[39] The leading German officers reached Oslo at 22:00, moving into the Hotel Continental, though without most of the troops intended to occupy the capital. Blücher was ordered by the Kriegsmarine from the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel. [19] Only one gun crew of actual artillerymen was available, and two guns could only be made operational by splitting the real gunners between the two guns and using non-combatant privates to assist the gunners. The ship was intended for long-range overseas service, so the designers placed emphasis on a large cruising radius and capaciou… The occupation forces would then take care of the rest. None of the prisoners were interrogated. She was hit by shells from 15km distance and capsized near Doggersbank. [24] In all, thirteen 15 cm rounds and around thirty 57 mm shells hit the German cruiser as it passed the guns of the fortress' secondary batteries. The invasion included a planned landing of 1,000 troops transported by ship to Oslo. SMS Seydlitz was a battlecruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), built in Hamburg. Emden was commissioned into the fleet in October 1925. Wreck of WW2 Italian destroyer found under the Mediterranean Sea waters, Awesome Drone Footage: P-40 fighter aircraft lifted from the bottom of Kerch Strait - It Was Part of Lend-Lease Agreement, Yes! At 04:21 on 9 April, Eriksen gave the Main Battery guns the order to fire at the lead ship of the unknown flotilla forcing its way towards Oslo. According to Article 181 of the Treaty of Versailles, the treaty that ended World War I, the German Navy was permitted only six light cruisers. Norwegian shore batteries sink the Blucher From a range of approximately 1800 metres the two 11inch (28cm) shells from the Krupps guns that were capable of firing caused massive damage to the Blucher. The remaining ships turned around and landed the German invasion forces out of range of Oscarsborg. German cruiser Blücher sinking in the Oslofjord, originally spearheading the capture of the Norwegian capital and Royal Family. 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WW2live is a division of Yourwhislist E-commerce, S.L. SMS Blücher (wreck) SMS Blücher (wreck) SMS Blücher was the last armored cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine. [1] Design work on the first new light cruiser, ordered as "Ersatz Niobe", began in 1921. Group 5 was tasked with capturing Oslo, the capital of Norway, and transported a force of … In addition Norway’s gold reserves were moved out of reach of the invaders and ultimately shipped to the Allies for Norway’s use during the war. After firing, the two other tubes were reloaded and readied for the next target. The fjord was the scene of a key event in the German invasion of Norway in 1940. [15] Anderssen 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 ageing weapons intimately. [48], The garrison at the main battery and at Håøya were treated separately by the Germans from those captured from the mainland batteries, and were released a week after the battle. [9] The third torpedo launcher was left loaded in case more ships were to follow close behind Blücher. The fortress was surrendered intact on the morning of 10 April. Estimated Wreckposition of German Heavy Cruiser Blücher. Colonel Eriksen, Commander of the Oscarsborg fortress near Drøbak, mainly maintained for historical purposes, sank the German heavy cruiser Blücher in the Drøbak narrows. As the political situation was chaotic, the 64-year-old commander, Oberst (Colonel) Birger Eriksen, had not received any clear orders and had received no notice as to whether the approaching warships were German or Allied. Thus, the Norwegian government was able to continue the defence of Norway until it had evacuated to exile in the United Kingdom on 7 June, with the Norwegian Army laying down their arms on 10 June. [27] After pulling out of range of the fortress guns, Lützow employed her remaining turret "Bruno" to bombard the defenders from a range of 9–10 km (4.9–5.4 nmi; 5.6–6.2 mi) down the fjord. The battle is depicted in the 2016 feature film The King's Choice. U-637 U-boat Wreck Discovery by Famous Shipwrecks Hunter, Amazing discovery! [22] The second 28 cm round hit the base of the forward 20.3 cm (8.0 in) gun turret shortly thereafter, throwing large parts of it into the fjord and igniting further fires on board. The wreck counts as a war-grave, hundreds of sailors and soldiers died on it. It marked the end of the "Phoney War" and the beginning of World War II in Western Europe. The shelling lasted only for five to seven minutes. Her keel was laid on 15 August 1936, under construction number 246. The German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen was one of the German Navy’s largest ships. German Heavy Cruiser Blücher Wreckage Site and Diving (five videos) Hitler’s plan for conquering Norway was simple. [7] In total, some 1,200 of the survivors had made it ashore at Frogn near Drøbak. Article 190 limited new cruiser designs to 6,000 long tons (6,100 t) and prohibited new construction until the vessel to be replaced was at least twenty years old. Tamelander, Michael & Zetterling, Niklas: "Besøket på Oscarsborg festning lørdag 2 september", Oscarsborg Fortress Museum official website, Oscarsborg Museum – history of the fortress, Norwegian Armed Forces website page about the fortress, 50 year anniversary Aftenposten newspaper article on the invasion of Norway, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Drøbak_Sound&oldid=998625963, Battles and operations of World War II involving Norway, Battles of World War II involving Germany, Articles with Norwegian-language sources (no), Articles with dead external links from June 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with German-language sources (de), Articles containing Norwegian-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 6 January 2021, at 07:51. Yourwhislist E-Commerce, S.L. [23], While fire raged aboard Blücher, the secondary Norwegian coastal batteries fired at her with guns ranging in calibre from the two small 57 mm (2.24 in) pieces at Husvik, intended to protect the fortress' missing mine barrier, to the three 15 cm (5.9 in) guns of the Kopås Battery on the eastern side of the fjord. [46] Amongst the bombers that attacked Oscarsborg were twenty-two long-range Junkers Ju 87R "Stuka" dive bombers of Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 under the command of Hauptmann Paul-Werner Hozzel, operating from Kiel-Holtenau airport in northern Germany. Text and photography by Sten Stockmann Hitler’s plan for conquering Norway was simple. The Husvik battery had to be abandoned when Blücher passed in front of it and fired her light AA guns directly down into the positions. Copyright © 2014. [47], Although the German naval attack on Oslo had been thwarted by the actions of Oscarsborg, the city was seized later that day by forces that were airlifted into Fornebu Airport. The WSW 1:700th SMS Blucher is typical of the high quality we’ve come to expect from this German producer. She was the only ship of her class and was the first large warship built in Germany after the end of World War I.She was built at the Reichsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven; her keel was laid down in December 1921 and her completed hull was launched in January 1925. The Kriegsmarine's newest ship at the outbreak of World War II, having been in commission for just over six months, she was sunk by Norwegian shore defences at the Battle of Drøbak Sound on April 9, 1940, the first day of the invasion of Norway (Operation Weserübung). VHF-radio and a skilled and experienced surface-crew is a must. Petersson. Mar 4, 2017 - German heavy cruiser "Blücher", in Oslo Fjord, Norway, on April 9th, 1940, early in the morning A German fleet led by the cruiser Blücher was dispatched up the Oslofjord to begin the German invasion of Norway, with the objective of seizing the Norwegian capital of Oslo and capturing King Haakon VII and his government. [19] Upon giving the command, Eriksen was questioned. [25][26][28][29][30] Later, at 04:35, Oberst Eriksen received a message from the Norwegian minesweeper HNoMS Otra confirming that the intruding ships were German. During the battle, another burning ship was spotted in the distance from Oscarsborg, leading the Norwegian defenders to believe they had sunk another German warship in addition to Blücher. The heavy traffic in the straight is another danger. In one famous incident the German battle cruiser Blücher … One of the 15 cm rounds from Kopås disabled Blücher's steering gear and forced the cruiser's crew to steer her using the engines to avoid running aground. She was built as a response to what German intelligence at the time believed were the specifications of... SMS Blücher was the last armored cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine. The Blücher was the last and arguably the best German armoured cruiser, armed like the new Nassau dreadnoughts. Lützow was assigned to Group 5, alongside the new heavy cruiser Blücher and the light cruiser Emden under the command of Konteradmiral Oskar Kummetz. The guardsmen were supposed to take all the Germans prisoner, but mainly focused on caring for the many wounded and dying. 9th of April 1940. All rights reserved. The kit depicts Blucher subsequent to the fitting of a tripod foremast in 1913, the first German warship to be so fitted. After passing the line of fire of the fortress' gun batteries, the cruiser was burning and severely damaged, but her captain still hoped he would be able to save his ship. Sinking of the German Kreuzer “Blücher” 14-02-2019 The Blücher was the second of five Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruisers of Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine, built after the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles. [35], At 06:22, Blücher sank bow first into the depths of the Oslofjord, first laying over on her port side, then turning upside-down and finally succumbing with her screws the last to disappear below the surface. The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust is pleased to announce that the wreck of SMS Scharnhorst has been located off the Falkland Islands. As Anderssen had overestimated the speed of his target slightly, the first torpedo hit near Blücher's forward turret (nicknamed "Anton"), creating only inconsequential damage. The flawless waterline hull has extensive superstructure detail cast in situ, as well as anchors, chains, and rolled-up torpedo nets. The Germans, on the other hand, lost a powerful heavy cruiser, 650-800 dead, approximately 50 wounded, and around 1000 were taken prisoner. As the force made good its escape, the fortress managed to damage Lützow, the 15 cm guns of the Kopås battery scoring three hits and knocking out the ship's forward 28 cm turret ("Anton"). [34] The crew's struggle ended when, at 05:30,[34] fires reached a midship ammunition hold for the 10.5 cm (4.13 in) Flak guns, blowing a large gap in the ship's side. The fortress' armaments worked flawlessly despite their age, sinking the Blücher in the sound and forcing the German fleet to fall back. [31], The return fire from Blücher was ineffective, with the light artillery mostly pointing too high and the main batteries, 20.3 cm guns, unable to fire due to the damage caused by the second 28 cm round from Oscarsborg's Main Battery. In all, the fortress was subjected to nearly nine hours of air attack, during which time around five hundred bombs—ranging from 50–200 kg (110–440 lb) in size—were dropped on Oscarsborg. [24], 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; Norwegian sources state that the crew broke into singing Deutschland, Deutschland über alles. The fjord was the scene of a key event in the German invasion of Norway in 1940. Because of the influx of 450 fresh recruits, the fortress' naval mines were not deployed on 9 April. 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