HDMS Niels Juel was a coastal defence ship built for the Royal Danish navy between September 1914, launched in 1918 and completed in 1923. Originaly designed to be similar to most danish ships of the time with a mixed battery of 2 larger guns and an array of smaller ones. However due to ww1 construction was slowed and after 1918 a series of decisions were made to add an extra deck and use 150mm guns, thus converting it into a cruiser instead of a monitor.
Unlike most Danish vessels built during the age of steam; Niels Juel would be scuttled by the Danish in 1943, as the German army moved in to sieze the vessel from the Danes due to increasing resistance to occupation. Initially an attempt was made to head for Sweden, however their plans were foiled by the Germans and the ship was attacked by aircraft as it raised steam and began to head out of Isefjord. In the end the ship was damaged to the extent that the only option remaining was to scuttle the ship, with it later being salvaged by the Germans in 1944.
CC AttributionCreative Commons Attribution
Comments