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

it came on to blow with great force from the northwest, accompanied by rain and snow squalls with prolonged periods of bad visibility. This sudden deterioration in the weather decided me to change my plans, because I felt that the enemy would make little progress and not try to make Vestfjord during the dark, and would probably stand to seaward during the dark hours, so I decided to do the same.

A few observations regarding this appraisal are in order. The British ships had been on a westerly course for about two hours when Admiral Whitworth received the Admiralty order. The Norwegian lighthouses were not extinguished until after 2200 hours, and the order only pertained to those located south of Bergen. Skomvær Lighthouse sends out a powerful beam that should have been visible from the Renown in periods between squalls, and from the destroyers, which passed near the lighthouse to arrive at their rendezvous point. This should have given the British ships a sufficiently accurate fix on their position that positioning themselves at the over 30-mile-wide entrance to the fjord should not have presented an unacceptable navigational hazard. Furthermore, the destroyers obviously had a good fix on their position since they gave the Norwegians an accurate geographic diagram of the minefield they had laid.

Whitworth completely misjudged his opponents and overestimated the difficulties he faced. His reasoning that the Germans would not enter Vestfjord in poor visibility and in a violent storm was dead wrong. The German Naval Staff’s operational order emphasized that the operation was to be carried out despite navigational problems or bad weather. Captain Bonte displayed both skill and determination as he led his destroyers into the dark and dangerous fjord. Admiral Raeder’s proclamation, provided to every naval officer after departure from German harbors, reads:20 “Surprise, speed and quick action are the necessary prerequisites for operational success. I expect all task force commanders and all ship captains to be imbued with an unbreakable will to reach their assigned harbors despite all difficulties that may develop …”

It is doubtful that the British could have intercepted the German fleet before TF 1 was detached for its run up Vestfjord at around 2000 hours, even if Admiral Whitworth had implemented his order immediately upon receipt. After separating from TF 1, the German battleships were on a parallel track with Whitworth’s force, off the British port quarter, possibly 30 miles apart. If Whitworth had turned around, he may have encountered the battleships. The German ships had radar and this gave them a significant advantage in the near zero visibility that prevailed that night.

Admiral Lütjens’ orders, after detaching TF 1, were to draw any major British surface units away from the Norwegian coast but at the same time, he was instructed to avoid a decisive engagement. A British defeat would have been a serious blow to the Allies and would have left the German Navy in control of the northern waters for more than 24 hours, sufficient time for the destroyers in Narvik to refuel, if the tankers showed up, and start their return voyage to Germany.

Admiral Whitworth was notified about 2130 hours that the battle cruiser Repulse and its accompanying ships were on their way to join him. He reported his position to this force at 2200 hours as being 67° 09´ North, 10° 10´ East on a course of 310°. This shows that he was 40 nautical miles further out to sea than he had been at 1715 hours.

The weather in the Norwegian Sea improved somewhat during the night, and Admiral Whitworth finally turned east towards the Norwegian coast at 0240 hours on April 9, almost seven hours after receipt of the Admiralty order. Before long, Whitworth’s force found itself in battle with the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

Battleship Action

Admiral Lütjens detached TF 1 at 2000 hours and started his planned diversion to the north and west. Western Group Command informed him at 2133 hours that two British warships of the Renown class were at sea and that an enemy cruiser and destroyer had been sighted in Vestfjord. He later received several reports about enemy naval forces, one that placed a British force very close to his own position.

Mountainous seas confronted Lütjens’ ships as they started their diversionary run on a course of 290°, and speed was reduced to 7 knots although it was later increased to 12 knots. The German battleships were about 80 nautical miles west-south-west of the Lofoten Islands at 0400 hours on April 9 when they made radar contact with an enemy force 18,500 meters to their west, 280° from their position. Soon, they observed a large enemy warship and the German ships altered their course to north.

On their way to the Vestfjord, the British were actually the first to sight the enemy when their lookout spotted two ships between themselves and the coast at 0337 hours. The early British sighting was probably because the German ships were silhouetted against the dawning eastern horizon. Whitworth reported to the Admiralty that a ship of the Scharnhorst class and a cruiser of the Hipper class confronted him. This left the Admiralty and Forbes guessing as to the location of the other German battleship they knew was at sea.

Whitworth continued on his southeastern course until 0359 hours, and then changed his course to 305° before opening fire with his main armament against Gneisenau and the secondary armament against Scharnhorst. The range was 17,000 meters and the time was 0408 hours. The Germans returned fire three minutes later. The British destroyers also opened fire with their 5-inch guns but they began to fall behind in the heavy sea. Renown also reduced speed in order to use her forward guns. Lütjens had orders to avoid decisive combat if possible and this was apparently the reason he changed course away from the British. In doing so, he placed his ships in a position where they could only use their aft guns.21

Whitworth changed course to northeast at 0418 hours. The German ships were now off