HNoMS Odin
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 The Sleipner class destroyer Odin in 1939 |
|
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | |
| Launched: | 17 January 1939 |
| Commissioned: | |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1959 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 597 tons |
| Dimensions: | 74.30 m m x 7.80 m x 2.8 m |
| Armament: | 3 x 10 cm guns 1 x 20 mm anti-aircraft gun 2 x 12.7 mm machine guns 2 x 53.3 cm torpedo tubes Depth charges |
| Propulsion: | 12,500 shp (9.3 MW), 32 knop |
| Crew: | 75 |
The Sleipner class destroyer HNoMS Odin was launched at Horten naval shipyard and put into Royal Norwegian Navy service in 1939. She had build number 126.
Contents |
[edit] Brief involvement in opposing Operation Weserübung
[edit] Rio de Janeiro
On 8 April 1940 she had taken part together with the guard ship Lyngdal in the rescue of the surviving sailors and soldiers from the clandestine German troop transport Rio de Janeiro sunk by the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł near the small port of Lillesand.
[edit] Battle of Kristiansand
The next morning, 9 April 1940, Odin took part in the defence of Kristiansand, against landing group four of the German invasion of Norway. When the battle at Kristiansand between the Kriegsmarine flotilla and Odderøya fort began Odin steamed out into the Toppdalsfjord and opened up on attacking Luftwaffe bombers with her Oerlikon 20 mm cannon and two anti-aircraft machine guns. Continous evasive manouvering saved the destroyer from being hit by the many bombs dropped at her and several hits were recorded on the attacking aircraft, although none were shot down. At about 0730 hrs a twin-engined plane attacked the interned uboat U-21 that was docked in Kristiansand harbor, Odin fired at the plane, only to discover it was a RAF Lockheed Hudson reconnaissance aircraft. Neither this time did the Odin's fire bring her target down. At 1000 hrs an order not to fire at British and French forces came to the commander of Kristiansand. This order, combined with confusion of which flags were flown by the intruding warships, led to the German force being able to enter the harbor unoppose on their third attempt at 1030 hrs. Odin was captured at Marvika naval station together with numerous other naval vessels in the Kristiansand area, amongst others her sistership HNoMS Gyller.
[edit] German service as the Panther
Before entering the Kriegsmarine she was partially rebuilt and rearmed. During the remainder of the war she operated in Skagerak and Kattegat as an escort with the 7. T-flotilla, as a training ship, and as a torpedo recovery vessel in Gotenhafen.
[edit] Post-war RNoN service
After the end of the Second World War the Panther/Odin was refound in Holmestrand, Norway, May 1945 and returned to the Royal Norwegian Navy.
After three more years in Norway as a destroyer Odin was converted to a frigate in 1948.
Odin was phased out and sold for scrapping in 1959
[edit] Name
She was named after Odin - the chief god in Norse mythology and Norse paganism.
[edit] Sources
- 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
- Abelsen, Frank: Norwegian naval ships 1939-1945, Sem & Stenersen AS, Oslo 1986 ISBN 82-7046-050-9
[edit] See also
| Norwegian destroyers |
| Draug class: Draug, Troll, Garm |
| Sleipner class: Sleipner, Gyller, Æger, Odin, Balder, Tor |
| S class: Svenner, Stord |
| Town class: Lincoln, St Albans, Mansfield, Bath, Newport All Town class vessels was loaned from the Royal Navy |
| C class: Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger |
| Hunt class: Arendal, Haugesund, Tromsø |
Destroyers of the Royal Norwegian Navy |
