Eidsvold in 1905
History
Norway
Name	Eidsvold
Namesake	Town ofEidsvold
Builder	Armstrong Whitworth,Newcastle on Tyne
Laid down	1899
Launched	14 June 1900
Commissioned	1901
Fate	Sunk 9 April 1940 in Narvik Harbour, Norway
General characteristics
Class and type	Eidsvold-classcoastal defence ship
Displacement	4,233 tons (standard)
Length	94.60 m (310 ft 4 in)
Beam	15.70 m (51 ft 6 in)
Draft	5.40 m (17 ft 9 in)
Propulsion	steam engines with 4,500 hp (3,400 kW)
Speed	17.2knots (31.9 km/h; 19.8 mph)
Complement	270 fully crewed, reduced to 228 in 1940, just 183 aboard when sunk[1]
Armament	2 × 21 cm (8.3 in) guns 6 × 15 cm (5.9 in) guns 6 × 7.6 cm (3.0 in) guns Torpedo tubes AA armament: 2 × 76 mm AA guns 2 ×20 mm Oerlikon guns 2 × 12.7 mmColt anti-aircraft machine guns 4 × 7.92 mm Colt anti-aircraft machine guns
Notes	[2]

HNoMSEidsvold was acoastal defence ship and the lead ship ofher class, serving in theRoyal Norwegian Navy. Built byArmstrong Whitworth atNewcastle on Tyne in 1899, she was obsolete when sunk by German torpedoes inNarvik harbour on 9 April 1940 during the German invasion of Norway (Operation Weserübung).

Eidsvold was built as part of the general rearmament in the time leading up to the political events in1905, and remained, along with her sister shipNorge, the backbone of the Royal Norwegian Navy for just over 40 years. She was named after the town ofEidsvold, the site of the drafting and signing of theNorwegian Constitution on 17 May 1814. Considered to be quite powerful ships for their time, with two 21-centimetre (8.3 in) guns as their main armament, they were soon outclassed by the newDreadnoughtbattleships. They were armoured to withstand battle with ships of a similar class to their own, with 15 centimetres (6 in) ofKruppcementedarmour in the belt and 23 centimetres (9 in) of the same armour on her twoturrets.Eidsvold andNorge were the largest vessels in the Royal Norwegian Navy at 4,233 tons and crews of up to 270 men.

In June 1911,Eidsvold sailed to theUnited Kingdom to represent Denmark at thefleet review for the coronation of KingGeorge V.^[3]

It was intended to augment the Norwegian coastal defence ship fleet with the two ships of theBjørgvin class, ordered in 1912, but after these were compulsorily purchased by the BritishRoyal Navy at the outbreak ofWorld War I, theEidsvold class and the older, two-ship strong,Tordenskjold class was forced to soldier on long after they were obsolete.

In the morning of 9 April 1940, a German force often destroyers, carrying troops of amountain division, entered Narvik harbour under cover of fog and heavy snow. Despite the weather, they were spotted by Norwegian vessels, which promptly reported the sighting and alertedEidsvold andNorge. Aboard both ships steps were taken to prepare for combat. The guns were loaded with live ammunition and life preservers issued to the crew. Around 04:15 in the morning, the Germans spottedEidsvold. CaptainOdd Isaachsen Willoch aboardEidsvold immediately ordered to signal the leading German destroyer with anAldis lamp, and when the Germans failed to respond to the signal, he ordered a warning shot placed before their bow while he flew atwo flag signal, ordering the destroyer to halt.

Since the Germans had orders to occupy Norway peacefully if at all possible, theGerman destroyerWilhelm Heidkamp stopped, and signalledEidsvold that it would send an officer to negotiate. From a distance of about 200 metres (220 yd), a smalllaunch ferriedKorvettenkapitän Gerlach over toEidsvold. Gerlach and a signalman were received on the aft deck ofEidsvold by the second in command, and were taken to the bridge to speak to Captain Willoch. At the same time, the gun crews aboardEidsvold kept the German destroyer in their sights, both the 21 cm guns and the 15 cm guns. Due to the short distance, the trajectory of the shells would have been flat, making it hard not to hit the thinly armoured vessel.

At the bridge, Gerlach tried to convince Willoch that the Germans had arrived as friends and that Willoch should surrender his ship peacefully. Willoch countered by pointing out that he was bound by duty to resist, but did ask for a ten-minute break to consider the matter. However, instead of considering surrender, Willoch used this time to contact his superiors, as well as the captain ofNorge, informing them of his intent to attack the German forces. While this was going on, another German destroyer had crossed behindEidsvold and took up a position 700 metres (770 yd) from the vessel, ready to fire hertorpedoes.

Gerlach tried once again to convince Willoch to surrender, but was turned down a second time. As he left the deck ofEidsvold, he fired a red flare, indicating that the Norwegians wished to fight. At this point, Captain Willoch hurried towards the bridge, while shouting"På plass ved kanonene. Nå skal vi slåss, gutter!" ("Man the guns. We're gonna fight, boys!").Eidsvold turned towards the closest destroyer and accelerated, while the battery commander ordered the port battery (three 15 cm guns) to open fire.

However, the Germans fired four torpedoes at the old coastal defence ship, and two or three of the torpedoes hit before the port guns could fire, according to Norwegian sources: one under the rear turret, one midship and one in thebow. It is likely that the torpedoes ignited one of themagazines aboard, becauseEidsvold was blown in two and sunk in seconds,propellers still turning. Only six of the crew were rescued, while 175 died in the freezing water.

Some remains ofEidsvold lie in shallow waters at the entrance to Narvik harbour. Mostly salvaged in situ, only minor remains are left of the ship.^[4]

• Abelsen, Frank (1986).Norwegian naval ships 1939–1945 (in Norwegian and English). Oslo: Sem & Stenersen AS.ISBN 82-7046-050-8.
• Børresen, Jacob (2018). "The Coastal BattleshipEidsvold (1900)". In Taylor, Bruce (ed.).The World of the Battleship: The Lives and Careers of Twenty-One Capital Ships of the World's Navies, 1880–1990. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-0870219061.
• Jenks, J. E., ed. (8 July 1911). "Foreign Ships at the Coronation".Army and Navy Register.L (1646). Washington, D.C.: Army & Navy Publishing Co.:2–4.

• Eidsvold-class coastal defence ships
• Ships built on the River Tyne
• 1900 ships
• World War II coastal defence ships of Norway
• Maritime incidents in April 1940
• World War II shipwrecks in the Norwegian Sea
• Naval magazine explosions

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