HNoMS Tyr (1887)
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HNoMS ''Tyr'' was a ''Gor''-class Rendel gunboat built for the Royal Norwegian Navy at Karljohansverns Verft Naval Yard in
Horten is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the town of Åsgårdstrand an ...
. She was laid down in 1884 and launched in 1887 with build number 67. ''Tyr'' was one of a class of two gunboats - the other ship in her class being HNoMS ''Gor''. ''Gor'' and ''Tyr'' can be seen as improved ''Vale''-class gunboats, of 290 tons instead of the 250 tons standard for that class. Captured during the German invasion of Norway, she was pressed into service in an attempt to mine Sognefjord. After attacks by Norwegian aircraft and ships she took no further part in the conflict. After the war she was returned briefly to the Royal Norwegian Navy then entered civilian service in a number of roles over the years.


Characteristics

The main gun of the ship was 7.8m meters long, or about a quarter of the length of the whole vessel. In addition she was armed with three revolving guns for closer ranges. Shortly before the First World War, ''Tyr'' was rebuilt as a minelayer. During this rebuild, the heavy gun was replaced with a more modern 12 cm breech-loader, and one of the 37 mm guns was replaced with a more potent 76 mm gun. After the heavy gun and ammunition were removed, she could carry 55 mines. By 1940, two Madsen machine guns had been added for anti-aircraft purposes.


Service


German invasion of Norway


Mining the Bergen approaches

On 9 April 1940, the day of the German invasion of Norway, the commander of
Lerøy Lerøy Seafood Group ASA is a seafood production and distribution company based in Bergen, Norway The company started operation in the 19th century when the fisherman Ole Mikkel Lerøen started selling fish and other seafood on the fish market o ...
guard district, Captain F. Ulstrup, received a message informing him that German warships had forced their way past the small Lerøy Fort on their way towards Bergen. Captain Ulstrup immediately boarded ''Tyr'' and sailed out to
mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...
the Lerøyosen approaches to the south-western Norwegian city. At 0130hrs the Norwegian minelayer began mining the stretch of water between Lerøy island and
Sotra Sotra or Store Sotra is the name of a large island in Øygarden Municipality in Vestland county, Norway, located just west of the city of Bergen. It is part of a pair of islands called 'Sotra' and 'Litlesotra' ('small Sotra') that are part of a ...
, putting out seven mines right before the German invasion flotilla arrived at Lerøyosen. Making good her escape ''Tyr'' placed another sixteen mines in the Vatlestraumen approaches north of Bergen.Berg 1995: 27 Due to a built-in time delay the Lerøyosen mines were not active when the German warships passed over them. However by the time the supply fleet of the German forces in the Bergen area started coming into Lerøyosen late in the evening the mines were ready. The first ship to hit the mines was the 4,297 ton supply ship ''Sao Paulo'', which sank with a great loss of both lives and materiel at 2300hrs, 9 April. As the mine barrier had now been discovered the
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
needed to sweep the Lerøyosen but had no dedicated minesweepers in the area. In an improvised reaction to the mines the invaders sent out the
naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built to ...
s ''Schiff 9'' and ''Cremon'', together with two launches from the depot ship ''Karl Peters''. The improvised minesweeper force entered the mine barrier in the evening of 10 April and began clearing the mines. At 1925hrs ''Schiff 9'' struck a mine and went down in between one and two minutes. At 19.30 hours as ''Cremon'' tried to rescue survivors she too blew up together with one of the two launches. Later on 27 April the 8,500 ton German merchant ship ''Liege'' was sunk by one of the mines. The 4,601 ton German steamer ''Johann Wessels'' was damaged by one of the mines on 5 May 1940. Three days later, on 8 May 1940, the 1,151 ton German-controlled Danish steamer ''Gerda'' hit a mine and sank. All in all the Germans lost three supply ships, two naval trawlers and a launch sunk by mines laid by ''Tyr''.Abelsen 1986: 136


Guarding the southern sea lane

After laying her mines ''Tyr'' resumed guarding the southern sea lane to Bergen and soon met up with German naval forces. Off the island of Skorpo she had a clash with an E-boat, neither vessel being hit. ''Tyr'' then withdrew behind the cover of Forstrøno island, but was chased down by a further three German E-boats. After a brief fight ''Tyr'' drove the enemy ships off, damaging one of the German vessels severely with a 37 mm shell.


Norwegian Campaign


To the Hardangerfjord, change of command

Later in the Norwegian Campaign, on 16 April, ''Tyr'' moved to Uskedal in Ytre Hardangerfjord, where her captain became the commander of the newly created Hardangerfjord naval district. The second-in-command, Sub-Lieutenant K. Sandnæs, took over the minelayer. While in the Hardangerfjord she took part in the Battle of Uskedal in the early hours of 20 April.


Battle of Uskedal

From her anchorage south of Uskedal ''Tyr'' first damaged an E-boat and then, with her 12 cm main gun, put a large hole below the waterline of the armed trawler ''Schiff 18'' forcing her to be beached to avoid sinking. At 05.30 a.m. the battle turned against the Norwegians as another trawler, ''Schiff 221'' landed more troops at Trones which advanced on Uskedal from a new direction. All the while during the battle ''Tyr'' was providing naval gunfire support from her position in the Storsund midway between Uskedal and
Herøysund Herøysund is a village in Kvinnherad municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the southeastern shore of the Hardangerfjorden, about half-way between the villages of Husnes (to the south) and Uskedal (to the north). The ...
, bombarding the Germans with high explosive shells. Even though she came under heavy machine gun fire from German troops, ''Tyr'' helped the Norwegian land forces hold their ground until taken by surprise by the sudden arrival of the German artillery training ship ''Bremse''. Fire from the larger enemy ship forced ''Tyr'' to back out the fight and go to the docks in Uskedal. After a short while at anchor ''Tyr'' was ordered back into the fight to help the torpedo boat ''Stegg'' that was fighting ''Bremse''. Once ''Tyr'' returned to the battle she again gained the attention of the German warship and was forced to take cover in a small bay at Skorpo. As Sub-Lieutenant Sandnæs now considered the battle as hopeless he ordered his crew ashore to rest, also sending small arms and ammunition on land. Sandnæs started preparations to scuttle his ship with explosives, but before he could carry out his intentions two E-boats entered the bay and boarded ''Tyr''. Before long ''Schiff 221'' arrived and took ''Tyr'' in tow. By afternoon ''Tyr'' was on her way back to Bergen with a German crew.


German service


Sognefjord with ''Uller''

In German hands ''Tyr'' was first used together with fellow captured Norwegian minelayer ''Uller'' in a plan by Admiral Otto von Schrader to mine the entrance to the Sognefjord on 30 April. Together the two ships could carry 80 mines and quite effectively block in the Norwegian naval forces in the country's longest fjord. However, the Norwegian forces in the fjord had a very effective system of look-outs and guard ships. Before the two minelayers even had entered Sognefjord they were attacked by two of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service's M.F.11 biplane patrol aircraft. The seaplanes dropped nine bombs at the two minelayers, failing to damage either of the ships but wounding three sailors on ''Uller'' with
shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam ...
. Having escaped damage in this attack the minelayers continued north and started laying mines at the entrance to the Sognefjord. In the early hours of 1 May the Norwegians threw another seaplane attack against the German mining operation. A single Norwegian Heinkel He 115 made two dive bombing attacks on ''Tyr'' and ''Uller'', dropping one 250 kg bomb and four 50 kg bombs on the fiercely resisting ships. None of the bombs were direct hits, but one near miss damaged the side of ''Uller'', causing sea water to flood into her. ''Uller'' had to be beached on Losneøy island and thereafter scuttled by the only slightly damaged ''Tyr''.


Ambush

After scuttling ''Uller'', ''Tyr'' abandoned her mining mission and retreated southwards to Bergen, carrying the crew of ''Uller'' with her. Norwegian scouts were however still following her. Before the minelayer got back to base she was ambushed in the Fålefotsundet narrows between
Hisøya Hisøya or Hisøy (historically: ''Hisøen'') is an island in Agder county, Norway. The island has been part of the municipality of Arendal since 1992. The main village areas on the island are Kolbjørnsvik, His, Slåbervig, and Sandviga. The ...
and the mainland by the crew of a Norwegian guard boat that had been stalking her since leaving the Sognefjord. The crew had taken up positions on both sides of the narrows and opened a harrowing fire on the minelayer as she passed through. As ''Tyr'' was shot up with intense machine gun fire the German crew replied with her 12 cm main gun and
automatic weapon An automatic firearm is an auto-loading firearm that continuously chambers and fires rounds when the trigger mechanism is actuated. The action of an automatic firearm is capable of harvesting the excess energy released from a previous discharge ...
s without hitting any in the ambush force. The fire fight continued until ''Tyr'' had passed through the narrows and got out of range of the Norwegians' light weaponry, making it back to Bergen. ''Tyr'' saw no further service during the Norwegian Campaign. After the Fålefotsundet ambush ''Tyr'' took no further part in the Norwegian Campaign. What the Germans used the minelayer for after that is unknown.


Post war

After the Second World War, ''Tyr'' was returned to the Royal Norwegian Navy, and sold into civilian service. Her first rebuild was in 1946 when she converted to a heavy lift
steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...
. In 1949 she was sold to Br. Wilhelmsen A/S and rebuilt as a car ferry, being renamed ''Bjørn West'' in 1951 and was used as such by different companies for many years. In May 1986 she was rebuilt at Karmøy, this time as a heavy-transport ship. Later she was sold to a
salmon farm The aquaculture of salmonids is the farming and harvesting of salmonids under controlled conditions for both commercial and recreational purposes. Salmonids (particularly salmon and rainbow trout), along with carp, and tilapia are the three most ...
company and as of 2006 was still in existence as a floating storage vessel, at last report entering Eidsvik shipyard in May 2014 for restoration.


Notes


Bibliography

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External links


Fjordvessels
(Photos show Tyr as a car ferry and as a storage vessel)

retrieved 1 March 2006

retrieved 1 March 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyr Naval ships of Norway captured by Germany during World War II Ships built in Horten Gor-class gunboats World War II minelayers of Norway World War II minelayers of Germany 1887 ships Merchant ships of Norway