HNoMS Uller (1876)

For other ships with the same name, see HNoMS Uller.

HNoMS Uller was a Vale-class Rendel gunboat constructed for the Royal Norwegian Navy at Karljohansverns Verft Naval Yard in Horten 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.

Vale-class gunboat
History
Norway
Name	Uller
Namesake	Norse god Ullr
Builder	Karljohansverns Verft Naval Yard in Horten
Yard number	55
Laid down	1874
Launched	21 July 1876
Commissioned	1876
Captured	by the Germans on 9 April 1940
Service record
Operations:	Opposing the German invasion of Norway
Nazi Germany
Name	Uller
Acquired	9 April 1940
Fate	Bombed and damaged by Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service Heinkel He 115, then scuttled by Tyr
Service record
Operations:	Norwegian Campaign
General characteristics as built
Class and type	Vale-class Rendel gunboat
Displacement	250 tons
Length	27.3 m (89.57 ft)
Beam	7.9 m (25.92 ft)
Draft	2.2 m (7.22 ft)
Propulsion	Two Compound steam engines with 200 hps
Speed	8 knots (14.82 km/h)
Complement	41 men
Armament	1 × 21 cm (10.5 inch) Armstrong RML gun 1 × 1pdr (cm / inch) QF gun 1 × 1pdr (cm / inch) revolving gun
General characteristics after rebuild
Displacement	250 tons
Length	27.3 m (89.57 ft)
Beam	7.9 m (25.92 ft)
Draft	2.2 m (7.22 ft)
Propulsion	Two Compound steam engines with 200 hps
Speed	8 knots (14.82 km/h)
Complement	31 men
Armament	1 × 12 cm (4.72 inch) gun 3 × 37 mm (1.46 inch) guns 50 mines

Uller was, in addition to the heavy, muzzle-loading main gun, armed with a small Quick Fire gun and a 37mm Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon (broadly similar to the Gatling gun).

Later Uller and her sister ships were rebuilt as minelayers, 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, and was taken by surprise by the German forces.

Sinking

After being pressed into Kriegsmarine service Uller and fellow captured minelayer HNoMS Tyr were mining the entrance to the still Norwegian-held Sognefjorden on 1 May 1940 when they were first bombed unsuccessfully by two Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service 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 of the same unit. In the second attack Uller was hit by a bomb, beached and then scuttled by Tyr.

Bibliography

• Abelsen, Frank (1986). Norwegian naval ships 1939-1945 (in Norwegian and English). Oslo: Sem & Stenersen AS. ISBN 82-7046-050-8.
• Hauge, Andreas (1995). Kampene i Norge 1940 (in Norwegian). Vol. 1. Sandefjord: Krigshistorisk Forlag. ISBN 82-993369-0-2.

External links

• Naval history via Flix: KNM Vale, retrieved 27 Feb 2006 (in English)