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

a much superior enemy force caused what appeared to be a disaster and he saw it as his first duty to salvage what was left. It may be, as stated by Dickens, that Bey assumed his three destroyers were trapped, that he intended to fight it out, but that he wanted the two refueled destroyers in Ballangen Bay, Georg Thiele and Bernd von Arnim, to save themselves by breaking out to the west. Dickens goes on to say that Bey actually signaled these destroyers to break out.

The British destroyers, in the order Hardy, Havock, Hunter, Hotspur, and Hostile, laid smoke as they sped westward at maximum speed. The smoke helped shield the British ships from their three pursuers, but was of little help in meeting the next surprise sprung on Warburton-Lee. When he observed two big warships approaching from the west at high speed, he assumed initially that they were British cruisers coming to his aid. It was only when Commander Wolf turned Georg Thiele to port in order to bring all its armaments to bear on the British, that it became obvious to the officers on Hardy’s bridge that the ships were German.

Georg Thiele, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Max-Eckhart Wolf, and Bernd von Arnim, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Kurt Rechel, were anchored in Ballangen Bay when the British attacked Narvik. They were alerted at the same time as Commander Bey but very dense fog and heavy snowfall kept them from reaching Ofotfjord until 0540 hours. Wolf and Rechel must have ignored Commander Bey’s order to break out as related by Dickens. They turned eastward as soon as they reached the open waters of Ofotfjord, intent on giving battle. They flew large recognition signals to prevent being fired on by other German ships which they assumed were converging on the British from the northeast.

The British were now caught in a pincer between the two German destroyers from Ballangen Bay and the three destroyers from Herjangsfjord. The British were in a precarious position. The number of ships involved was equal, but the German ships were considerably larger and they now had the tactical initiative. Georg Thiele and Bernd von Arnim were closing on the British destroyer column at an effective speed of 60 knots and this left precious little time for decision-making.

The two aggressive German destroyer captains knew that a tragedy had befallen their comrades in Narvik and they were now bent on revenge. By turning to port and opening fire at a range of approximately 4,000 meters, Commander Wolf achieved the classic crossing of the “T” and brought all his guns to bear on Hardy, the lead British destroyer. Warburton-Lee, approaching the German ships head on, could only use his two forward guns and when he finally turned to port to bring the rest of the armament to bear on his opponents, he had lost precious time. The smoke screen prevented the destroyers behind Hardy, with the exception of Havock, from observing what was happening. The three pursuing German destroyers were delayed at this critical moment by the evasive actions they took to avoid the torpedoes and gunfire from their comrades in Narvik. Warburton-Lee’s immediate problem was therefore only the destroyers coming at him from the west and these were not only outnumbered five to two but the British had a gun advantage of 21 to 10. However, the British commander had to assume that the three German destroyers from Herjangsfjord were hot on his heels and that his ships were caught in a vise.

Bernd von Arnim, seeing that Georg Thiele was engaging Hardy, concentrated its efforts on the second destroyer in the British line, Havock. Warburton-Lee signaled his ships at 0555 hours, “Keep on engaging the enemy.” This message took on a legendary quality in the British Navy since it was believed that Captain Warburton-Lee issued this order after he was mortally wounded. However, based on testimony of the only surviving officer on Hardy’s bridge, this message was sent before the ship was hit and was meant as a tactical instruction to the three rearmost destroyers in the British line to keep engaging the German warships coming up from behind.16

Georg Thiele found the range with its fourth salvo. Two shell struck Hardy’s bridge and wheelhouse and other shells destroyed her forward guns. Everyone on the bridge was either killed or wounded. The only officer alive and not mortally wounded on the bridge was Paymaster Lieutenant Geoffrey Stanning, and his leg was shattered. Hardy was out of control, and heading towards the rocky shore at 30 knots. Stanning ordered the helmsman to change course but the wheelhouse was destroyed and there was no one at the helm.

The rest of the British line, not knowing that Hardy was out of control, followed in her wake. Stanning, in an amazing feat of bravery and determination, climbed down the ladder to the wheelhouse despite a shattered leg. Here he found that the helm was partially destroyed, but that it still functioned when he turned what was left of the wheel. He altered course away from the shore, but initially he could not see out of the wheelhouse, overcorrected, and found himself heading towards the enemy. He was able to correct the course and found a seaman who took the wheel while he made the painful climb back to the bridge. He saw two German destroyers off his starboard bow firing rapid salvoes. His first thought was to ram one of his antagonists but then a shell hit the boiler room, sending out billowing columns of steam. The ship was losing power and would soon become a stationary target at the mercy of the enemy. He decided to beach Hardy in order to save the crew. The ship almost came to a stop before reaching shore but she eventually slid gently onto the rocky beach at Virek.

Stanning, who was ineligible for command because of a physical disability, performed a heroic act in bringing the wrecked ship ashore. Nineteen sailors died on the Hardy and