- HNoMS Draug
The
destroyer HNoMS "Draug", known locally as "Torpedojager Draug" (lit. En.: "torpedo hunter"), was the lead ship of the three-ship Draug class ofdestroyer s built for theRoyal Norwegian Navy in the years 1908-1913. She was built at the Royal Norwegian Navy's shipyard atHorten with build number 103. [Horten municipal archive for local history: [http://www.lokalhistoriskarkiv.no/arkivet/historiske_sider/horten_verft/byggenummer Build numbers at Horten naval yard] no icon] The four-stacked destroyer was kept in service long after she was obsolete, and took part in the defence ofNorway after the German invasion in 1940.Name
She was named after the
Draugr - a sinister, malevolent being of Nordic origin and often connected with mariners and the sea.Reactivation for neutrality protection duties
When the Second World War broke out "T/J Draug" had, as had her sister ships HNoMS "Troll" and HNoMS "Garm", been mothballed for a number of years as part of pre-war savings on the Norwegian military budget. With the outbreak of war the three "Draug" class vessels were reactivated in order to take part in guarding Norwegian neutrality on
September 5 1939 . When the reactivation order came, it took well over a month for workers to find and repair all the cracks and leaks in the ship's steamboiler s and make her seaworthy again. The tiny destroyers of the Draug class were not considered fit for possible combat operations and were only meant to perform escort and guard duties.
="Draug" and the invasion=The beginning of April 1940 saw Draug part of the 2nd Naval District's 1st destroyer division, [ [http://niehorster.orbat.com/022_norway/navy_02.htm Administrative Order of Battle Royal Norwegian Navy] en icon] covering an area roughly the same as the
Vestlandet andTrøndelag regions. She was based in the small south westernport ofHaugesund and carrying out escort missions along the western coast. The day before the invasion, onApril 8 "Draug" escorted the 7,369 ton German merchant vessel "Seattle", [http://www.skovheim.org/located/vagder/seattle/seattle.htm Wreck diving website on the "Seattle"] no icon/en icon] a ship that would be sunk outsideKristiansand the next day, when she got caught in the crossfire between the German invasion fleet and Norwegiancoastal artillery atOdderøya Fort . The crew of the "Seattle" was captured by Norwegian troops and held asPOW s until freed by the advancing invasion force on April 10. As she was finishing her escort mission, "Draug" received orders from the Norwegian Naval Command to return at full speed to Haugesund and refuel her coal stores. When Draug arrived in Haugesund at about 1500 hours, the ships' commander, Captain (laterVice Admiral ) Thore Horve, was told of the German naval advance through Danish waters and of the sinking of the 5,261 ton clandestine German troop transport "Rio de Janeiro" [ [http://chrito.users1.50megs.com/handelsmarine/verlustliste8.htm Losses of the German merchant navy on the "Rio de Janeiro"] de icon] by the Polishsubmarine "Orzeł" outside the southern port ofLillesand .Shortly after receiving this information, Captain Horve had a personal telephone conversation with
Admiral Carsten Tank-Nielsen , the commander of the Royal Norwegian Navy, who told him that he had ordered the navy's ships inBergen to open fire at any and all foreign warships that might try to force their way into that port. The admiral gave him permission to use his own judgment in the coming hours. The conversation left Horve in no doubt that war was coming and he therefore ordered his ship to be made ready for war, guards to be posted and all lights on the ship and in the harbour area to be blacked out.The "Main"
During the night of
April 9 , "Draug" was patrolling and watching shipping in theKarmsund . At about 2 am, Horve was notified that Oslofjord Fortress was engaging an unknown enemy force in theOslofjord , leading to the crew being ordered to full combat stations. At 4 am, an unknown ship, flying no national flag, was observed sailing northwards through the Karmsund. The ship refused to stop after both flares and warning shots had been fired and "Draug" had to give chase and capture the vessel. After leading the unknown ship into Haugesund, its identity was found to be the 7,624 ton German vessel "Main", [ [http://chrito.users1.50megs.com/handelsmarine/verlustliste6.htm Losses of the German merchant navy on the "Main"] de icon] with papers claiming she was carrying a cargo of 7000 tons of coke to Bergen. When "Draug's" second-in-command, lieutenant Østervold, tried to inspect the cargo, however, he was refused by the German captain, all entrances to the cargo hold also being blocked off to make a proper search impossible. In response, the inspecting officer decided to take the ship under arrest and sealed the radio room.Hansen 2005: 63]While Østervold was attempting to inspect the "Main's" cargo, Captain Horve had a telephone conversation with Captain Aarstad at the Navy Command at Marineholmen in Bergen. Aarstad informed him that he had been taken prisoner and could not give Horve any orders. Soon after the conversation, a
Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service M.F. 11patrol bomber seaplane landed in the harbour and its pilot reported that German ships,U-boat s and aircraft were in the area and that the city ofStavanger had most likely been occupied.Horve decided to take the enemy ship as a prize and bring it to a British port. Since "Draug" had almost no
anti-aircraft weapon s to speak of, and the skies were full of enemy aircraft, the destroyer could do little good by remaining where she was. He ignored an order from Naval Command to go to theHardangerfjord and block German naval forces from gaining access to thatfjord . As Horve knew that the Naval Command headquarters in Bergen had been captured by the German invaders, he assumed that the order was false, although it later turned out it was not. When ordered to steer his ship towards Britain, the captain of the "Main" refused, only yielding after the Norwegianwarship fired severalwarning shot s and threatened totorpedo him.To the UK
After the two ships had left Haugesund at about 0900hrs on April 9, they soon came under attack from a Luftwaffe bomber around convert|40|nmi|km off the Norwegian coast. The bombs, aimed at the "Main", missed but the German captain immediately scuttled his vessel and ordered his crew to abandon ship. As the order came very suddenly the evacuation was carried out with some panic, the
boatswain drowning in the process. After picking up the German sailors "Draug" fired eight to ten rounds into the waterline of the scuttled merchantman to ensure that she would sink.Now carrying sixty-seven German
sailor s along as POWs in addition to her own crew of seventy-two, "Draug" sped away towardsSullom Voe in theShetland Islands . By the next morning she was met by three of theRoyal Navy 's "Tribal"-class destroyers. One of the British ships, the HMS "Sikh" followed "Draug" into Sullom Voe, arriving at 1800hrs, where the German POWs were handed over to British authorities. Thereafter Draug sailed toScapa Flow , arriving at 1000hrs on 11 April.Alvsaker, Guttorm: [http://www.nuav.net/draug.html T/J "Draug"] no icon] Hansen 2005: 64]After arriving in the UK, many members of "Draug's" crew were transferred to Royal Navy ships and would serve aboard them during the remainder of the
Norwegian Campaign . [Hansen 2005: 90] "Draug's" second-in-command, Lieutenant Østervold served as a liaison officer aboard the Britishlight cruiser HMS "Manchester" during the April-May 1940 Namsos landings inMid-Norway . [Hansen 2005: 91] TheChief Engineer on board, Kapteinløytnant (Lieutenant) B. M. Frimannslund, was left in command of the ship with 10-20 technical staff remaining to do maintenance work.ervice in Britain
For the rest of her war service, "Draug" escorted coastal
convoy s and provided local defence in the south ofEngland . The "Draug"' s aft 76 mm gun was removed and replaced with a 3" anti-aircraft cannon, and a number of anti-aircraft machine guns were installed.Abelsen 1986: 17]MTB mothership
The first role of the "Draug" in the UK was to serve as
mother ship inPortsmouth for the newest additions to the Royal Norwegian Navy, the twomotor torpedo boat s "MTB 5" and "MTB 6", until 5 August 1940. These two boats had been ordered before the invasion of Norway, but was only handed over in May 1940, well after the German landings.Guard destroyer
During the critical autumn of 1940, when a German invasion of Britain seemed inevitable, the antiquated destroyer was deployed as a "Guard Destroyer" to
Lowestoft Hansen 2005: 93] from 6 August to 27 October 1940 (Pennant No. H.28). In this role, she relatively often used her newly installed anti-aircraft weapons during air raids. "Draug" was the direct target of German bombers twice during this time, but escaped damage.Between November 1940 and early 1941, "Draug" was rearmed, rebuilt and modernised at the
shipyard inGrimsby . Amongst the changes made, her bridge was reconstructed and the fore funnel removed, probably to reduce the weight on the deck.Convoy escort
After the initial invasion scare had passed, the "Draug" spent most of her time up until April 1942 escorting coastal convoys off the coast of
Southern England .Towing mtbs
In addition to her coastal duties, "Draug" also carried out more unusual operations, such as towing Norwegian motor torpedo boats to and from the coast of southern Norway. This greatly increased the range of the small MTBs, thus allowing them to carry out attacks on German-controlled
convoy s in the occupiedhomeland . The first attack made by a Norwegian MTB in Norwegian waters happened on3 October 1941 , when "MTB 56" was towed into position by "Draug" and proceeded to torpedo and sink off Kyrholmen the escorted 3,015 ton Norwegian tanker M/T "Borgny" ofOslo , [Warsailors.com: [http://warsailors.com/homefleet/shipsb2.html#borgny M/T "Borgny"] en icon] [ [http://www.skipsforlis.no/omtalteforlisbok2.asp Norwegian ship loss website] no icon] which had been requisitioned by the Germans and was carrying 3,500 tons ofaviation fuel for the Luftwaffe in Norway. After the successful attack "MTB 56" dodged shells from both the escorts and a coastal battery at Korsneset and met "Draug" the next morning to be towed back toLerwick onShetland . [Berg 1997: 102] [Hansen 2005: 98-99] Fourteen Norwegian sailors died on the "Borgny", which was escorted by two German naval vessels at the time of the attack. [Sivertsen 2001: 213]Depot ship and on loan to the RN
From April 1942 until her decommissioning
5 February 1943 , "Draug" was used as adepot ship inPort Edgar for personnel of the Royal Norwegian Navy.Even though officially decommissioned from the Royal Norwegian Navy, the "Draug" continued serving the allied cause. From 5 February to 2 September, she was on loan to the
Royal Navy for special exercises and trials. The final decommissioning came on 19 November 1943 and she was sold for scrap in 1944.Wartime C.O.s
* Captain T. Horve:
8 April 1940 -3 November 1941
* Lieutenant Frodesen:3 November 1941 -21 March 1942
* Lieutenant H. Øi:21 March 1942 -13 April 1942
* CinC. Port Edgar:13 April 1942 -5 February 1943 Other RNoN ship called "Draug"
From 1956 to 1964, the Royal Norwegian Navy had a
River class frigate called HNoMS "Draug" (ex. HCMS "Penetang").ee also
*
List of World War II ships of less than 1000 tons Footnotes
Bibliography
* Abelsen, Frank: "Norwegian naval ships 1939-1945", Sem & Stenersen AS, Oslo 1986 ISBN 82-7046-050-8 no icon&en icon
* no icon
* no icon
* no iconExternal links
* [http://navalhistory.flixco.info/H/288216x53056/8330/a0.htm Naval History via Flix: KNM Draug] , retrieved
29 January ,2006 en icon
* [http://hem.fyristorg.com/robertm/norge/Norw_navy_ships.html Ships of the Norwegian navy] , retrieved29 January ,2006 en icon
* [http://www.lokalhistoriskarkiv.no/arkivet/historiske_sider/horten_verft/byggenummer Byggenummer ved Horten verft] , retrieved8 February ,2006 no icon
* [http://www.nuav.net/draug.html Torpedojager Draug] , retrieved16 November ,2006 no icon
* [http://www.lillesand-sjomannsforening.no/sjohistorie/skipvisen.php?skipID=1568 Draug KNM Torpedojager] , retrieved2 May ,2007 no icon
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