Editing Royal Norwegian Navy (section)

=== World War II ===
{{See also|Norwegian armed forces in exile#Navy}}
[[World War II]] began for the Royal Norwegian Navy on April 8, 1940, when the [[Germany|German]] [[torpedo boat]] ''Albatross'' attacked the guard ship [[HNoMS Pol III|''Pol III'']]. In the opening hours of the [[Battle of Narvik]], the old coastal defence ships ("panserskip") {{HNoMS|Eidsvold}} and {{HNoMS|Norge}}, both built before 1905 and hopelessly obsolete, attempted to put up a fight against the invading German warships; both were torpedoed and sunk. The German invasion fleet heading for [[Oslo]] was significantly delayed when [[Oscarsborg Fortress]] opened fire with two of its three old 28&nbsp;cm guns, followed by the 15&nbsp;cm guns on Kopås on the eastern side of the [[Drøbak]] strait. The artillery pieces inflicted heavy damage on the German heavy cruiser [[German cruiser Blücher|''Blücher'']], which was subsequently sunk by torpedoes fired from Oscarsborg's land-based torpedo battery. ''Blücher'' sank with over 1,000 casualties among its crew and soldiers aboard. The German invasion fleet – believing ''Blücher'' had struck a mine – retreated south and called for air strikes on the fortress. This delay allowed [[King Haakon VII]] of Norway and the Royal family, as well as the government, to escape capture.

[[File:NorwegianNavyMemorial.jpg|thumb|Memorial to members of the Royal Norwegian Navy, Army and Merchant Marine in [[Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax, Nova Scotia]], Canada, on the flag plaza outside the [[Maritime Museum of the Atlantic]]]] On June 7, 1940, thirteen vessels, five aircraft and 500 men from the Royal Norwegian Navy followed the King to the [[United Kingdom]] and continued the fight from bases there until the war ended. The number of men was steadily increased as Norwegians living abroad, civilian sailors and men escaping from Norway joined the Royal Norwegian Navy. Funds from [[Nortraship]] were used to buy new ships, aircraft and equipment.

Ten ships and 1,000 men from the Royal Norwegian Navy participated in the [[Normandy Invasion]] in 1944.

During the war the navy operated 118 ships, at the end of the war it had 58 ships and 7,500 men in service. They lost 27 ships, 18 fishing boats (of the ''[[Shetland bus]]'') and 933 men in World War II.<ref>{{cite book |title=I skjærgården og på havet – Marinens krig 8. april 1940 – 8. mai 1945 |last=Berg |first=Ole F. |year=1997 |publisher=Marinens krigsveteranforening |location=Oslo |isbn=82-993545-2-8 |page=154 |language= no}}</ref>

The navy had its own [[Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service|air force]] from 1912 to 1944.