HNoMS King Haakon VII
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 HNoMS King Haakon VII at sea |
|
| Career (Norway) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | King Haakon VII |
| Ordered: | 19 July 1940[1] |
| Builder: | Geo. Lawley, Neponset, Massachusetts, USA |
| Laid down: | 22 October 1941[1] |
| Launched: | 29 April 1942[1] |
| Commissioned: | US Navy: 20 June 1942[1] Royal Norwegian Navy: 16 September 1942[1] |
| Decommissioned: | 1 February 1951 |
| Struck: | 10 August 1957[2] |
| Fate: | Sold to Rogaland Sjøguttskole (Rogaland Sailing School for boys) in August 1953[3] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | PC class |
| Displacement: | 357 tons[2] |
| Length: | 174.75 feet (53.26 m) |
| Beam: | 23 feet (7.01 m) |
| Draft: | 7.5 feet (2.29 m) |
| Propulsion: | Two 10 cylinder Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines with 3,600 hp, two shafts |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37.04 km/h) |
| Range: | 4,000 nautical miles (7,408.00 km) at 16 knots (29.63 km/h) |
| Complement: | 47 men |
| Armament: | 2 × 3 in. gun 2 x Oerlikon 20 mm cannon 2 × .303 Colt anti-aircraft machine guns 2 × depth charge throwers 60 depth charges |
HNoMS King Haakon VII, was a Royal Norwegian Navy escort ship during World War II, named after King Haakon VII of Norway. She was gifted to the RNoN by the United States on 16 September 1942,[1] in the presence of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Norwegian Crown Princess Märtha.[4]
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[edit] Handover ceremony
The original intention of the US authorities had been to hand over the warship to the Norwegians on 3 August 1942, on the 70th birthday of King Haakon VII. This plan could however not be carried out as Crown Princess Märtha was going spend that day with her stepfather the King in London and the handover date was postponed.[4]
During the handover ceremony Roosevelt delivered his famous "Look to Norway"-speech.[4]
HNoMS King Haakon VII was formerly part of the U.S. Navy as USS PC 467. The ship was built in Neponset, Massachusetts where she was launched on 29 April 1942.[2]
[edit] Norwegian service
HNoMS King Haakon VII, under her first commander kapteinløytnant (Lieutenant) Leif R. Lund,[4] was first based at Halifax.[5] Later on she was moved to Red Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador. In November 1942 she took part in the escorting of eastbound transatlantic convoy SC-108. This trip showed that the small vessel was not sturdy enough for transatlantic escorting and after a spell in the UK she relocated to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador in May 1943. For the rest of World War II King Haakon VII escorted convoys on the coast of North and Central America, from from the coast of Labrador to the Caribbean.[6] During her war service HNoMS King Haakon VII sailed 85,000 nautical miles (157,000 km) and escorted 79 convoys without accidents. No men were lost or seriously injured on the King Haakon VII during the war years. From 3 May to 2 June 1945 King Haakon VII was at Key West for maintenance and repairs, this delaying her the start of her return voyage to Norway until 4 June. On 26 June 1945 HNoMS King Haakon VII arrived at the southern Norwegian port of Kristiansand.[3][3]
She was decommissioned on 1 February 1951 and laid up in Trondheim.[2] On 26 June 1952 the Norwegian Storting (Parliament) decided that King Haakon VII was to be decommissioned and sold off. In August of 1953 she was sold to Rogaland Sjøguttskole (Rogaland Sailing School for boys) for 30,000 Norwegian kroner.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] Literature
- Abelsen, Frank: Norwegian naval ships 1939-1945, Sem & Stenersen AS, Oslo 1986 ISBN 82-7046-050-8
- 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)
- Hansen, Ola Bøe (ed.): "Sjøkrigens skjebner - deres egne beretninger", Sjømilitære Samfund ved Forlaget Norsk Tidsskrift for Sjøvesen, Gjøvik 2005 ISBN 82-92217-22-3 (Norwegian)
- Sivertsen, Svein Carl (ed.): Med Kongen til fornyet kamp - Oppbyggingen av Marinen ute under Den andre verdenskrig, Sjømilitære Samfund ved Norsk Tidsskrift for Sjøvesen, Hundvåg 2000 ISBN 82-994738-8-8 (Norwegian)
- Thomassen, Marius: 90 år under rent norsk orlogsflagg, Eide Forlag, Bergen 1995 ISBN 82-514-0483-5 (Norwegian)
