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.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Cretan and HNoMS Bergen.

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:	10 ft (3.0 m) light 14.5 ft (4.4 m) full
Propulsion:	2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, Parsons geared steam turbines, 40,000 shp (30,000 kW), 2 shafts
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:	4 × QF 4.5 in (114 mm) L/45 guns Mark IV on mounts CP Mk.V 2 × Bofors 40 mm L/60 guns on twin mount "Hazemeyer" Mk.IV 4 × anti-aircraft mountings; Bofors 40 mm, single mount Mk.III QF 2-pdr Mk VIII, single mount Mk.XVI Oerlikon 20 mm, single mount P Mk.III Oerlikon 20 mm, twin mount Mk.V 1 × quadruple tubes for 21 inch (533 mm) torpedoes Mk.IX 4 × depth charge throwers

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, 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

1. Marriott, Leo (1989). Royal Navy Destroyers Since 1945. Ian Allan Ltd. p. 67.
2. Blackman, Raymond V B (ed.). Jane's Fighting Ships 1963-4. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. p. 194.
3. "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.