Q&A · 22:29-23:00

What a 1913 Norwegian coastal-defense ship might have looked like

A viewer question uses Norway's prewar procurement choices to sketch the likely form and foreign source of a new coastal-defense ship.

Question

What would a Norwegian coastal-defense ship ordered in 1913 probably have looked like, and where would it have been built?

Short answer

Probably a development of Norway's existing coastal-defense ships or the monitor-like designs later taken by Britain, most likely built in a British yard.

Notes

Norway could have developed one of its existing coastal-defense types or ordered something like the designs that later entered Royal Navy service as monitors. The likely alternatives were domestic construction or another British order. A British yard was the more probable choice given Norway's established access to British design and building capacity. The choice shows how a smaller navy could balance local requirements against limited domestic industry.