Royal Norwegian Navy Museum
Encyclopedia
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy is the branch of the Norwegian Defence Force responsible for naval operations. , the RNoN consists of approximately 3,700 personnel and 70 vessels, including 5 heavy frigates, 6 submarines, 14 patrol boats, 4 minesweepers, 4 minehunters, 1 mine detection vessel, 4 support...
. It is located at the former main naval base of Karljohansvern
Karljohansvern
Karjohansvern in Horten was the main base for the Royal Norwegian Navy from 1819 to 1963.It was first called Hortens verft, and later Marinens Hovedværft until King Oscar I named it Carljohansværn værft in 1854...
in Horten
Horten
is a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the villages of Borre, Åsgårdstrand, Skoppum, and Nykirke....
. 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.
The collection
The collection contains several decommissioned ships, much equipment used by the Norwegian, Allied and German navies and ship models, paintings and pictures. In the 1980s the Royal Norwegian Navy Library was transferred to the museum. The library's book collection started in 1805. The Museum and Library have a book collection of about 25,000 volumes. In addition the museum has preserved all of the navy's ship log books from 1814 to today. Parts of the Museum was however destroyed during an allied bombing raid on Horten in February 1945. The museum also preserves ship designs and has an archive of Navy rules and regulations from about 1750 to today, with about 4,500 volumes.
The ships
- HNoMS Alta (M314) — a Sauda class minesweeper still sailing and based in OsloOsloOslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. - HNoMS Blink — a Storm class patrol boatStorm class patrol boatThe Storm class fast patrol boats were a class of 20 vessels built for the Royal Norwegian Navy.In Norwegian these boats were called missilkanonbåter meaning boats with missiles and guns. They were operated by the Coastal Combat Flotilla together with the MTBs, or Missile Torpedo Boats. None of...
. - HNoMS HitraHNoMS HitraThe HNoMS Hitra is a Royal Norwegian Navy submarine chaser that saw action during World War II. She is named after the Norwegian island of Hitra.-Wartime service:...
(ex USN SC‑718) — a "Shetland busShetland busThe Shetland Bus was the nickname of a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Shetland, Scotland, and German-occupied Norway from 1941 until the German occupation ended on 8 May 1945. From mid-1942 the official name of the group was "Norwegian Naval Independent Unit"...
" still sailing and based in BergenBergenBergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
. - HNoMS Narvik (F304) — an Oslo class frigateOslo class frigateThe Oslo class frigate is a Royal Norwegian Navy frigate design, 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.- Construction :All ships were built at the Navy Main Yard in...
. - HNoMS Rap (1873) — the world's first torpedo boatTorpedo boatA torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
. - HNoMS Skrei — a Tjeld class patrol boatTjeld class patrol boatThe Tjeld class were a class of fast patrol boats designed in Norway. They were used as torpedo boats in Norway where this type of vessel were called MTBs or motor torpedo boats . The class was also known as the Nasty class....
. - HNoMS Utstein — a Kobben class submarineKobben class submarineThe Kobben class or Type 207 is a version of the German Type 205 submarine customized for use by the Royal Norwegian Navy.- History :...
.
See also
- Bamse (St. Bernard)Bamse (St. Bernard)Bamse was a St. Bernard that became the heroic mascot of the Free Norwegian Forces during the Second World War...
- WWII naval dog honored at the museum