HNoMS ''Uller'' was a ''Vale''-class

Rendel gunboat Rendel is a surname, and may refer to *Sir Alexander Meadows Rendel (1828–1918), English civil engineer *Alexander Meadows Rendel (Sandy Rendel) (1910–1991) SOE agent *David Rendel (1949–2016), British politician * Emma Rendel (born 1976), S ...

constructed 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 Karljohansverns Verft Naval Yard in

Horten Horten () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Horten (town) ...

in 1874-1876 and had yard build number 55. She was one of a class of five gunboats - the other ships in the class were ''Vale'', ''Brage'', ''Nor'' and ''Vidar''. ''Uller'' 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 ''Uller'' and her sister ships were rebuilt as

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 ...

s, and she served in this role when the Germans invaded 9 April 1940.

The invasion

Capture

When the Germans attacked, ''Uller'' was mining the sea lanes to

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, and was taken by surprise by the German forces.

Sinking

After being pressed into

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi 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 military branch, branche ...

service ''Uller'' and fellow captured minelayer HNoMS ''Tyr'' were mining the entrance to the still Norwegian-held

Sognefjorden The Sognefjord or Sognefjorden (, ), nicknamed the King of the Fjords (), is the longest and deepest fjord in Norway. Located in Vestland county in Western Norway, it stretches inland from the ocean to the small village of Skjolden in the muni ...

on 1 May 1940 when they were first bombed unsuccessfully by two

Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service The Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service () was alongside the Norwegian Army Air Service the forerunner to the modern-day Royal Norwegian Air Force. History The RNNAS was established on 1 June 1912,Official Norwegian Defence Force websiteThe first ...

Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11 maritime reconnaissance aircraft of the Sognefjord Air Group and then attacked again later the same day by a

Heinkel He 115 The Heinkel He 115 was an all-metal twin-engined military seaplane designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. Early on its flying history, the He 115 established several new international records for floatplanes. The He 1 ...

of the same unit. In the second attack ''Uller'' was hit by a bomb, beached and then scuttled by ''Tyr''.

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

Naval history via Flix: KNM Vale
retrieved 27 Feb 2006 Vale-class gunboats Ships built in Horten 1876 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 World War II shipwrecks in the Norwegian Sea Maritime incidents in May 1940 Ships sunk by Norwegian aircraft Ships sunk with no fatalities {{Norway-mil-ship-stub