View source for Sleipner-class destroyer

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HNoMS Sleipner (H48).jpg
|Ship caption=The lead ''Sleipner''-class destroyer {{HNoMS|Sleipner|1936|6}} at sea in 1937
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=''Sleipner'' class
|Builders=*The Royal Norwegian Navy's shipyard at [[Karljohansvern]], [[Horten]]
*[[Fredrikstad Mekaniske Verksted]] (''Tor'')
|Operators={{navy|Norway}} 
{{navy|Nazi Germany}}
|Class before={{sclass|Draug|destroyer|4}}
|Class after=*{{sclass|Ålesund|destroyer|4}} (planned)
*{{sclass2|Town|destroyer|4}} (actual)
|Subclasses=
|Cost=
|Built range=
|In service range=  1936&ndash;1959
|In commission range=
|Total ships building= 
|Total ships planned=
|Total ships completed=6
|Total ships cancelled=
|Total ships active=
|Total ships laid up=
|Total ships lost=1
|Total ships retired=
|Total ships scrapped=5
|Total ships preserved=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption= 
|Ship type=[[Destroyer]]
|Ship displacement=735&nbsp;[[ton]]s <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tmbk.no/sleipner1no.htm |title=Jageren Sleipner |access-date=4 March 2009 |last=Fosland |first=Roger |work=Tromsø Modellbåtklubb |language=no }}</ref>
|Ship length={{convert|74.30|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|7.80|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{convert|4.15|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion={{convert|12,500|shp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}} De Laval oil fuelled steam turbines
|Ship speed={{convert|32|kn|km/h|2|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship complement=75 
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*3 × 10&nbsp;cm guns
*1 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40&nbsp;mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun]]
*2 × 12.7&nbsp;mm Colt anti-aircraft machine guns
*2 × 53.3&nbsp;cm [[torpedo tube]]s
*4 × [[depth charge]] throwers
|Ship armour=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The '''''Sleipner'' class''' was a class of six [[destroyer]]s{{efn|name=Conway}} built for the [[Royal Norwegian Navy]] from 1936 until the [[Operation Weserübung|German invasion]] in 1940. The design was considered advanced for its time, and it was the first class of vessels for the Norwegian Navy that used aluminium in the construction of the [[Bridge (ship)|bridge]], the [[Mast (sailing)|mast]] and the outer [[Funnel (ship)|funnel]]. Extra strength special steel was used in the construction of the [[Hull (watercraft)|hull]]. Unlike the earlier {{sclass|Draug|destroyer|4}} the ''Sleipner'' class had comparatively good capabilities in both main guns, [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft artillery]] and [[anti-submarine weapon]]s. The class was named after [[Sleipnir]], the eight-legged horse of [[Odin]].

==Armament==
The armament within the class varied slightly. ''Æger'' had the armament listed in the article info-box. ''Sleipner'', the lead ship of the class, carried just two 10&nbsp;cm guns and could not elevate them for use as anti-aircraft weapons. [[HNoMS Gyller (1938)|''Gyller'']] had two extra torpedo tubes, for a total of four. ''[[HNoMS Odin (1939)|Odin]]'' had a 20&nbsp;mm anti aircraft gun instead of a 40&nbsp;mm. ''Balder'' and [[HNoMS Tor (1939)|''Tor'']] had not been finished when the Germans attacked, and it is not known if any changes in armament were planned.

Although classified by the Norwegians as destroyers they have been widely regarded as [[torpedo boats]] because of their displacement and armament.<ref name="C p379">{{cite book|editor-last1=Gardiner|editor-first1=Robert|editor-last2=Chesneau|editor-first2=Roger|title=Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|year=1980|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-146-7|page=379}} </ref><ref>A.V. Dashyan: ''Korabli Vtoroy mirovoy voyny – VMS Polshy i stran Skandinavii (Danii, Norwegii, Shvecyi i Finlandii)'' [WW2 ships - Navies of Poland and Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland)], Morskaya Kollekcya nr. 3/2005 {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

==Fates==
The vessels had quite different fates. ''Æger'' was bombed by German planes on 9 April 1940, and wrecked with loss of life. ''Sleipner'' was in Norwegian service throughout [[World War II]], and was kept in service until 1959. ''Gyller'' and ''Odin'' were captured by the Germans in 1940 at [[Kristiansand]]. ''Balder'' and ''Tor'' were captured unfinished at the shipyard and put into German service after completion.

''Gyller'' and ''Odin'' were returned to the Royal Norwegian Navy after the war and kept in service until 1959. Finished by the Germans, ''Balder'' and ''Tor'' were used by them until the end of the war in 1945. Balder was scrapped in 1952, Tor in 1959.

The Germans re-classed the ships as ''[[Torpedoboot Ausland]]'' and renamed them: ''Gyller'' to ''Löwe'', ''Odin'' to ''Panther'',  ''Balder'' to ''Leopard'', and ''Tor'' to ''Tiger''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/captured/torpedoboats/ta/index.html |title=Torpedoboote Ausland |access-date=4 March 2009 |last=Emmerich |first=Michael |work=German Naval History }}</ref>

In 1945 ''Löwe'' was one of the escorts to the ''[[Wilhelm Gustloff (ship)|Wilhelm Gustloff]]'' on her last voyage. The ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' was torpedoed and sank with a great loss of life. During the sinking, ''Löwe'' came alongside and rescued 472 of her passengers and crew.<ref name="Gustloff">{{cite web|title=Sinking |url=http://www.wilhelmgustloff.com/sinking.htm|website=wilhelmgustloff.com|access-date=15 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330021945/http://www.wilhelmgustloff.com/sinking.htm |archive-date=30 March 2015 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>

== Ship list ==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" 
|+ Construction data
! scope="col" | Name
! scope="col" | #
! scope="col" | Laid down
! scope="col" | Launched
! scope="col" | Commissioned
! scope="col" | Decommissioned<ref name="C p379"/>
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
! scope="row" | {{ship|HNoMS|Sleipner|1936|2}}
|120
|{{dts|1934|10|03 |format=dmy |abbr=on}}
|{{dts|1936|05|07 |format=dmy |abbr=on}}<ref>{{csr|register=MSI|id=6110329|shipname=Sleipner |accessdate=10 February 2009}}</ref>
|1936
|1959
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{ship|HNoMS|Æger|1936|2}}
|122
|
|{{dts|1936|08|25 |format=dmy |abbr=on}}<ref>{{csr|register=MSI|id=6110145|shipname=Aeger |accessdate=8 February 2009}}</ref>
|1936
|1940
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{ship|HNoMS|Gyller|1938|2}}
|125
|
|{{dts|1938|07|07 |format=dmy |abbr=on}}<ref>{{csr|register=MSI|id=6110781|shipname=Gyller |accessdate=7 February 2009}}</ref>
|1938
|1959
| renamed ''Löwe'' in German service
|-
! scope="row" | {{ship|HNoMS|Odin|1939|2}}
|126
|
|{{dts|1939|01|24 |format=dmy |abbr=on}}<ref>{{csr|register=MSI|id=6110876|shipname=Odin |accessdate=7 February 2009}}</ref>
|1939
|1959
| renamed ''Panther'' in German service
|-
! scope="row" | {{ship|HNoMS|Tor|1939|2}}
|
|
|{{dts|1939|09|07 |format=dmy |abbr=on}}<ref>{{csr|register=MSI|id=6111500|shipname=Tor |accessdate=4 May 2011}}</ref>
|1940
|1959
| renamed ''Tiger'' in German service
|-
! scope="row" | {{ship|HNoMS|Balder|1939|2}}
|
|
|{{dts|1939|10|11 |format=dmy |abbr=on}}
|1940
|1952
| renamed ''Leopard'' in German service
|}

==Footnotes==
{{notes
| notes = 
{{efn
| name = Conway
| Another source <ref name="C p379"/>  regards these ships as two classes of three; ''Sleipner'', ''Æger'' and ''Gyller'' (the ''Sleipner'' class) and ''Odin'', ''Balder'' and ''Tor'' (the ''Odin'' class). 
}} 
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Literature==
* {{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 |title=Jageren Sleipner i Romsdalsfjord sjøforsvarsdistrikt april 1940 |editor-last=Sivertsen |editor-first=Svein Carl  |year=1999 |publisher=Sjømilitære Samfund ved Norsk Tidsskrift for Sjøvesen |location=Hundvåg |language=no}}

{{Commons category|Sleipner class destroyer}}

{{Sleipner-class destroyer|state=expanded}}
{{Norwegian destroyers}}

[[Category:Destroyer classes]]
[[Category:Sleipner-class destroyers| ]]