HNoMS Gyller
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | |
| Launched: | 1937 |
| Commissioned: | 7 July 1938 |
| 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 40 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 Gyller was commissioned into the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1938 and remained in Norwegian service until the outbreak of the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940. She was constructed at Horten naval shipyard and had build number 125.
Contents |
[edit] Battle of Kristiansand
When the invasion came Gyller was docked at Kristiansand and got her first warning of the war in the form of gunfire from Odderøya fort against the attacking German landing force number four. Gyller immediatly opened up on attacking Luftwaffe bombers with her single Bofors 40 mm gun and two anti-aircraft machine guns and avoided several bombs dropped against her. After recieving an orientation on the situation from the fort commander Gyller steamed out to the harbor entrance and swung out her torpedo tubes to meet any intruder. However, 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. At this time Gyller was docked at Tollbodbrygga wharf to refill her water tanks for the oncoming battle and was seized without a fight. Gyller was captured together with numerous other naval vessels in the Kristiansand area, amongst others her sistership HNoMS Odin. Before entering the Kriegsmarine she was partially rebuilt and rearmed.
[edit] German service as the Löwe
In Kriegsmarine service she was renamed the Löwe and first served as a convoy escort with the 7. T-flotilla in Skagerak and Kattegat, then as a training ship and finally as a torpedo recovery vessel in Gotenhafen for the rest of the war.
[edit] Escort for the Wilhelm Gustloff
Löwe was the single warship accompanying the evacuation ship Wilhelm Gustloff at the time it was torpedoed and sunk by the Soviet submarine S-13 30 January 1945. The Löwe managed to rescue 472 of the military and civilian passengers, with other German vessels rescuing 780.
[edit] Post-war RNoN service
After the end of the Second World War the Löwe/Gyller was refound in Flensburg, Germany, May 1945 and returned the Royal Norwegian Navy.
After three more years in Norway as a destroyer Gyller was converted to a frigate in 1948.
Gyller was phased out and sold for scrapping in 1959
[edit] Name
She was named after one of the twelve horses of the Æsir - the principal Norse gods.
[edit] Source
- 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 |
