As the onset of World War 2 stunned Europe, Adolf Hitler outsmarted the western Allies
by launching a crushing lighting assault on Norway before France and Britain could
claim the Nordic nation and seize the iron mines supplying the Third Reich.
When the Kriegsmarine rushed to the strategic port of Narvik and
the nation’s internal defenses crumbled to pieces at the hands of the Wehrmacht,
the Royal Navy seized the opportunity to ambush the German fleet and destroy it.
Several German and Norwegian ships were destroyed during the spectacular British assault. But soon,
the hunters became the hunted as the Kriegsmarine counterattacked,
forcing the Royal Navy to abandon Narvik and sinking two British destroyers in the process.
The first Battle of Narvik failed to destroy the German fleet and took
one of Britain's most promising naval commanders to the bottom of the sea.
But the German ships now lay weakened and exposed,
giving the Royal Navy a crucial opportunity to obliterate the Kriegsmarine in one fell swoop.
On October 13, three days after the first British assault,
nine British destroyers and one aircraft carrier were led by the ‘Jewel in the
Crown’ of the Royal Navy's fleet, the battleship HMS Warspite, into Narvik.
The defending German vessels were in shambles,
and they woke to the daunting sight of a massive enemy naval wall and a swarm of
seaborne warplanes coming to finish what their countrymen had started…
Now or Never
After threatening to invade Norway for months if the nation didn't cooperate with assisting
Finland and stop supplying Germany, the Allies were beaten to the punch on April 8,
1940, when Hitler launched a devastating, albeit hasty, invasion of the Nordic nation.
Outsmarted but not defeated, the Allies planned to seize the
opportunity to use the superior naval power of the Royal Navy to strike the
Kriegsmarine as the soldiers made the perilous dash from Germany to Narvik.
However, all interception attempts were futile, with the Royal Navy only being
able to destroy a couple of German tankers but never ambushing the cruising warships. As such,
one day after the onset of the invasion, Captain Bernard Warburton-Lee volunteered to
lead an attack on the port itself and surprise the German destroyers while they refueled.
The operation would render mixed results, with the British inflicting heavy damage to ships stationed
at the port and sinking two German destroyers, but being encircled and overwhelmed at the same time,
losing Warburton-Lee and his flagship along with another British destroyer.
Even so, the first Battle Of Narvik had given way to an unignorable opportunity: the British
now knew exactly how many German destroyers were in Narvik and how many were damaged.
With the odds clearly in their favor, the British decided to go all out and send
one of their most potent and imposing capital ships, including HMS Warspite.
The iconic battleship would be escorted by Tribal-class destroyers HMS Bedouin,
Cossack, Punjabi, and Eskimo; five additional destroyers, HMS Kimberley,
Hero, Icarus, Forester, and Foxhound; and the aircraft carrier HMS Furious.
Compared to Captain Bernard Warburton-Lee's previous force of five destroyers, the new
party was a war fleet of significant proportions, and its commander, Vice Admiral William Whitworth,
was determined to obliterate the German Fleet and pave the way for an Allied liberation of Norway…
Decisive Assault
On the small hours of April 13, Whitworth's forces arrived at the Ofotfjord covered
by the morning fog. Like the first assault three days prior, the Germans were entirely
surprised by the daunting British warships emerging over the Horizon.
Mimicking the German's own lightning-fast tactics, the British executed their assault aggressively
and overwhelmingly. Warspite immediately deployed its catapult-launched warplane,
a float-equipped Fairey Swordfish, that wasted no time swooping down
over a German U-boat anchored in the Herjangsfjord near Bjerkvik.
The aircraft engaged the unsuspecting submarine with lethal precision,
dropping several bombs and sinking the vessel in a matter of minutes. The unfortunate U-boat
would become the first German submarine to be sunk by an aircraft during World War 2.
Meanwhile, German sailors scrambled to take their destroyers out to sea
in a desperate defensive effort that lacked the organization and
tactical appraisal the British forces displayed on their attack.
Nevertheless, the German destroyer Erich Koellner took advantage of the chaotic
scene and attempted to flank the Allied forces to deliver a surprise attack.
The endeavor would be futile, as Warspite's swordfish spotted the ship and informed the
British vessels of its position before the German vessel could get close enough to the Allies.
A barrage of torpedoes and gunfire immediately rained down on the German destroyer, turning her
into a burning wreck. The destroyer's commander, Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs, and several sailors were
pulled out from the water and debris by Norwegian sailors and held as prisoners.
Warspite's overwhelming firepower and air support similarly neutralized two
other German destroyers, and it didn't take long for them to be swallowed by the sea.
Identifying her as the most significant threat,
Wolfgang Zenker targeted Warspite and attempted to torpedo her several times,
but faulty torpedoes and the battleship's maneuvers kept her safe from harm.
Bolstered by superior firepower and air support, Warspite and some of her escorts
destroyed three of the eight German destroyers operating off of Narvik.
Fjord Clash
Not everything went smoothly for the British forces. The seaborne aircraft
had a tough time engaging the German destroyers, and they had a modest effect
on the German vessels and their crews. Moreover, two British warplanes would
not make it back to the carrier due to German anti-aircraft fire or mechanical malfunction.
As the British fleet pushed further into the fjord, the five remaining German destroyers
were forced to retreat. They had barely had any time to resupply after the last attack,
and now they found themselves out of ammunition and running their engines on fumes.
The order for retreat, however, arrived too late for German destroyer Hermann Künne,
who stayed behind even when her sister ships fled the scene.
By the time the vessel executed her retreat, she was in hot pursuit by HMS Eskimo.
Incredibly, Eskimo could not land a single hit against Hermann Künne, and
the fugitive destroyer made it all the way to the bay of Trollvika,
where her crew abandoned the ship after rigging her with explosives to scuttle her.
As the last German sailors left the vessel, Eskimo arrived at the site and unleashed two torpedoes.
A large explosion consumed the German ship, and she sank to
the seabed in a matter of minutes. To this date, it is unclear if the blast
was caused by the German explosives or by the British torpedo attacks.
Then, as Eskimo attempted to leave the area, she was ambushed by Georg Thiele and Hans Ludemann.
The two German destroyers were low on ammunition but pummeled Eskimo and
destroyed her bow section in a synchronized assault. The British warship barely escaped.
Back at the port, the German destroyers Diether von Roeder and Erich Giese were
shackled in place. Severe engine problems had forced them to remain docked,
but when the British fleet got within range, they attacked.
The docked destroyers managed to deal considerable damage to Punjabi and Cossack,
but the British forces ultimately sank them before they could inflict any more damage.
Soon, the British fleet gained complete control of the waters around Narvik.
The remaining German destroyers had no fuel or ammunition, and after retreating from the scene,
their crews scuttled the vessels. The only German warship that survived the attack was U-51.
The Outcome
Warspite became an insurmountable obstacle for the German forces in Narvik. The colossal battleship
not only helped sink the eight German destroyers in the area but also inflicted significant
damage to the shore batteries and defense installations the Germans had set up on the coast.
From the very start of the war, the Allies knew the German Navy had limited assets,
especially when compared to the might of the Royal Navy;
after the second Battle of Narvik, close to 50 percent of Germany's entire destroyer force had
been obliterated, dealing an unspeakable blow to German operations in Norway.
In total, the Germans lost one thousand men, eight destroyers, and one submarine.
Two thousand six hundred German sailors survived and made it to the Norwegian shores,
where they quickly formed an improvised marine infantry unit: the Gebirgsmarine.
The unit helped the German Army fight in the ensuing land battles despite
being significantly unprepared to fight in the snow-covered mountains of Norway.
In the grand scheme of things, the destruction of the German
fleet at Narvik highlighted a critical watershed in the Norwegian campaign.
For the remainder of the fighting in the country,
the Allies would enjoy complete air and naval superiority in the region.
Although their subsequent counter-invasion was slow and sometimes chaotic, the Allied
expeditionary force eventually began to make gains in liberating the Nordic nation.
Nevertheless, every effort would be futile, and every gain from the Allies
would be eventually undone. By the summer of 1941, the Wehrmacht had overwhelmed France,
and the defeat of the Allied nation was looming ever closer.
The troops in Norway had to urgently withdraw, and every war effort had to be diverted to the defense
of France. At the end of the day, despite formidable victories like the one attained
during the second Battle of Narvik, Norway was doomed to remain in the hands of Nazi Germany.
Thank you for watching our video! If you enjoyed it, check out the story about the First Battle of
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