Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 by Henrik Lunde (the reader ebook .TXT) 📕

the British forces assembling off Narvik.7 The 0044 message read, “German aircraft report the following warships in the Vestfjord near Tranøy on the afternoon of April 12. One large ship with two smokestacks, a smaller ship with one smokestack, four torpedo boats and three destroyers further out.” The 0900 hours message related that an enemy attack on Narvik was expected in the afternoon of April 13. It reported that the battleships Warspite and Repulse, nine destroyers and one aircraft carrier would take part in the attack.

The report from Naval Command West was wrong in only one detail. Repulse did not take part in the attack. Admiral Forbes’ heavy units south of Lofoten consisted at this time of the battleships Rodney and Warspite, the aircraft carrier Furious, and the battle cruisers Repulse and Renown. He had detached a part of the Home Fleet to provide security for the troop transports on their way to Harstad.

There was no longer any doubt in Commander Bey’s mind that a major attack was imminent and he issued the following orders, but apparently failed to insure that they were carried out in a timely manner:

1. All seaworthy destroyers are to be disposed in such a manner that they can surround the lighter British naval forces as was done on April 10.

2. The destroyers that are not seaworthy are to be at battle stations by 1200 hours.

3. Erich Koellner is to proceed immediately to Tårstad (east of Ramnes) and placed in position as a floating battery.

Admiral Forbes ordered Whitworth to carry out the Admiralty orders in the afternoon of April 13 with a force consisting of the battleship Warspite and nine destroyers. Whitworth transferred his flag to Warspite and assembled his force in Vestfjord that morning. The weather was squally but the visibility was good.

The April 13 operation made no attempt at surprise and relied instead on massive force. The passage through Vestfjord took place in full daylight, within easy observation from shore. The aircraft from the carrier were ordered to bomb the coastal fortifications that the British still believed existed in Ofotfjord as well as targets in Narvik harbor.

A reconnaissance aircraft launched from Warspite managed to provide exceptionally good service for the approaching fleet. It not only reported two German destroyers behind a small island near Hamnes but managed to dive-bomb and sink U64 at the mouth of Herjangsfjord with a 100-lb bomb. This was the first sinking of a German submarine by aircraft during World War II. Eight German sailors died in the attack.

The British fleet narrowly escaped what could have been a disaster at the entrance to Ofotfjord. U46, commanded by Lieutenant Herbert Sohler, spotted the British armada as it entered its patrol sector east of Barøy. Sohler had promised Bey on April 11 that the submarines would provide better service to the destroyers in the future and he now had an opportunity to make good on his promise. Sohler managed to slip in behind the British destroyer screen and was in a perfect position to launch torpedoes against Warspite. The range was approximately 700 meters as the giant 32,000-ton battleship appeared in Sohler’s periscope. Warspite had a deep draft and the problem with the depth-seeking mechanism on the German torpedoes was therefore not as crucial as in the case of attacks on destroyers. U46 was ready to launch its deadly salvo of torpedoes when the submarine collided with an underwater ridge. The impact interrupted the firing and forced the submarine to surface. It managed to dive before being spotted. It was not until after the war that the British learned how close they came to possibly losing a battleship.

The German destroyer Erich Koellner, which was capable of a speed of only seven knots and carrying only enough personnel to operate the ship as a floating gun platform, was escorted by Hermann Künne in Ofotfjord on its way to Tårstad when it spotted a British aircraft to its west. The destroyers were still three miles short of their goal. A short time thereafter, Hermann Künne spotted nine British destroyers near Barøy and reported to Commander Bey that the British were entering the fjord.

The German destroyer turned around immediately and headed for Narvik. The British opened fire but the shells fell considerably short of their target. The 1913-vintage Warspite also opened fire with its 15-inch guns, but the slow firing guns were ineffective against a fast moving destroyer steering a zigzag course.

Commander Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs, Erich Koellner’s skipper, realized immediately that it was too late to reach his designated location and decided to take his ship to Djupvik, on the southern shore of the fjord. He picked an excellent flanking position that was hidden in view from the fjord. Schulze-Hinrichs’ intention was to open a surprise barrage against the British destroyers with guns and torpedoes as they passed his position.

Erich Koellner opened fire at a range of only 1,500 meters as the first British destroyer came into view. The British were not surprised since they had been warned about the ambush by Warspite’s reconnaissance aircraft. The German destroyer also fired torpedoes against the British ships but those failed to hit their targets or malfunctioned. Bedouin, Punjabi, and Eskimo had their guns and torpedoes trained to starboard as they rounded the Djupvik Peninsula and concentrated their fire on the lone German ship. Many hits were registered but the Germans continued to fire and it was not until Warspite fired several 15-inch salvos that the enemy was silenced. Erich Koellner sank at 1215 hours after a number of devastating hits. Thirty-one crewmembers were killed and 35 wounded. Norwegian forces captured the survivors.

Hermann Künne had meanwhile continued towards Narvik on a zigzag course at 24 knots. She laid smoke in an effort to shield those German destroyers exiting Narvik harbor to meet the British but the fresh wind quickly removed the smoke. Kohte, seeing the size of the approaching enemy force, must have realized there was little he or his friends could do to save the situation. The German