HSwMS Thor (1898)

Design and development

Main article: Oden-class coastal defence ship

Thor was the second member of the , a development of the earlier . Originally ordered to be a lone ship type, proved to be such a success that the Swedish Navy ordered two similar vessels on 5 May 1896 to create a three-ship class of first-class coastal defence ships, or Pansarskeppen, able to take a place in the Swedish battle line. The new ships differed from their predecessor in having improved steel, which allowed a reduction of 200 LT in weight, and thus the addition of two more casemate-mounted 12 cm guns. A hallmark of the improved design was extensive use of electric power, with Thor having 13 electric motors, nearly twice as many as Oden. Despite the differences, the three vessels, including the third ship , are considered members of the same Oden class. As they were named after characters in Norse mythology, the ships are also known as the mythological class.

Thor had an overall length of 86.3 m and measured 84.9 m at the waterline, a beam of 14.77 m and a maximum draught of 5.5 m. Displacement was 3328 LT normal and 3720 LT full load. Power was provided by six marine boilers feeding steam to two sets of triple-expansion steam engines and rated at 5300 ihp driving two shafts, giving a design speed of 15 kn. During sea trials, the vessel exceeded 15.5 kn, and at one point achieved 16.44 kn. Two funnels were fitted. A full load of 280 LT of coal was carried, which gave a design range of 2500 nmi at 10 kn. After reconstruction in 1914 and 1915, coal capacity was expanded to 300 LT, which gave a design range of 2530 nmi at 10 kn. The ship had a complement of 254 officers and ratings. The warship was fitted out to act as a flagship.

Armament consisted of two single 25.4 cm M1894 B guns mounted in turrets on the ship's centreline, one fore and the other aft. Each of the guns weighed 23.9 t. They were manufactured by the French company Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée as the Swedish armament industry was not capable of manufacturing weapons of this calibre at the time, although this changed with the construction of *Thor'''s sister ship *Niord''. The guns could fire a 450 lb shell at a muzzle velocity of 2362 ft/s. The mounting, designated M1894, used electric training and manual elevation. Secondary armament consisted of six Bofors 12 cm guns mounted singularly in casemates amidships. The central gun could traverse 136 degrees, while the outside weapons were limited to 115 degrees. The ship was also armed with a tertiary armament of ten single Bofors 5.7 cm guns, two on the forward bridge, four on the forward superstructure, two on the aft superstructure and two on the aft bridge. Two 25 mm machine guns were carried by the pinnaces and two 8 mm machine guns were mounted on the tops. A single submerged 18 in torpedo tube was mounted in the bow. Four 90 cm searchlights were carried.

The armour was of Harvey steel provided by John Brown & Company of Sheffield. It included a 50 m-long armoured belt that was between 100 and thick and 1.48 m wide. The main armament was protected by barbettes that were 200 mm thick and turrets 190 mm thick with a roof 30 mm thick. The secondary armament sat on barbettes protected by 100 mm thick armour, in this case nickel-steel rather than Harvey steel, the turrets having a face 125 mm thick, sides 60 mm thick and a roof 48 mm thick. The armour on the casemates was 91 mm thick. The conning tower was protected by 190 mm armour and the deck was protected by two layers that had a combined thickness of 49.5 mm thick.

Construction and career

Thor was ordered from the Bergsunds shipyard in Stockholm at a cost of 1,871,000 Swedish krona, and named on 22 August 1896. Laid down in 1896, the ship was launched on 7 March 1898 and commissioned on 29 June 1899. In 1902, vessel was equipped with a bilge keel and in 1906 a 37 mm quick-firing gun was mounted on each of the ship's pinnaces, the machine gun being removed on 16 September 1908. Meanwhile, following a Royal order signed on 16 July 1907, accommodation for training cadets had been added to the superstructure. On 7 August that year, the ship joined a flotilla led by the coastal defence ship on a visit to Portsmouth, which gave the cadets onboard the opportunity to see the naval base. A similar visit took place to Dover on 4 June 1913, this time alongside the torpedo cruiser .

The ship was taken out of the service and rebuilt at Karlskrona between 1914 and 1915. The fighting mast was replaced by a much smaller three-legged mast and the two funnels were replaced by one. The remaining casemate-mounted 5.7 cm guns were removed and those mounted on the superstructure upgraded. The machine guns and torpedo tubes were removed and new boilers installed, which improved performance.

Thor resumed service to provide support to Sweden's neutrality in the First World War. Following a request from the citizens of Åland on 9 February 1918, the vessel was dispatched on 14 February to protect the Swedish citizens on the island, arriving the following day at Eckerö, instigating the Invasion of Åland. Thor was the first Swedish vessel to arrive. With Russian forces in disarray due to Russian Civil War, the Swedish government saw an opportunity to occupy the islands, which the Russians also claimed. However, Germany was also interested in gaining the islands as part of a wider strategy to control the Baltic Sea. A German fleet consisting of the dreadnought battleships and arrived on 5 March and a stand-off ensued, which was resolved peacefully two days later.

This proved to be only action in which Thor participated and, on 16 July 1937, the warship was withdrawn from service. After attempts to find a private yard that wanted to purchase the vessel for scrapping failed, the ship was broken up by the team at Karlskrona in 1942.

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

References

1. (7 August 1907). "Naval and Military Intelligence". [[The Times]].
2. (5 June 1913). "Naval and Military Intelligence". The Times.