HNoMS Vale (1874)
HNoMS Vale was a Vale-class Rendel gunboat built for the Royal Norwegian Navy at Karljohansvern Naval Yard in 1874. She was one of a class of five gunboats - the other ships in the class was Brage, Nor, Uller and Vidar.
 Vale-class gunboat | |
| History | |
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| Name: | Vale |
| Namesake: | Váli – son of the god Odin and the giantess Rindr |
| Builder: | Karljohansverns Verft Naval Yard in Horten |
| Yard number: | 54 |
| Launched: | 14 April 1874 |
| Commissioned: | 1874 |
| Captured: | by the Germans in 1940 |
| Service record | |
| Operations: | Norwegian Campaign |
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| Acquired: | 1940 |
| Fate: | Handed back to Norway after VE Day |
| Service record | |
| Operations: | Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany |
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| Name: | Vale |
| Acquired: | 1945 |
| Decommissioned: | 1946 |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Class and type: | Vale-class Rendel gunboat |
| Displacement: | 260 tons |
| Length: | 28 m (91.86 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 220 hp steam engine |
| Speed: | 8.5 knots (15.74 km/h) |
| Complement: | 41 |
| Armament: |
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| General characteristics after rebuild | |
| Displacement: | 260 tons |
| Length: | 28 m (91.86 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 220 hp steam engine |
| Speed: | 8.5 knots (15.74 km/h) |
| Complement: | 31 |
| Armament: |
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Vale was, in addition to the heavy, muzzle-loading main gun, armed with a small 'Quick Fire' gun and a 37mm Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon (broadly similar to the Gatling gun).
Later Vale and her sister ships was rebuilt as mine layers, and she served in this role when the Germans invaded in 1940. During the Norwegian Campaign she served mainly in the Sognefjord. She was captured by German forces after the surrender of Norwegian forces in southern Norway, and returned to Norway after the war.
The vessel was built at the Naval Yard at Horten, and had yard number 54.