On 8 April she patrolled Hustadvika Bay together with the patrol boat Syrian, watching over a fictitious minefield laid there by the British destroyers Hero and Hyperion (Operation Wilfred).[7] She was immediately ordered to join the torpedo boats Trygg and Sild in order to defend the mouth of the Romsdalsfjord against any German attempt at intrusion.
leipner‘s first hostile encounter with the German foe occurred on 12 April. At this date Captain Ullring decided to act on information received on 10 April that two German vessels were making their way down the coast towards the south. The ships were the 1,080-ton merchant Ruhrort of Duisburg[11] and the 420-ton trawler Thüringen.[12][13]
The small Norwegian destroyer cooperated with the torpedo boat HNoMS Trygg in supporting Norwegian and allied forces in the Molde – Åndalsnes area. The ship’s first contact with the Allies was when she took on board the British General Bernard Paget from the cruiser Manchester and brought him ashore at Åndalsnes on 24 April.[20]
As her job included defending the Allied landings in southern Norway and the city of Molde Sleipner was a prime target for the Luftwaffe‘s bombers.
Attacked by bombers in Romsdalsfjord on 20 April, Sleipner shot one German bomber down, which crashed into the sea near the island Sekken, and damaged several others with her Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. Two days later she shot down another bomber, this one crashing at Norvik. The same day she successfully defended a shipload of requisitioned horses from air attacks. In all 48 bombs were dropped on Sleipner that day, the closest landing 20 metres (66 ft) from the ship.
On 25 April Sleipner was continuously attacked by 12 strafing German bombers and hit numerous times, but without injury to the crew.
At 2325hrs on 25 April she sailed west from the port of Åndalsnes and arrived at Lerwick in Shetland at 1900hrs on 26 April. Sleipner completed her repairs at the Tyne on 17 June.[22]For the rest of her war service Sleipner would escort coastal convoys off the east coast of the United Kingdom, escorting 156 convoys
When she had her main guns exchanged for new 4 in. pieces in 1942, three of the old 10 cm guns were sent to the Norwegian garrison in Svalbard for use as coastal artillery, arriving there 16 October 1942. One of the three guns were installed at Hotellneset near Longyearbyen, one at Kapp Heer near Barentsburg and one in Barentsburg proper.
HNoMS Sleipner.stl, 40mm bofors new.stl, HMS 20mm Oerlikon.stl, HNoMS Sleipner twin torpedos.stl, Royal Navy 6 pounder gun.stl, Royal Navy 20mm AA.stl, Royal Navy Lifeboat 1.stl, Royal Navy Lifeboat 2.stl, Sleipner 4in gun.stl
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