Battle of Drøbak sound

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Drøbak Sound

Blücher sinking in the Oslo fjord

Date	April 9, 1940
Location	Drøbak Sound, Norway
Result	Norwegian victory

Combatants

Norway

Nazi Germany

Commanders

Birger Eriksen

Oskar Kummetz

Strength

Main Battery:
3 280 mm coastal guns
Kopås Battery:
3 150mm coastal guns
Husvik Battery:
2 57 mm mine barrier protection guns
Torpedo battery:
3 533 mm land based underwater torpedo tubes
Seiersten Battery:
2 Bofors 40 mm L/60
antiaircraft guns
Infantry support:
One company of the
Norwegian Royal Guards
Total crew:
45 officers
293 NCOs and men,
about 60 guardsmen

* 1 heavy cruiser
* 1 pocket battleship
* 1 light cruiser
* 3 torpedo boats
* 8 minesweepers

Casualties

No military casualties, three houses destroyed and two civilian women killed in nearby Drøbak by stray German shells.

* 1 heavy cruiser sunk
* 1 pocket battleship damaged
* 3 Arado Ar 196 lost on Blücher
830+ dead

Oberst (Colonel) Birger Eriksen, the commander of Oscarsborg April 9, 1940

Nazi occupation of Norway
Drøbak Sound – Midtskogen – Narvik – Namsos Operation Archery – Norwegian heavy water sabotage Telavåg – Åndalsnes

The Battle of Drøbak Sound took place in the fjord approaching Oslo on April 9, 1940, the day the German invasion of Norway began. It was the start of the war in Western Europe — and an end to the "Phony War".

The Oscarsborg Fortress engaged a German fleet sailing up the Oslo fjord with the goal to seize the Norwegian capital and capture the Norwegian king and government. At this time, all the aging fort's armament was over 40 years old, leading the Germans to disregard the fortress' defensive value. Both the guns and the torpedo battery worked flawlessly and thus managed to save the Norwegian king and government from being taken captive.

1 Before the Battle
- 1.1 Role and importance of the torpedo battery
2 Sinking the Blücher
3 The remaining ships turn around
4 Surrender
5 Aftermath
6 Sources
7 External links

[edit] Before the Battle

As the political situation was chaotic, the aging 65 year commander, oberst (Colonel) Birger Eriksen had not received any clear orders and was not sure whether the approaching warships were German or Allies. He was however well aware of Norway's position of neutrality, but siding with the British if war broke out. Just before he gave orders to fire he said "Either we will become heroes or we will be court-martialled. Let's just do our duty for our country."

Apart from the officers and NCOs, most of the fort's soldiers were fresh recruits, having only started their national service days previously. The recent influx of 450 fresh recruits was also the reason that the fortress' naval mines were not deployed on April 9, as part of the recruits' training was to lay the mine barrier, a process which was only meant to begin a few days later.

[edit] Role and importance of the torpedo battery

The torpedo battery commander was at at sick leave the time of the German attack so Colonel Eriksen had to call the retired kommandørkaptein (Commander Senior Grade) Andreas Anderssen, who lived in nearby Drøbak, and have him come down to the fortress late at night April 8. Kommandørkaptein Anderssen promptly donned his old uniform and was transported by boat over the fjord to the torpedo battery. Andersen would show himself worthy of the important task of leading the fortress' most lethal weapon system, having first served at the torpedo battery in 1909 he knew the elderly weapons better than anyone else.

Having been constructed 1898-1901 the underground torpedo facility remained one of the few Norwegian defence installations unknown to German military intelligence at the point of the April 9 invasion. The battery had three torpedo tubes and nine torpedoes were stored and ready for use at the battery. Had the invasion force been aware of the existence in the Drøbak sound of this potent weapons system they might have advanced in a more careful manner towards the capital city.

[edit] Sinking the Blücher

The 28-cm Krupp cannon known as Aron

By the commander's own initiative, the order to fire was given 04:21 and two rounds from the 28-cm Krupp guns Moses and Aron engaged the 10,000 tonne German cruiser Blücher at 1,800 metres range. Colonel Eriksen later explained his decision by alluding to the fact that the German naval force already had forced their way past the Oslofjord Fortress' forts and had received both warning shots and live rounds from these more outlying coastal fortifications. As the vessels had continued up the fjord towards the capital, Eriksen was of the opinion that he had the right to consider them enemy warships and to engage them as such.

At 04:21 a.m. April 9, 1940 Oberst Eriksen gave his main battery guns the order to fire at the lead ship of the unknown flotilla forcing its towards Oslo.

By sheer luck, the first 28-cm shell hit the Blücher's forward gunnery control station, effectively disabling the ship's forward guns. The second main battery round hit the aircraft hangar, destroying the ship's Arado Ar 196 reconnaissance seaplanes and igniting aviation fuel and infantry munitions stored on deck. There was only time for the main battery to fire these two rounds, due to their slow reload time. After losing its fire control system the Blücher was rendered unable to effectively respond to the fortress' bombardment. Blucher's main 20,3 cm guns never opened fire.

While fire was raging aboard the Blücher, the secondary Norwegian coastal batteries pelted her with guns ranging in calibre from the two small 57 millimetre pieces at Husvik, designed to protect the fortress' missing naval mine barrier, to the three 15-cm guns of the Kopås battery on the eastern side of the fjord. The larger guns wrought havoc on board the cruiser while the 57-mm guns were successful in suppressing the fire from her light artillery as the Blücher slowly slid past the fortress. All in all thirteen 15-cm rounds and about thirty 57-mm shells hit the German cruiser as it passed the guns of the fortress' secondary batteries. Attempts to control the fires aboard the ship and to rescue the many wounded were also much hindered by the continuous bombardment from the shore.

[edit] The identity of the intruders becomes known

As the now crippled Blücher passed the fortress guns a sudden outburst of voices from the burning cruiser could be heard above the battle noises, the crew and passengers breaking into singing Deutschland, Deutschland über alles. Only at this point did it become clear to the men of the fortress who they were fighting.

[edit] Kommandørkaptein Anderssen launches the torpedoes

After passing the line of fire of the fortress' gun batteries the cruiser was burning and severely damaged, but its captain still had hope of being able to save his ship. At this point, however, the Blücher entered the sights of Kommandørkaptein Anderssen and two of his three torpedo tubes at a range of only 500 meters. The torpedoes the retired officer was aiming at the pride of the Kriegsmarine were 40-year-old Whitehead weapons of Austro-Hungarian manufacture. These torpedoes had been practice-launched well over 200 times before being fired in anger, and no-one was certain if they would function or not. As Kommandørkaptein Anderssen pushed the firing mechanism the weapons showed themselves to work perfectly, first one and then another torpedo raced out of their tube at three meters below the surface towards the ghastly-looking burning warship. The first torpedo hit near the Blücher's forward (Anton) turret, and the second in the engine room, leaving her drifting out of control in the narrow fjord. The third torpedo tube was left loaded in case more ships were to follow close behind Blücher. After firing the two other tubes were reloaded and readied for the next target.

[edit] End of the Blücher

With all engines knocked out by the second torpedo hit, the cruiser anchored near the Askholmene islets to try and fight the ferocious fires raging throughout the vessel. The Blücher's torpedoes were also fired against land to avoid them being brought to explosion by the uncontrolled fires aboard. The crew's struggle would still prove hopeless when the fires reached the midship ammunition hold for the 15-cm guns and a huge gap appeared in the ship's side.

At 06:22 a.m. the Blücher sank bow first into the depths of the Oslofjord, taking hundreds with it below. After the ship had disappeared from the surface large quantities of oil floated up and covered the close to two thousand sailors and soldiers fighting for their lives in the freezing water. This oil rapidly caught fire, killing further hundreds of Germans.

All in all, some 800–1000 Germans died, going down with the ship or burning or freezing to death in the fjord.

The wet and cold survivors of the Blücher were temporarily captured by soldiers from company no. 4 of the Norwegian Royal Guards.

[edit] The remaining ships turn around

While the Blücher had been sunk the remaining naval force destined for Oslo had long since turned around and retreated back down the fjord. Not knowing of the torpedo battery, the commander of the Lützow assumed the flagship had hit mines and at 04:40 decided to turn back and land the invasion forces out of range of Oscarsborg.

Before the force made its escape the fortress had managed to damage the Lützow,the 15-cm guns of the Kopås battery scoring three hits and knocking out the ship's forward ("Anton") 28-cm gun turret. After pulling out of range of the fortress guns the Lützow employed her remaining "Bruno" turret to bombard the defenders from a range of 9-10 kilometers down the fjord. The fortress was also subjected to heavy Luftwaffe bombing later on the same day, to which the fortress could only reply with two 40-mm AA guns, but again without Norwegian casualties. One of the anti-aircraft guns became unserviceable after only 22 rounds; the other gun kept up its fire until 1200 hrs, but to little effect. After a break in the attacks the Luftwaffe bombers returned at 1330 hrs and soon strafed the remaining Norwegian AA gun, forcing the crew to seek shelter in the nearby forrest at around 1400 hrs. In all, the fortress was subjected to around nine hours of air attack.

[edit] Surrender

Although the naval attack on Oslo had been thwarted by the actions of Oscarsborg, the city was seized by forces that was airlifted in to Fornebu Airport. In light of the capture of the capital, and with news of German landings at the village of Son south of Drøbak, Colonel Eriksen decided that further fighting without adequate infantry support was in vain. The fortress was surrendered intact on the morning of April 10.

[edit] Aftermath

The effect of halting the German fleet was huge. On board Blücher were troops specially designated to capture the King, the Norwegian government, the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) and the national gold reserve. The delay made it possible for all these to escape from Oslo. If the King and government had been captured, it is most likely that Norway would have capitulated fairly soon to reach a deal with the German similar to that gained by the Danes. Instead, the Storting was able to convene at Elverum and give the government a wide authorization to continue until a Storting could again assemble. In fact, the Norwegian government was able to continue the defense of Norway until it had to go into exile in London.

[edit] Sources

Fjeld, Odd T. (ed.): "Klar til strid - Kystartilleriet gjennom århundrene", Kystartilleriets Offisersforening, Oslo 1999 ISBN 82-995208-0-0
Dr. Philos. Grimnes, Ole Kristian: "Oscarsborg festning - 9. april 1940", Forsvarets Krigshistoriske Avdeling, 1990
Hauge, Andreas: "Kampene i Norge 1940", Krigshistorisk Forlag AS, Sandefjord 1995