HNoMS Axel Thorsen (1810)

Axel Thorsen (1810/1814–1863) was a Norske Kanonskonnert built in Trondheim, and launched on 28 April 1810. She was one of ten such ships built in either Bergen or Trondheim for the Danish-Norwegian navy before the end of the Napoleonic Wars (and English Wars) when Norway became independent of Denmark at the Treaty of Kiel in 1814.

Plan of the schooners Axel Thorsen and Skiøn Valborg
Class overview
NameNorwegian gun-ships (Norske Kanonskonnert)
OperatorsDano- Norwegian Navy
In commission1808–1814
Completed10
Lost2
Retired8 (transferred)
Class overview
NameNorwegian gun-ship (Norske Kanonskonnert)
Operators
  • Norwegian Navy
  • 1815–1844:
  • 1844–1905:
In commission1814–1872
General characteristics
TypeSchooner
Displacement70 tons approx.
Length18.3 meters
Beam5.2 meters
Depth of hold1.8 meters
Complement45–50
Armament2 × 24-pounder guns + 2 × 12-pounder carronades + 4 or 6 × 4-pounder howitzers

Origin of Name

edit

Axel Thorsen is a character in very old Danish folk tales and poetry[1]

Danish Service

edit

Axel Thorsen, along with her sister gunships Nornen and Valkyrien joined Müller's Finmark Squadron in 1810[2]

Norwegian Service

edit

Axel Thorsen was used in fisheries protection until 1839, and commercially thereafter.[3]
In 1864 this ship took part in the Swedish expedition to Spitzbergen led by Baron Nordenskiöld.[3]

Fate

edit

She was lost in the Arctic Ocean off Novaya Zemlya in August 1872.[4]

Citations

edit
  1. ^ Oehlenschläger page 117
  2. ^ "Fra Krigens Tid - Muller". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  3. ^ a b [1] Modelships website
  4. ^ "Shipping Intelligence". Glasgow Herald. No. 10176. Glasgow. 10 August 1872.

References

edit