and was put in the same year in service. She was 27.3 m long and 7.9 m wide, had a maximum draft of 2.2 m and displaced 238 tons standard and 250 tons maximum. The drive consisted of two composite steam engines with 210 hp and allowed a top speed of 8 knots . The bunker capacity was 20 tons of coal, the range 600 nautical miles . The boat was armed with an 11-inch rifled Armstrong Elswick muzzle-loading cannon , two Hotchkiss revolver cannons, and a 1-pounder rapid-fire cannon. The crew numbered 38 men.

In the years 1911–1913, the five boats of the class were converted into miners who could pick up and lay up to 50 mines . Their armament now consisted of a 12 cm L / 44 Armstrong rapid-fire gun Model Y and the three 37 mm cannons.

fate

The Uller provided routine service in Norwegian waters. After the beginning of World War II, this included the laying of defensive mine barriers to protect Norwegian ports and shipping lanes. During the German deployment to attack Norway , the German freighter Sao Paulo (4297 GRT ) of the so-called First Export Squadron was lost on April 9, 1940 in a mine lock off Bergen , which had been deployed by the two miners Uller and Tyr on the same day . On the same day the Uller was surprised and captured by incoming German warships while laying the mine west of Bergen.

The Navy took the boat under the German flag into service and used it to lay mine barriers. The crew and equipment came from the mine ship Ship 111 (ex- Hanonia ), which ran aground on April 11th . On April 30, 1940, the Uller and the mine- layer Tyr, who had also been captured by the navy, marched with a total of 80 mines on board to the entrance of the Sognefjord , which was still in Norwegian hands, to block the Norwegian warships in the fjord. Norwegian observers reported the arrival of the two ships before they even entered the fjord, and they were then bombed by two MF.11 maritime patrols from Norwegian naval aviation around 22:00 . However, all nine bombs dropped missed their targets. The two mine-layers drove further north into the fjord and began laying their mines. In the early morning hours of May 1, shortly after the two boats had started throwing mines, the Uller ran aground off the island of Losneøy. Attempts to tow the Tyr were unsuccessful. The Tyr then laid out her own mines and then returned to the Uller to make another tow attempt. The Uller's anchor chain used for towing broke . Shortly afterwards there was another air attack, this time by a single Heinkel He 115 A-2 , the F-58 , the Norwegian 2nd Naval Aviation Group, which dropped one 250 kg and four 50 kg bombs in two approaches. One of them detonated right next to the Uller's hull and damaged it so much that the boat suffered significant water ingress. Since further rescue attempts seemed pointless, the Tyr took over the crew of the damaged vessel and then blew up the boat along with the mines still on board.

2nd class gunboats

Between 1874 and 1894, Carljohansværn Værft in Horten (Norway) built a total of eight 2nd class gunboats for the Norwegian Navy. The first five formed the Vale class, with the last three ships slightly different from the first two. This was followed in 1884 and 1887 by two slightly larger boats with a 26 cm Krupp cannon and in 1894 the single boat Æger with twin screw drive and modified armament.

boat Construction no. Launch     size     Whereabouts
Vale 54 April 14, 1874 229 t, 27.3 m Captured by the Navy on May 13, 1940 and in service as an auxiliary ship until the end of the war
Uller 55 July 21, 1876 229 t, 27.3 m Captured by the Navy on April 10, 1940 and lost in German service on May 1, 1940.
Nor 57 October 23, 1878 264 t, 28.9 m Captured by the Navy on April 14, 1940 and in service as an auxiliary ship until the end of the war.
Brage 58 November 1, 1878 264 t, 28.9 m Captured by the Navy on April 14, 1940 and in service as an auxiliary ship until the end of the war.
Vidar 60 January 31, 1882 264 t, 28.9 m Captured by the Navy on April 14, 1940 and in service as an auxiliary ship NK 31 until the end of the war.
Brat 64 May 7, 1884 273 t, 31.3 m Captured on May 13, 1940 by the German minesweeper M 1 off Bremanger and in service as an auxiliary ship of the Navy until the end of the war.
Tyr 67 March 16, 1887 273 t, 31.3 m Captured on April 20, 1940 in Uskedal and in service as an auxiliary ship Tyr of the Navy until the end of the war.
Æger 73 July 1, 1893 316 t, 33.2 m only twin screw boat, painted in 1932.

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Because of their small size, low freeboard and lack of masts , boats of this type were referred to in England as flat-iron gunboats .

Web links

literature

  • Frank Abelsen: Norwegian naval ships 1939-1945. Sem & Stenersen, Oslo, 1986, ISBN 82-7046-050-8 (English & Norwegian).
  • Andreas Hauge: Kampene i Norge 1940. Krigshistorisk Forlag, Sandefjord, 1995, ISBN 82-993369-0-2
  • Ole F. Berg: I skjærgården og på havet - Marinens krig April 8, 1940 - May 8, 1945. Marinens krigsveteranforening, Oslo, 1997, ISBN 82-993545-2-8 (norw.)