HNoMS Svenner (G03)

The S-class destroyer Svenner at Scapa Flow

HNoMS Svenner was a Royal Norwegian Navy destroyer during the Second World War. She was built for the Royal Navy as the S-class destroyer HMS Shark but on completion was lent to the Norwegian Armed Forces in exile. Svenner was sunk off Sword, one of the Allied landing zones in Normandy, at dawn on 6 June 1944 while supporting the British Army Normandy landings. It was the only Allied ship to be sunk by the Kriegsmarine during the morning of the invasion.

Description

Svenner displaced at standard load and at deep load. She had an overall length of , a beam of and a deep draught of . She was powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . Svenner carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave her a range of at . Her complement was 170 officers and ratings.

The ship was armed with four 45-calibre 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark XII guns in dual-purpose mounts. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, Svenner had one twin mount for Bofors 40 mm guns and four twin Oerlikon autocannon. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple mounts for torpedoes. Two depth charge rails and four throwers were fitted for which 70 depth charges were provided.

Construction and career

The ship was launched on 1 June 1943 as the Royal Navy ship HMS Shark (G03), but when she was commissioned in the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1944, she was rechristened HNoMS Svenner, after the Svenner island group in Larvik, Norway. The ship was hit by two torpedoes fired from one of two German torpedo boats, either or of the 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla operating out of Le Havre, that managed to get within firing range. Svenner was the only Allied ship to be sunk by German naval activity on the morning of 6 June. She was struck amidships, exploded, broke in two and sank very quickly. Casualties were 1 British and 32 Norwegian crewmen killed, and 185 (15 wounded) rescued from the crew of 219. The anchor from Svenner was recovered in 2003, and now forms 'The Svenner Memorial' at Sword. The memorial can be found approximately 100 yards on the sea-side of the coast road at Hermanville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France.