Sleipner-class corvette

KNM Sleipner (F310) and KNM Aeger (F311) at Amsterdam.
Class overview
Name	Sleipner class
Operators	Royal Norwegian Navy
Built	1963–1965
In commission	1965–1992
Planned	5
Completed	2
Scrapped	1
General characteristics [1]
Type	Corvette
Displacement	600 long tons (610 t) standard 790 long tons (803 t) full load
Length	69.33 m (227 ft 6 in)
Beam	7.90 m (25 ft 11 in)
Draught	2.50 m (8 ft 2 in)
Propulsion	4 × MTU diesels totalling 9,000 bhp (6,711 kW)
Speed	20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	61
Sensors and processing systems	Decca TM 1226 surface search radar Decca 202 navigation radar Phillips TVT-300 optronic fire control systems Thomson-CSF Spheron hull sonar
Armament	1 × Mark 34 76 mm (3 in) anti-aircraft gun 1 × 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun 1 × Kongsberg Terne III MK 8 6-tube rocket-thrown depth charge launcher 6 × Mark 32 324 mm (12.8 in) torpedo tubes in triple mountings 1 depth charge rack (6 depth charges)

The Sleipner class was a series of corvettes ordered as part of the Royal Norwegian Navy's 1960 fleet plan.[1] It was intended to build five ships of the class, but because of economic problems only two were built; Sleipner and Æger.[2]

Development

Sleipner was built by Nylands Mekaniske Verksted, Oslo, and Æger by Aker Mekaniske Verksted, Oslo, and handed over to the Royal Norwegian Navy between 1965 and 1967.[3] The ships were armed with an American 3 in (76.2 mm) gun forward and a Bofors 40 mm gun aft, with a Terne III anti-submarine rocket launcher ahead of the 40 mm gun. The ships were fitted with American SQS-36 sonar.[2]

The ships had their anti-submarine capabilities improved in 1972, when they were fitted with Mark 32 anti-submarine torpedo tubes.[2] The ships were mainly used as training ships in the 1980s, although they did retain a wartime role as coastal escorts.[2][4] They were again modernised between 1988 and 1989, with new sonar and gun fire control systems fitted.[1] They were decommissioned in 1993.[2]

Ship list

Sleipner class

#	Name	Laid down[3]	Launched[3]	Commissioned[3]	Decommissioned[2]
F 310 (originally P 950)	Sleipner	1963	9 November 1963	29 April 1965	1993
F 311 (originally P 951)	Æger	1964	24 September 1965	31 March 1967	1993

See also

• List of Royal Norwegian Navy ships

Citations

1. Prézelin and Baker 1990, p. 403.
2. Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 293.
3. Moore 1985, p. 370.
4. Grove 1990, p. 107.

References

• Gardiner, Roger and Stephen Chumbley. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1995. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
• Grove, Eric J. NATO Major Warships - Europe. London: Tri-Service Press, 1990. ISBN 1-85400-006-3.
• Moore, John. Jane's Fighting Ships 1985–86. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 1985. ISBN 978-0-7106-0814-7.
• Prézelin, Bernard and A.D. Baker. The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1990/91. Annapolis, Maryland, USA, 1990. ISBN 0-87021-250-8.

External links

• Video: KNM Sleipner sunk as a target ship by a Hauk class patrol boat on YouTube