HNoMS Thor (1872)
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HNoMS Thor (known locally as KNM Thor) was a monitor built for the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1871. She was decommissioned in 1918, long after her heavy guns were outdated. She was considered an improvement on the Skorpionen class of monitors, with heavier armour and a wider beam.
The name was a reference to the Norse god Thor. The earlier monitor Mjølner was named after Thor's hammer.
Details
Thor was armed with two heavy rifled muzzleloaders in a revolving turret. She had 7 inches of iron armour on her deck, and her turret was protected by 14 inches of iron armour.
Wreck
After decommissioning in 1918, Thor was intended for scrapping. On March 7, 1919, while being towed to the scrapyard, the ship was caught in a storm that broke the towing cable, stranding Thor on an island outside Verdens Ende in Vestfold. Two crew members were killed in the accident. Thor later sank in shallow water. A salvage operation removed parts of the ship, but the wreck remains largely intact and now lies at a depth of 25 feet southwest of Verdens Ende.
Thor one of only two diveable monitor wrecks in the world, the other being USS Monitor, which lies at about 200 feet about 26 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
References
- Naval History via Flix: KNM Thor, access date January 16, 2006
- Wreck of the monitor KNM Thor , access date January 2, 2007