HNoMS Gyller (1938)
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HNoMS Gyller was a Sleipner-class destroyer commissioned into the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1938. Along with the other Sleipner-class vessels in commission at that time, she took part in protecting Norwegian neutrality during the Second World War. After initially serving in the far north during the Finno-Soviet Winter War, she was redeployed to Southern Norway, escorting ships through Norwegian territorial waters. When the Germans invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, she was docked at Kristiansand. After taking part in the defence of the port city, she was captured intact by the invading Germans. Renamed Löwe, she sailed with Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for the duration of the war.
Gyller as a frigate in 1953. | |
History | |
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Norway | |
Name | Gyller |
Namesake | Gyller – one of the twelve horses of the Æsir |
Builder | The Royal Norwegian Navy's Karljohansvern shipyard at Horten |
Yard number | 125[1] |
Launched | 7 July 1938[1] |
Commissioned | 1938 |
Fate | Seized by Germany on 9 April 1940 |
Service record | |
Operations: | Opposing the German invasion of Norway |
Nazi Germany | |
Name | Löwe |
Acquired | 11 April 1940 |
Fate | Handed back to Norway after VE Day |
Service record | |
Operations: |
Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany Operation Hannibal |
Norway | |
Name | Gyller |
Commissioned | May 1945 |
Decommissioned | 1959 |
Fate | Sold for scrapping 1959 |
General characteristics as built | |
Class and type | Sleipner-class destroyer |
Displacement | 735 tons[2] |
Length | 74.30 m (243.77 ft) |
Beam | 7.75 m (25.43 ft) |
Draft | 4.15 m (13.62 ft) |
Propulsion | Two De Laval geared turbines with two shafts and 12,500 hp (9,300 kW) |
Speed | 32 knots (59.26 km/h) |
Range | 3,500 nautical miles (6,482.00 km) at 15 knots (27.78 km/h) |
Complement | 75 (10 officers and 65 sailors)[3] |
Armament |
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General characteristics in German service | |
Class and type | Sleipner class |
Displacement | 735 tons[2] |
Length | 74.30 m (243.77 ft) |
Beam | 7.75 m (25.43 ft) |
Draft | 4.15 m (13.62 ft) |
Propulsion | Two De Laval geared turbines with two shafts and 12,500 hp |
Speed | 32 knots (59.26 km/h) |
Range | 3,500 nautical miles (6,482.00 km) at 15 knots (27.78 km/h) |
Complement | 75 (10 officers and 65 sailors)[3] |
Armament |
During her time in German service, she escorted the evacuation ship Wilhelm Gustloff when the latter was torpedoed and sunk by a Soviet submarine with heavy loss of life. Returned to Norway in 1945, she was converted to a frigate in 1948 and sold for scrap in 1959.