Gunboat rebuilt to floating gun platform

The Hr. Ms. Hefring was built in 1880 in Rotterdam as a river gunboat. The name Hefring is derived from Norse mythology, she was one of the nine daughters of Aegir. The ship served in the defense of inland and coastal waters.

At the outbreak of World War II, the ship was part of the IJsselmeer Flotilla. On May 10th, 1940, the Hefring was deployed as a floating battery on the IJ under commander Lieutenant second class J. den Hartog where it was scuttled by her crew on May 14th to avoid being taken by the Germans.

On September 23rd 1940 the Hefring was refloated on order of the Germans and was put to use by them. It was first deployed as a patrol vessel together with the Tyr from the same class under the name HV12. The ship was already 60 years old when it was rebuilt to a FLAK platform (FLAK was a German type of anti aircraft gun) and became part of the German coastal defense as MFLA 810 in Flushing. On June 17th, 1943 the Hefring was bombed by the RAF and sunk.

The keel was laid on April 15th, 1879, the ship was launched on September 19th, 1879 and commissioned on April 20th, 1880.

Yasrd: Feijenoord Shipyard, Rotterdam

Class: Thor class river gunboats

Propulsion: VCE steam engine, 2 cylindrical boilers, 2 shafts (101 -171 hp)

Armament (1880):

1 x 28 cm cannon
2 x 3.7 cm cannon

Armament (WWII)

1 x 120mm cannon
2 x 37mm Hotchkiss cannon
12.7 mm machine gun

Public Domain

• Mark, Chris (1997).
  Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II.
  pp 43-62.
  De Alk, Alkmaar.
• Traces of War.
  Nederlandse kanonneerboten.
• Traces of War.
  Nederlandse kanonneerboten van de Thor Klasse.