Ålesund-class destroyer

Norway authorised the construction of two destroyers for the Royal Norwegian Navy in the 1938 budget.[1] These were the first modern destroyers ordered by Norway, and were considerably larger than the Sleipner-class torpedo boats which were being built at the time and were Norway's only modern torpedo craft.[2]

The ships were to be 100.0 m (328 ft 1 in) long overall and 95.0 m (311 ft 8 in) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 9.9 m (32 ft 6 in) and a mean draught of 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in). Displacement was 1,220 long tons (1,240 t) standard.[3][4] Three Yarrow water-tube boilers in individual boiler rooms fed steam at 32 atm (470 psi; 3,200 kPa) to two sets of de Laval geared impulse steam turbines, driving two shafts.[1] The machinery was rated at 30,000 shp (22,000 kW), giving a speed of 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph).[3][4] 300 long tons (300 t) of oil could be carried, giving a range of 3,100 nautical miles (5,700 km; 3,600 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).[3]

Armament was planned to be four 120 mm (4.7 in) guns,[lower-alpha 1] with one twin-mount forward and two single-mounts aft.[1][3] Anti-aircraft defences consisted of two Bofors 40 mm L/60 guns,[lower-alpha 2] backed up by two 13 mm machine guns. Two twin 533 mm (21-inch) torpedo tubes were to be fitted.[3][4] Crew was to be 130 officers and other ranks.[3][4]

The two as-yet unnamed destroyers[lower-alpha 3] were laid down in April 1939 at the naval dockyard at Horten,[3] with completion planned for 1943.[1] They were still at an early stage of construction when Germany invaded Norway in April 1940, and were captured when German forces seized Horten.[7] Germany decided to continue construction for the Kriegsmarine, with the names ZN4 and ZN5.[lower-alpha 4] They were renamed TA7 and TA8[lower-alpha 5] in early 1942.[5] An entirely new armament was to fitted, consisting of to be three 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK C/32s on high-angle mounts, two 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 close-in anti-aircraft guns and six 2 cm (0.8 in) C/30 AA guns, with a quadruple mount for 53.3 cm (21 inch) torpedo tubes.[5][6]

Construction of the two ships was delayed by extensive sabotage.[5] TA7 was launched on 29 May 1941, with TA8 not launched until 30 June 1943.[3] It was decided to tow TA7 to Germany for completion, but TA7 was sunk at Horten on 27 September 1944 by a bomb placed in the ship's turbine room, shortly before the ship was due to depart for Germany.[9] TA8 was sunk during a British air raid against Horten on the night of 23/24 February 1945.[5][6][10]

After the end of the war in Europe in 1945, the wreck of TA8 was raised by the Norwegians, who decided to complete the ship with the name Ålesund,[5][6] but work was abandoned in 1950 and the hulk sold for scrap in 1956.[3][4]

• Fock, Harald (1989). Z-Vor!: Internationale Entwicklung und Kriegseinsätze von Zerstörern und Torpedobooten: 1914 bis 1939 (in German). Herford, Germany: Koelers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. ISBN 3-7822-0207-4.
• Freivogel, Z. (2000). Marine Arsenal Band 46: Beute-Zerstörer und -Torpedoboote der Kriegsmarine (in German). Wölfersheim-Berstadt: Pozdun-Pallas Verlag. ISBN 3-7909-0701-4.
• Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger, eds. (1980). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Gröner, Erich (1983). Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815–1945: Band 2: Torpedoboote, Zerstörer, Schnelleboote, Minensuchboote, Minenräumboote (in German). Koblenz, Germany: Bernard & Graefe Verlag. ISBN 3-7637-4801-6.
• Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-117-7.
• Whitley, M.J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.