HNoMS ''Brage'' was a
''Vale''-class Rendel gunboat built for the
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...
at Horten Naval Yard in 1874, with build number 58. She was one of a class of five gunboats - the other ships in the class were
''Vale'',
''Nor'',
''Uller'' and
''Vidar''.
''Brage'' was, in addition to the heavy, muzzle-loading main gun, armed with a small 'Quick Fire' gun and a 37mm
Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon
The Hotchkiss gun can refer to different types of the Hotchkiss arms company starting in the late 19th century. It usually refers to the 1.65-inch (42 mm) light mountain gun. There were also navy (47 mm) and 3-inch (76 mm) ...
(broadly similar to the
Gatling gun
The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling of North Carolina. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon.
The Gatling gun's operatio ...
).
Later ''Brage'', like her sister ships, was rebuilt as a
minelayer
A minelayer is any warship, submarine, military aircraft or land vehicle deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for ins ...
, and she served in this role when the
Germans invaded in 1940. She was captured by German forces after the surrender of Norwegian forces in Southern Norway, and returned to Norway after the war.
Footnotes
External links
Naval history via Flix: ''Vale'' retrieved 27 Feb 2006
Vale-class gunboats
Ships built in Horten
1878 ships
World War II minelayers of Norway
Naval ships of Norway captured by Germany during World War II
Minelayers of the Kriegsmarine
World War II minelayers of Germany
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