HNoMS Tor (1939)
| History | |
|---|---|
 Norway
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| Name: | Tor |
| Namesake: | Thor – god of thunder in Norse mythology |
| Builder: |
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| Yard number: | 128 |
| Laid down: | November 1938 |
| Launched: | 7 September 1939 |
| Fate: | Scuttled by own crew to prevent capture by the Germans |
 Nazi Germany
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| Name: | Tiger |
| Namesake: | Panthera tigris |
| Acquired: | 16 April 1940 |
| Commissioned: | 13 June 1940 |
| Fate: | Handed back to Norway after VE Day |
| Service record | |
| Part of: |
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| Commanders: |
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| Operations: | Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany (1940) |
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Norway
|
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| Name: | Tor |
| Acquired: | May 1945 |
| Decommissioned: | 1959 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Class and type: | Sleipner-class destroyer |
| Displacement: | 735 tons |
| Length: | 74.30 m (243.77 ft) |
| Beam: | 7.75 m (25.43 ft) |
| Draught: | 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) |
| Armament: | Not yet fitted when scuttled |
| Notes: | Norwegian data retrieved from |
| General characteristics in German service | |
| Class and type: | none |
| Displacement: | 708 tons |
| Length: | 74.10 m (243.11 ft) |
| Beam: | 7.75 m (25.43 ft) |
| Draught: | 2.82 m (9.25 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Two De Laval geared turbines with two shafts and 12,500 hp |
| Speed: | 30 knots (55.56 km/h) |
| Armament: |
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| Notes: | German service characteristics data retrieved from |
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.
As part of the Norwegian rearmament scheme in the last years leading up to the Second World War, the Royal Norwegian Navy began building a series of new destroyers. The six ships of the Sleipner class were larger than the preceding First World War vintage Draug-class vessels. At some 735 tons the Sleipner-class ships were still much smaller than the destroyers of the major navies of the time. The Royal Norwegian Navy had requested 1,000 ton destroyers, but financial constraints led to the 735-ton Sleipner class being constructed as a compromise. The Sleipner-class design focused on anti-surface and anti-aircraft artillery, and modern anti-submarine equipment. The ships did however suffer from insufficient range and seaworthiness.
The construction of Tor was financed through the extraordinary appropriations to the Norwegian Armed Forces following the outbreak of the Second World War. The funds were intended to improve the armed forces' ability to protect Norwegian neutrality against violations by the warring parties. While all five of her sister ships were constructed at the Royal Norwegian Navy's main naval yard at Karljohansvern in Horten, Tor was built at Fredrikstad Mekaniske Verksted in Fredrikstad. Her keel was laid in November 1938. The penultimate ship of the Sleipner class, she was launched on 7 September 1939.
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