View source for HNoMS Norge

{{Short description|Ship of the Eidsvold-class in the Royal Norwegian Navy}}
{{for|the Norwegian [[royal yacht]]|HNoMY Norge}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HNoMS Norge, with Bjørnson's coffin on board.jpg
|Ship caption=''Norge'' transporting the coffin of writer [[Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson]] in 1910
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=Norway
|Ship flag=[[File:Naval Ensign of Norway (1844-1905).svg|60px]] {{shipboxflag|Norway|naval}}
|Ship name=''Norge''
|Ship namesake=[[Norway]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Armstrong Whitworth]] at [[Newcastle on Tyne]]
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=31 March 1900<ref>Campbell, "Norway," 370.</ref>
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=7 February 1901
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Sunk 9 April 1940 in Narvik Harbour, Norway
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Eidsvold|coastal defence ship}}
|Ship displacement=4,233&nbsp;tons (standard)
|Ship length={{convert|94.60|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|15.70|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|5.40|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*steam engines with
* {{cvt|4500|hp}}
|Ship speed={{convert|17.2|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=270 fully crewed, reduced to 229 in 1940, just 191 aboard when sunk<ref>[http://www.vrakdykking.com/narvik3.htm ''DET TYSKE ANGREP I OFOTFJORDEN. P/S "Eidsvold" senkes''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050404152348/http://vrakdykking.com/narvik3.htm |date=4 April 2005 }} {{in lang|no}}, retrieved 8 Dec 2005</ref>
|Ship armament=*2 × 21 cm (8.26-inch) guns
*6 × 15 cm (5.90-inch) guns
*6 × 7.6 cm (3-inch) guns
*Torpedo tubes
*Anti-aircraft armament:
*2 × 76 mm anti-aircraft guns
*2 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm Oerlikon guns]]
*2 × 12.7 mm [[Colt's Manufacturing Company|Colt]] anti-aircraft machine guns
*4 × 7.92 mm Colt anti-aircraft machine guns
|Ship armour=
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship notes=<ref>[https://www.krigsseilerregisteret.no/en/skip/20959/ HNoMS Norge] [[Krigsseilerregisteret]] {{in lang|no}}</ref>
}}
|}

'''HNoMS ''Norge''''' was a [[coastal defence ship]] of the {{sclass|Eidsvold|coastal defence ship|4}} in the [[Royal Norwegian Navy]]. Built by [[Armstrong Whitworth]] at [[Newcastle on Tyne]], she was torpedoed and sunk by German [[destroyer]]s in [[Narvik]] harbour on 9 April 1940.

==Background and description==
Built as part of the general rearmament in the time leading up to the events in 1905, ''Norge'' remained, along with her sister-ship {{HNoMS|Eidsvold||2}}, the backbone of the Royal Norwegian Navy for just over 40 years. ''Norge'' and ''Eidsvold'' were the largest vessels in the Royal Norwegian Navy, displacing 4,233 tons and crewed by 270 men. Both vessels were considered to be quite powerful for their time, with two 21&nbsp;cm (8.26 inch) guns as their main armament. They were armoured to withstand battle with ships of a similar size, with 6 inches (15.24&nbsp;cm) of [[Krupp]] [[Cementation (metallurgy)|cemented]] [[armour]] in the belt and 9 inches (22.86&nbsp;cm) of the same armour on the two gun turrets.
[[File:Håkon inspects KNM Eidsvold.gif|thumb|left|The recently elected King [[Haakon VII of Norway|Haakon VII]] boards ''Norge'' on 28 November 1905]]
It was intended to augment the Norwegian [[coastal defence ship]] fleet with the two ships of the {{sclass|Bjørgvin|coastal defence ship|4}}, ordered in 1912, but after these were requisitioned by the British [[Royal Navy]] while still under construction at the outbreak of [[World War I]] the ''Eidsvold'' class and the older, two ship strong, {{sclass|Tordenskjold|coastal defence ship|4}} were kept in service long after they were obsolete.

''Norge'' was launched from the Elswick shipyard of Armstron Whitworth on 31 March 1900,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence|date=2 April 1900 | page=7 |issue=36105}}</ref> and commissioned in early 1901.

==First and final battle==
[[File:HNoMS Norge - steering wheel recovered 1983.png|thumb|left|The emergency steering wheel from ''Norge'', retrieved from Narvik harbour by divers in 1983]]
On the morning of 9 April 1940, a German force of [[Norwegian campaign order of battle#Kriegsmarine|ten destroyers]], carrying troops of a [[Gebirgsjäger|mountain division]], entered [[Ofotfjord]] under cover of fog and heavy snow. The Germans contacted the captain of ''Eidsvold'', demanding that he surrender, and when this was turned down, the battle-ready German destroyers torpedoed ''Eidsvold'' before she could fire her guns.

Aboard ''Norge'', deeper inside the fjord, the explosions were heard, but nothing could be seen until two German destroyers suddenly appeared out of the darkness. Captain [[Per Askim]] of ''Norge'' gave orders to open fire. Four rounds were fired from the 21&nbsp;cm guns (one from the fore gun and three from the aft) as well as seven or eight rounds from the starboard 15&nbsp;cm guns, directed against the German destroyer ''[[German destroyer Z11 Bernd von Arnim|Bernd von Arnim]]''. The range has been estimated as {{convert|800|m|yd}}. Due to the difficult weather conditions, it was hard to use the optical sights for the guns, which resulted in the first salvo falling short of the target and the others going over the target.

The German destroyers waited until they were alongside the pier before returning fire. ''Bernd von Arnim'' opened fire with her 12.7&nbsp;cm (5-inch) guns, as well as with machine guns, but the weather gave the Germans problems as well. The destroyer also fired torpedoes—in all three salvoes of two torpedoes each. The first two salvoes missed, but the last struck ''Norge'' midships, and she sank in less than one minute, her propellers still turning. Ninety of the crew were rescued from the freezing water, but 101 perished in the battle which had lasted less than 20 minutes.
[[File:Anchor of Norge in Narvik.jpg|thumb|right|The salvaged anchor of ''Norge'' outside the War Museum in Narvik]]

==The wreck==
The remains of ''Norge'' lie at a depth of about {{convert|20|m}}, in the middle of Narvik harbour. Partly salvaged in situ, it is considered a war memorial and diving on the wreck is prohibited.<ref>[http://www.skovheim.org/located/nordland/norge/norge.html PS Norge] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818135931/http://www.skovheim.org/located/nordland/norge/norge.html |date=18 August 2007 }} at Skovheim.org, retrieved 2 January 2007</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |title=Norwegian naval ships 1939–1945 |last=Abelsen |first=Frank |year=1986 |publisher=Sem & Stenersen AS |location=Oslo |isbn=82-7046-050-8 |language=no, en}}
* {{cite book |last=Campbell|first=N J M|chapter=Norway|editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Chesneau|editor2-first=Roger|editor3-last=Kolesnik|editor3-first=Eugene M.|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds00ches_361|url-access=limited|year=1979|location=London|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|isbn=0-85177-133-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds00ches_361/page/n376 369]–70}}

==External links==
{{Commons-inline|Norge (ship, 1899)}}

{{Norwegian coastal defence ships}}
{{April 1940 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|Atlantic Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norge}}
[[Category:Eidsvold-class coastal defence ships]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Tyne]]
[[Category:1900 ships]]
[[Category:World War II coastal defence ships of Norway]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1940]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Norwegian Sea]]