After the resistance in South Norway started unravelling she made her way over the North Sea to continue the fight against the Germans from exile.

[8] Captain Ullring had at his disposal to defend the Romsdalsfjord his own ship Sleipner and the torpedo boats Trygg, Sild and Skrei.

[8] Due to the evacuation of the Allied forces in the southern parts of Norway only sixteen days later, on 4 May, this objective did not come to fruition.

At this date Captain Ullring decided to act on information received on 10 April that two German vessels were making their way down the coast towards the south.

As the two ships moved south the local people along their route became anxious that there might be German landing troops hidden on board the vessels and Capt.

[14] As the German ships had anchored up in the bay Stettevika near Skodje the local municipal police officer, Henrik Daae Quale, was contacted to coordinate his actions with those of the Romsdalsfjord Naval District.

These negotiations however failed and as the three Norwegian vessels entered the bay the Skodje militia had surrounded the area to prevent any escape over land.

[14] The search and later inspections revealed that Ruhrort had had vital parts of her machinery removed and was thus useless for the RNoN without major work being carried out.

[16] After the explosive charges had been safely disarmed the trawler was armed with a 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun and put into service as a guard vessel off Molde.

The rest of the Skodje militia had taken up positions in the area around the bay and had been given orders to shoot if anyone tried to resist or escape, but the Germans surrendered without putting up a fight.

After their capture all 34 Germans were searched and put on a requisitioned bus which drove them to the community hall in Skodje where they were to be kept under guard by the militia for the next eighteen days.

The ship's first contact with the Allies was when she took on board the British General Bernard Paget from the cruiser Manchester and brought him ashore at Åndalsnes on 24 April.

[20] As her job included defending the Allied landings in southern Norway and the city of Molde Sleipner was a prime target for the Luftwaffe's bombers.

Between battles Sleipner was anchored up in the Sognefjord and camouflaged with tree branches to avoid detection by the ever-present Luftwaffe.

On 25 April Sleipner was continuously attacked by 12 strafing German bombers and hit numerous times, but without injury to the crew.

Although she probably only shot down two German bombers during her service in the Norwegian campaign contemporary news reports spoke of over a dozen enemy planes brought down by the guns of the small warship.

pieces in 1942, the old armament of three 10 cm guns were sent to the Norwegian garrison in Svalbard for use as coastal artillery, arriving there 16 October 1942.