HNoMS Tor (1939)  HNoMS "Tor was a destroyer of the Royal Norwegian Navy that was launched in September 1939. She was under outfitting and testing when Nazi Germany invaded Norway on 9 April 1940. Although scuttled by Norwegian naval personnel to prevent her from being captured by the invading forces, she was soon salvaged by the Germans and put into service with the Kriegsmarine. Under the name Tiger" she served out the war as an escort and training vessel, being recovered by the Norwegians in Denmark after the German capitulation in 1945. After the war she was converted to a frigate and served until 1959. As part of the Norwegian rearmament scheme in the last years leading up to the Second World War, the Royal Norwegian Navy began building a series of new destroyers. The six ships of the "Sleipner" class were larger than the preceding First World War vintage vessels. At some 735 tons the "Sleipner"-class ships were still much smaller than the destroyers of the major navies of the time. The Royal Norwegian Navy had requested 1,000 ton destroyers, but financial constraints led to the 735-ton "Sleipner" class being constructed as a compromise. The "Sleipner"-class design focused on anti-surface and anti-aircraft artillery, and modern anti-submarine equipment. The ships did however suffer from insufficient range and seaworthiness. The construction of "Tor" was financed through the extraordinary appropriations to the Norwegian Armed Forces following the outbreak of the Second World War. The funds were intended to improve the armed forces' ability to protect Norwegian neutrality against violations by the warring parties. While all five of her sister ships were constructed at the Royal Norwegian Navy's main naval yard at Karljohansvern in Horten, "Tor" was built at Fredrikstad Mekaniske Verksted in Fredrikstad. Her keel was laid in November 1938. The penultimate ship of the "Sleipner" class, she was launched on 7 September 1939. The successful launch of "Tor" at Fredrikstad Mekaniske Verksted led member of parliament from the Conservative Party, naval captain Trygve Sverdrup, in a closed meeting of the Parliament of Norway on 11 March 1940, to argue for further "Sleipner"-class ships to be rapidly constructed at the shipyard in order to improve the numbers of the Royal Norwegian Navy.