 | This article includes alist of references,related reading, orexternal links,but its sources remain unclear because it lacksinline citations. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(August 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | This articlerelies largely or entirely on asingle source. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "HNoMS Rap" 1873 – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2024) |
 HNoMS Rap | |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg) Norway | |
| Name | KNMRap |
| Ordered | 1873 |
| Builder | John I. Thornycroft & Company |
| Laid down | 1873 |
| Launched | 1873 |
| Commissioned | 1873 |
| Stricken | 1920 |
| Status | Preserved at theRoyal Norwegian Navy Museum |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Torpedo boat |
| Displacement | 7 long tons (7 t) |
| Length | 18.2 m (59 ft 9 in) |
| Beam | 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion | Compound steam engine, 100 hp (75 kW) |
| Speed | 14.5knots (16.7 mph; 26.9 km/h) |
| Complement | 7 |
| Armament | Designed for aspar torpedo, later two 'frames' for Whitehead torpedoes |
TheNorwegian warshipHNoMSRap was atorpedo boat built in 1873. She was one of the first torpedo boats to carry the self-propelledWhitehead torpedo after being converted to use them in 1879, the same year theRoyal Navy'sHMSLightning entered service. The nameRap (Rapp in the modern spelling) translates as "quick".
Rap was ordered fromThornycroft shipbuilding company,England, in either 1872 or 1873, and was built at Thornycroft's shipyard at Church Wharf inChiswick on theRiver Thames. Managing a speed of 14.5 knots (27 km/h), she was one of the fastest boats afloat when completed. The Norwegians initially planned to arm her with aspar torpedo, but this may never have been fitted.Rap was briefly used for experiments with a towed torpedo before finally being outfitted with launch racks for the new self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes in 1879. Her initial commanding officer was First Lieutenant Koren, who also designed the torpedo racks.
AlthoughRap had been built several years earlier, the first true torpedo boat built to carry self-propelled torpedoes was the British HMSLightning, and she was in fact fitted with such torpedoes beforeRap. The first warship of any kind to carry self-propelled torpedoes wasHMS Vesuvius of 1873.
With a displacement of less than ten tons,Rap was very limited in terms of endurance and seaworthiness. Over the next three decadesRap would be followed by many other Norwegian torpedo boats of ever-increasing size and complexity. She was finally stricken from the fleet in 1920, long after she had become obsolete.
.png)
Today,Rap is exhibited at theNaval Museum[a] inHorten,Norway.
Rap was also the name given toa class of sixmotor torpedo boats built for theRoyal Norwegian Navy in the 1950s.
