HNoMS Viking (1891)

Viking, dressed with flags at Kiel, Germany, during ceremonies marking the opening of the Kiel Canal, June 1895
History
NorwayNorway
Name	Viking
Namesake	The Viking – Norse explorer, warrior, merchant, and pirate of the Viking Age
Builder	Navy Yard, Karljohansvern
Yard number	72
Launched	2 April 1891
Commissioned	1891
Decommissioned	1920
Notes	Served as a hospital ship for the Norwegian Red Cross
General characteristics
Class and type	.1 class gunboat
Displacement	1,181 long tons (1,200 t)
Length	63.5 m (208 ft 4 in)
Beam	9.3 m (30 ft 6 in)
Draught	3.66 m (12 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	Reciprocating steam engine, 2,000 hp (1,491 kW), 2 shafts
Speed	15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement	125
Armament	2 × 12 cm (5 in) guns 4 × 57 mm (2 in) QF guns 4 × 1-pounder 37 mm (1 in) automatic gun 3 × 46 cm (18 in) torpedo tube
Armour	1.5 in (4 cm) deck

HNoMS Viking was a 1. class gunboat built for the Royal Norwegian Navy. Like the other Norwegian gunboats of her era, she carried a heavy armament on a diminutive hull. The vessel was built at the Naval Yard at Horten, and had yard number 72.

Characteristics

Viking was built of steel covered with a cellulose belt. She was 62 m long with a beam of 9.3 m and a normal draft of 3.96 m. She displaced 1,123 tons. Her engines produced 2,000 ihp and drove two propellers.

Viking was not armored, but had a protective deck of 1.5 in (4 cm) thickness.

Viking's main battery initially consisted of two Krupp 15 cm MRK L/40 guns. It also had four 65 mm quick-firing guns and four 37 mm guns. She had three 'carriages' to launch torpedoes.

Service

Viking served with the Royal Norwegian Navy until stricken in 1920. Later she was used as a hospital ship by the Norwegian Red Cross.

References

• Barnes, F.K. (1892), "Tables and plans of British and Foreign Armoured and Unarmoured Ships", The Naval Annual, Griffin & Co. Portsmouth
• Viking (First Class Gunboat, 1891-1920), archived from the original on 22 July 2012
• Naval history via Flix: KNM Viking, retrieved 17 March 2006