HNoMS Bergen (1946)
HNoMS Bergen was a C-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy as HMS Cromwell. She was built by Scotts of Greenock between 1944 and 1946 and initially was to have been called Cretan. She was sold to the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1946 and renamed Bergen. She was scrapped in 1967.
 HMS Cromwell, 1946 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Cromwell (initially Cretan) |
| Builder | Scotts, Greenock |
| Laid down | 24 November 1943 |
| Launched | 6 August 1945 |
| Commissioned | 16 September 1946 |
| Out of service | 1946 |
| Identification | Pennant number: R35 |
| Fate | Sold to the Royal Norwegian Navy |
| History | |
 Norway | |
| Name | Bergen |
| Commissioned | 1946 |
| Identification | Pennant number: D304 |
| Fate | Scrapped 1967 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | C-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 1,710 tons (standard) 2,520 tons (full) |
| Length | 363 ft (111 m) o/a |
| Beam | 35.75 ft (10.90 m) |
| Draught |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 37 knots (69 km/h) |
| Range | 615 tons oil, 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km) at 32 knots (59 km/h) |
| Complement | 186 |
| Armament |
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Operational service
Commissioned too late for service in the Second World War, following sale her pennant number was changed to D304. She was one of four Cr-class destroyers sold to Norway.[1] Unlike many other destroyers of this class, none of the Norwegian ships received any significant upgrades during their operational service.[2]
On the night of 1 November 1965, five crewmen were lost overboard in a gale while Bergen was off Malin Head, County Donegal. An extensive search by Bergen and another Norwegian ship, as well as the Portrush lifeboat and the British survey ship Dalrymple, found one empty life-raft but no sign of the crew.[3]
Bergen continued to serve in the Royal Norwegian Navy until scrapped in 1967.
References
- Marriott, Leo (1989). Royal Navy Destroyers Since 1945. Ian Allan Ltd. p. 67.
- Blackman, Raymond V B (ed.). Jane's Fighting Ships 1963-4. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. p. 194.
- "Nostalgia 1965: Tribute to lifeboat crew after seamen are lost in gale". The News Letter. 3 November 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
Publications
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Marriott, Leo (1989). Royal Navy Destroyers Since 1945. Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 0-7110-1817-0.
- Raven, Alan; Roberts, John (1978). War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes. London: Bivouac Books. ISBN 0-85680-010-4.
- Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
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