HNoMS Kjell
Kjell off the coast of Norway.
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| History | |
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 Norway
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| Name: | Kjell |
| Namesake: | the Eurasian oystercatcher |
| Builder: | The Royal Norwegian Navy Shipyard in Horten |
| Yard number: | 106 |
| Launched: | 12 March 1912 |
| Commissioned: | 1912 |
| Captured: | by the Germans on 11 April 1940 |
 Nazi Germany
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| Name: | KT1 |
| Namesake: | Dragoon |
| Acquired: | 11 April 1940 |
| Renamed: | NK.02 Dragoner after rebuild to minesweeper |
| Fate: | Sunk by RAF de Havilland Mosquitos near off Ryvingen near Mandal, Norway 28 September 1944 |
| Service record | |
| Operations: | Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Class and type: | 2. class |
| Displacement: | 84 tons |
| Length: | 41.1 m (134.84 ft) |
| Beam: | 4.7 m (15.42 ft) |
| Draft: | 2.4 m (7.87 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 1,800 hp triple expansion steam engine |
| Speed: | 25 knots (46.30 km/h) |
| Complement: | 21 men |
| Armament: |
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| Notes: | All the above listed information, unless otherwise noted, was acquired from |
| General characteristics in German service | |
| Class and type: | 2. class |
| Displacement: | 84 tons |
| Length: | 41.1 m (134.84 ft) |
| Beam: | 4.7 m (15.42 ft) |
| Draft: | 2.4 m (7.87 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 1,800 hp triple expansion steam engine |
| Speed: | 25 knots (46.30 km/h) |
| Complement: | 21 men |
| Armament: |
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| Notes: | All the above listed information, unless otherwise noted, was acquired from |
HNoMS Kjell was the final ship of twenty-seven 2nd class torpedo boats built for the Royal Norwegian Navy, launched at the Royal Norwegian Navy's shipyard in Horten on 12 March 1912 with build number 106.Kjell saw more than 32 years of service, the first 28 years in the Royal Norwegian Navy during the First World War and in the interwar period, the last four in the Kriegsmarine, having been captured in the first days of the 1940 Norwegian Campaign. After being rebuilt as a minesweeper by the Germans, she was sunk by Royal Air Force de Havilland Mosquito fighter bombers on 28 September 1944. Divers rediscovered the shipwreck in 2006.
The name Kjell derives from the early-20th century version of the Norwegian word tjeld, meaning the Eurasian oystercatcher.
Kjell was the last of 27 small, cigar shaped pre-First World War torpedo boats built for the Royal Norwegian Navy. The other ships in her post-1905 series were the 1906 Teist (black guillemot) and the 1907 Skarv (cormorant). The series' main armament consisted of two deck-mounted torpedo launchers and one fixed torpedo tube in the bow. While Teist and Skarv were both armed with two 47 mm guns, Kjell was equipped with a single 76 mm main gun. Unlike all the preceding Norwegian torpedo boats the Officers' Mess on board Kjell was located in the bow section, with easy access to the command position in the tower.
The Royal Norwegian Navy mobilized on 2 August 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. With Norway having declared herself a neutral country the torpedo boats were ordered to carry the lion's share of the neutrality protection patrols. This was despite their less than satisfactory seaworthiness in open seas, having been designed for service close to shore and in the many Norwegian fjords. The background for the decision to deploy the torpedo boats as the main Norwegian patrol force was based on the small ships being more economic to operate than the navy's larger vessels in a time of uncertain coal and oil supplies. In one episode during her First World War service Kjell intercepted a British submarine on 2 July 1916. The submarine had violated Norwegian territorial waters off Lindesnes and proceeded to hail and fire upon the 578 ton Norwegian steamer SS Prunelle of Bergen. Although the British submarine managed to dive and make good its escape the neutrality violation had been so well documented that the UK government later issued an apology to its Norwegian counterpart.
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Wikipedia