World War II Minesweepers of Germany - Hnoms Kjell, R Boat, Jan Van Amstel Class Minesweeper (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Not illustrated. Excerpt: HNoMS Kjell was the final ship of twenty-seven 2nd class torpedo boats built for the Royal Norwegian Navy, launched at the Royal Norwegian Navy's shipyard in Horten on 12 March 1912 with build number 106. Kjell saw more than 32 years of service, the first 28 years in the Royal Norwegian Navy during the First World War and in the interwar period, the last four in the Kriegsmarine, having been captured in the first days of the 1940 Norwegian Campaign. After being rebuilt as a minesweeper by the Germans, she was sunk by Royal Air Force de Havilland Mosquito fighter bombers on 28 September 1944. Divers rediscovered the shipwreck in 2006. The name Kjell derives from the early-20th century version of the Norwegian word tjeld, meaning the Eurasian Oystercatcher. Kjell was the last of 27 small, cigar shaped pre-First World War torpedo boats built for the Royal Norwegian Navy. The other ships in her post-1905 series were the 1906 Teist (Black Guillemot) and the 1907 Skarv (Cormorant). The series' main armament consisted of two deck-mounted torpedo launchers and one fixed torpedo tube in the bow. While Teist and Skarv were both armed with two 47 mm guns, Kjell was equipped with a single 76 mm main gun. Unlike all the preceding Norwegian torpedo boats the Officers' Mess on board Kjell was located in the bow section, with easy access to the command position in the tower. The Royal Norwegian Navy mobilized on 2 August 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. With Norway having declared herself a neutral country the torpedo boats were ordered to carry the lion's share of the neutrality protection patrols. This was despite their less than satisfactory seaworthiness in open seas, having been designed for service close to sho... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=4877875