HNoMS Sleipner was a 1. class gunboat built for the Royal Norwegian Navy. Like all other Norwegian gunships of her era, she carried a heavy armament on a diminutive hull. The vessel was built at the Naval Yard at Horten, and had yard number 56.
 Sleipner after the rebuild in 1900
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| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small}  Norway | |
| Name | Sleipner |
| Namesake | Sleipnir – the eight-legged steed of Odin |
| Builder | Navy Yard, Karljohansvern |
| Yard number | 56 |
| Laid down | 1 January 1877 |
| Launched | 7 August 1877 |
| Christened | 20 May 1878 |
| Decommissioned | 1935 |
| Out of service | 1 January 1919 |
| Fate | Scrapped in 1935 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | .1 class gunboat |
| Displacement | 720 long tons (732 t) |
| Length | 53.26 m (174 ft 9 in) |
| Draught | 3.35 m (11 ft 0 in) |
| Propulsion | 650 hp (485 kW) Reciprocating steam engines and sails |
| Speed |
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| Complement | 90 |
| Armament |
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Fitout
editSleipner's main weapon was a 26 cm (10-inch) cannon, of the same make and model other navies mounted[1] on battleships. Sleipner also carried an underwater torpedo tube in her bow for firing Whitehead torpedoes, and she was the first vessel in the Royal Norwegian Navy equipped with this weapon.
Rebuild
editIn 1900 Sleipner was rebuilt, and her masts and rigging removed. After her rebuild she was used as a cadet ship (training vessel) until 1915, when she started a new life as a floating barracks. Between 1921 and 1932 Sleipner was used as a floating depot for the fledgling Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service, before she was finally decommissioned and scrapped in 1935.
Notable crew
edit- Elias Aslaksen, served as an officer cadet on board Sleipner in 1908.
Gallery
edit-
Sleipner at the opening ceremony of the Kiel Canal in 1895 -
The crew and cadets aboard Sleipner photographed in 1904
References
edit- ^ GR 10in 26cm 22cal Krupp BL, retrieved 2 March 2006
- Naval history via Flix: KNM Sleiner, retrieved 2 March 2006