The Royal Norwegian Navy is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of Norway. As of 2008, the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel and 70 vessels, including 4 heavy frigates, 6 submarines, 14 patrol boats, 4 minesweepers, 4 minehunters, 1 mine detection vessel, 4 support vessels and 2 training vessels. It also includes the Coast Guard.
The Oslo-class frigate is a Royal Norwegian Navy frigate design of the 1960s, based on the US Navy Dealey-class destroyer escorts. The forward hull was customized to suit Norwegian sea conditions better and several sub-systems were European built. Ships of the class operated until 2007, when they were replaced by the Fridtjof Nansen class.
The Ula class is a Norwegian submarine type which was assembled in Germany in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The class, consisting of six vessels, is currently the only submarine type in service with the Royal Norwegian Navy.
Skjold-class corvettes are a class of six light, superfast, stealth missile corvettes in service with the Royal Norwegian Navy. The boats were formerly classed as MTBs but, from 2009, the Royal Norwegian Navy has described them as corvettes (korvett) because their seaworthiness is seen as comparable to corvettes, and because they do not carry torpedoes. They were built at the Umoe Mandal yard. With a maximum speed of 60 knots (110 km/h), the Skjold-class corvettes were the fastest combat ships afloat at the time of their introduction.
The Hauk-class patrol boats were a series of Norwegian fast attack craft. Hauk means hawk in Norwegian. They were ordered in the 1970s and the first boat, Hauk, was commissioned on 17 August 1977. Designed as a development of the Storm and Snøgg classes, by Lieutenant commander Harald Henriksen, the 14 Hauk-class vessels made up the Coastal Combat Flotilla, responsible for protecting the rugged coastline of Norway. The ships were modernized frequently and in their later form were known as "Super-Hauks." The Royal Norwegian Navy deployed four of these warships for anti-terror patrol in the Strait of Gibraltar.
HNoMS Helge Ingstad was a Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate of the Royal Norwegian Navy. The vessel was ordered on 23 June 2000 and constructed by Navantia in Spain. The ship was launched on 23 November 2007 and commissioned on 29 November 2009. Named for Helge Ingstad, a Norwegian explorer, the Fridtjof Nansen class are capable of anti-air, anti-submarine and surface warfare. On 8 November 2018, HNoMS Helge Ingstad was in collision with the tanker Sola TS in Norwegian waters just outside Sture Terminal. Helge Ingstad was severely damaged in the collision and beached. On 13 November 2018, the ship sank where she had run aground and became a constructive total loss.
The Royal Norwegian Navy Museum is a museum documenting the history of the Royal Norwegian Navy. It is located at the former main naval base of Karljohansvern in Horten. The museum was founded by C.F. Klinck on 24 August 1853. The museum is sometimes regarded as the world's first naval museum, as it was the first collection of naval memorabilia open to the public.
German submarine U-735 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II.
HNoMS Rauma was an Otra-class minesweeper built in 1939 for the Royal Norwegian Navy. Captured by the Germans during the 1940 invasion of Norway and renamed Kamerun, she was returned to the Norwegians after the end of the Second World War and recommissioned in 1947. Rauma remained in service until being sold for scrapping in 1963.
Coastal Forces was a division of the Royal Navy established during World War II. It consisted of small coastal defence craft which the Navy designated with names such as: Motor Launch, High Speed Launch, air-sea rescue, Motor Gun Boat and Motor Torpedo Boat. It did not include landing craft, trawlers or purpose-built minesweepers. Other Navies operated equivalent boats, but classified and named them somewhat differently.
HNoMS Sæl was the penultimate vessel of the ten 1. class torpedo boats of the Royal Norwegian Navy. She was built at the Royal Norwegian Navy Shipyard in Horten in 1901, with yard number 85. She was to see close to 40 years service with the Royal Norwegian Navy, taking part in the preparations for war in connection with the dissolution the union with Sweden in 1905, enforcing Norwegian neutrality during the First World War and opposing the German invasion of Norway in 1940. She was lost in battle with Kriegsmarine vessels at Ånuglo in the Hardangerfjord on 18 April 1940.
Odd Isaachsen Willoch was a Norwegian naval officer who commanded one of the two coastal defence ships defending Narvik during the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940.
HNoMS Tor was a Sleipner-class destroyer of the Royal Norwegian Navy that was launched in September 1939. She was under outfitting and testing when Nazi Germany invaded Norway on 9 April 1940. Although scuttled by Norwegian naval personnel to prevent her from being captured by the invading forces, she was soon salvaged by the Germans and put into service with the Kriegsmarine. Under the name Tiger she served out the war as an escort and training vessel, being recovered by the Norwegians in Denmark after the German capitulation in 1945. After the war she was converted to a frigate and served until 1959.
The HNoMS Vigra was a Royal Norwegian Navy submarine chaser that saw action during World War II. She was named after the Norwegian island of Vigra.
The HNoMS Hessa was a Royal Norwegian Navy submarine chaser that saw action during World War II. She was named after the Norwegian island of Hessa.
HMS Buttercup was a Flower-class corvette built for the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War first as part of the Royal Navy Section Belge (RNSB), and then later as part of the Royal Norwegian Navy. Between 1946 and 1957 she served as HNoMS Nordyn. The Norwegian government then sold her and she became the whaler Thoris until she was broken up in 1969.
The Action in the Oslofjord occurred late on 8 April 1940 in World War II. As Kampfgruppe 5 of the German invasion force proceeded towards Oslo, it encountered Norwegian defences in the Oslofjord. During a short exchange that resulted in the first Norwegian casualty of the war, the Germans managed to push through down to Drøbak Sound, where they would face more determined resistance.
HNoMS Maud is a replenishment oiler constructed at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in South Korea. She was built on behalf of the Norwegian Defense Materials Agency Forsvarsmateriell, for service in the Royal Norwegian Navy.
Norway
