 Kjell off the coast of Norway. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Norway | |
| Name | Kjell |
| Builder | The Royal Norwegian Navy Shipyard inHorten |
| Yard number | 106 |
| Launched | 12 March 1912 |
| Commissioned | 1912 |
| Captured | by the Germans on 11 April 1940 |
 Germany | |
| Name | KT1 |
| Namesake | Dragoon |
| Acquired | 11 April 1940 |
| Renamed | NK.02Dragoner after rebuild to minesweeper |
| Fate | Sunk by RAFde Havilland Mosquitos near offRyvingen nearMandal, Norway 28 September 1944 |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Class & type | 2.-classtorpedo boat |
| Displacement | 84 tons |
| Length | 41.1 m (134 ft 10 in) |
| Beam | 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Draft | 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion | 1,800 hp (1,300 kW)triple expansion steam engine |
| Speed | 25knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) |
| Complement | 21 |
| Armament |
|
| Notes | All the above listed information, unless otherwise noted, was acquired from[1] |
| General characteristics in German service | |
| Class & type | 2.-class torpedo boat |
| Displacement | 84 tons |
| Length | 41.1 m (134 ft 10 in) |
| Beam | 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Draft | 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion | 1,800 hp (1,300 kW) triple expansion steam engine |
| Speed | 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) |
| Complement | 21 |
| Armament |
|
| Notes | All the above listed information, unless otherwise noted, was acquired from[1] |
HNoMSKjell was the final ship of twenty-seven2nd classtorpedo boats built for theRoyal Norwegian Navy, launched at the Royal Norwegian Navy's shipyard inHorten on 12 March 1912 with build number 106.[1]Kjell saw more than 32 years of service, the first 28 years in the Royal Norwegian Navy during the First World War and in theinterwar period, the last four in theKriegsmarine, having been captured in the first days of the 1940Norwegian campaign. After being rebuilt as aminesweeper by theGermans, she was sunk byRoyal Air Forcede Havilland Mosquito fighter bombers on 28 September 1944. Divers rediscovered the shipwreck in 2006.
Kjell was the last of 27 small, cigar-shaped, pre-First World Wartorpedo boats built for the Royal Norwegian Navy.[3] The other ships in her post-1905 series were the 1906Teist (black guillemot) and the 1907Skarv (cormorant). The series' main armament consisted of two deck-mounted torpedo launchers and one fixedtorpedo tube in thebow. WhileTeist andSkarv were both armed with two 47 mm (1.9 in) guns,Kjell was equipped with a single 76 mm (3 in) main gun.[4] Unlike all the preceding Norwegian torpedo boats the Officers'Mess on boardKjell was located in the bow section, with easy access to the command position in the tower.[5]
The Royal Norwegian Navy mobilized on 2 August 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. With Norway having declared herself aneutral country the torpedo boats were ordered to carry the lion's share of the neutrality protection patrols. This was despite their less than satisfactory seaworthiness in open seas, having been designed for service close to shore and in the many Norwegianfjords. The background for the decision to deploy the torpedo boats as the main Norwegian patrol force was based on the small ships being more economic to operate than the navy's larger vessels in a time of uncertain coal and oil supplies.[6] In one episode during her First World War serviceKjell intercepted the BritishsubmarineE30 on 2 July 1916.[7] The submarine had hailed and fired two shots at the 578-ton Norwegiansteamer SSPrunelle ofBergen, offLindesnes in southern Norway. The British submarine managed to dive and make good its escape, but althoughE30's crew claimed thatPrunelle was 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) from shore and hence outside Norwegian territorial waters, the Norwegians claimed that the steamer was only 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) from shore and therefore inside Norwegian waters. The Norwegians therefore protested that the attack had violated Norwegian territorial waters and thatE30 had dived away and not remained on the surface.[7][8][9][10] The neutrality violation had been so well documented that theUK government later issued an apology to its Norwegian counterpart, and revised its instruction to submarines operating close to neutral coastlines.[7][10]
By the end of the First World War the Norwegian torpedo boat fleet had been worn down by constant service and 14 of the vessels were decommissioned and disposed of in 1920. Twenty-three torpedo boats, includingKjell, were obliged to continue in service due to budgetary restrictions despite being long outdated and ready for replacement.[11] Although officially still in service the torpedo boats spent most of the inter-war period in port, only being equipped forexercises some two to three months every year.[12]
ForKjell the 1922 exercise season turned out somewhat unusual as she was deployed againstalcohol smugglers on the coast as part of the enforcement of the 1916–1927 Norwegianprohibition. During 20 days in September 1922Kjell operated offFærder inTjøme, soon earning the nicknameTerror of the smugglers (Norw.Smugglernes skrekk) by confiscating on average 1,500 litres (329.95 imp gal) of spirits a day. At the conclusion of the 20-day anti-smuggling cruise each member of the torpedo boat's crew received the then-substantial amount of 382Norwegian kroner inprize money.[12]
At the outbreak of the Second World War the Norwegian torpedo boat force was again deployed guarding the coastline against neutrality violations.Kjell was at that time part of the 2. Torpedo boat Division in theKristiansand section of the 1st Naval District, covering the southernmost part of the Norwegian coastline. As had been the case during the First World War the torpedo boats were once more spread singly along the coastline.[13][14]
One incident in whichKjell was involved was when she on 14 October 1939 rescued from theskerry Østre Flandern nearFlekkerøy the three-man crew ofMarinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11 F.320, which had made an emergency landing after suffering engine failure.Kjell recovered theRoyal Norwegian Navy Air Service crew in the early afternoon of 14 October, while the wreck of F.320 was retrieved by the patrol boatLyngdal the next day.[15]
One of the tasks given to the Norwegian torpedo boat force as part of their renewed neutrality protection duties was the escort and inspection of vessels belonging to the warring parties. One of these missions included the control and escort of the Germanauxiliary tankerAltmark in February 1940.Altmark was returning to Germany after having supported the Germanpocket battleshipAdmiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic. On her return voyage to Germany she was carrying 299 British merchant sailors asprisoners of war (POWs), and entered Norwegian waters north ofTrondheimsfjord on 14 February 1940. The transport of POWs through neutral territorial waters was not in violation ofpublic international law, and as Norwegian authorities feared an incident between the German ship and theRoyal Navy the ship was allowed passage through the restricted areas at Bergen. The passage at Bergen was in violation of official Norwegian neutrality regulations as the tanker was a state-operated vessel of a warring party.[16] AsAltmark proceeded southwards to Germany she was escorted along the way by various Norwegian warships.[16] On the day after she entered Norwegian waters, 15 February, theAltmark was spotted by Britishreconnaissance aircraft and soon after confronted by a force of six Royal Navydestroyers. In an effort to avoid captureAltmark sought shelter in theJøssingfjord, in the area betweenEgersund andFlekkefjord, now under the escort ofKjell and fellow torpedo boatSkarv.[17] Ignoring protests from the Norwegian naval vessels, which commanders were under direct orders not to fire at the British,[16] the destroyerHMS Cossack entered Jøssingfjord at 2220hrs on 16 February andboarded the German ship, killing six, mortally wounding one of the German crew and freeing the British prisoners. The failure ofKjell and the other Norwegian warships to intervene in the blatant neutrality violation ledHitler to speed up plans for aGerman invasion of Norway, six days after the incident appointing GeneralNikolaus von Falkenhorst as commander of the operation.[17] One of the immediate German reactions to the incident was a demand that the commanders ofKjell andSkarv be dismissed, although this was quickly dropped following the recommendation of the Germanlegation in Oslo.[16] The Norwegian government on its part issued strong protests to the UK government, President of theNorwegian ParliamentC. J. Hambro stating that the united Norwegian parliament and people protested the British intrusion at Jøssingfjord.[17]
Another incident occurred the following month when, on 27 March 1940, theGerman submarine U-21 accidentally ran aground at Oddene nearRyvingen south-east ofMandal. Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11 F.328 landed near the U-boat and guarded it until Norwegian naval vessels reached the scene and interned the crew.U-21 was towed to Kristiansand the next day under escort ofKjell,Teist, the destroyerOdin and theB-class submarineB-2.[18]
On 8 April 1940, the day before the German invasion,Kjell was in Kristiansand carrying out repairs which were finished by afternoon. The next morning she was ordered to nearby Marvika naval base to take on board torpedoes. However, before the vessel could be made war ready orders came through from the commander of the local naval section that resistance to the German invasion in the Kristiansand area was to cease. As the Germans occupied MarvikaKjell was allowed to move to nearbyVigebukta bay in theTopdalsfjord. On 11 April the torpedo boat was seized by German infantry and at 1830hrs theGerman war flag was raised, signalling the ship's transfer toKriegsmarine service.[3]
Initially renamedKT1 and used as aVorpostenboot (outpost boat), she was then rebuilt as a minesweeper under the name NK.02Dragoner. Serving as apatrol boat and escort vessel on the coast ofoccupied Norway,Dragoner was sailing alone off Ryvingen near Mandal when she was discovered and attacked by sixNo. 248 Squadron RAF de Havilland Mosquito fighter bombers on 28 September 1944. After a brief and futile fight she was sunk by a combination ofautocannon fire and adepth charge exploding underneath her midship section. Of the 25 Germans on board at the time of the sinking 18 survived, seven of whom were wounded. The attacking RAF aircraft suffered no damage from the German return-fire and all returned to base.[2][19][20]
The wreck ofDragoner was discovered partly intact at some 40 metres (130 ft) depth several kilometres from land by a team of three Norwegian divers in February 2006. The wreck has since been declared awar grave.[2][21]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in September 1944 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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