1940 2nd Naval Battle at Narvik

British Newsreel. April 25, 1940.The Royal Navy considered it imperative, for morale and strategic purposes, to defeat the Germans in Narvik, so Vice Admiral William Whitworth was sent with the battleship HMS Warspite and nine destroyers; four Tribal class (HMS Bedouin, Cossack, Punjabi, Eskimo) and five others (HMS Kimberley, Hero, Icarus, Forester and Foxhound), accompanied by aircraft from the aircraft carrier HMS Furious. These forces arrived in the Ofotfjord on 13 April to find that the eight remaining German destroyers, now under the command of Fregattenkapitän (Commander) Erich Bey, were virtually stranded due to lack of fuel and were short of ammunition.During the opening stages of the battle, a Fairey Swordfish launched from Warspite bombed and sank the German submarine U-64, at anchor in a side-fjord near Bjerkvik. Most of the crew survived and were rescued by German mountain troops. This was the first U-boat to be sunk by an aircraft during the Second World War.In the ensuing battle, three of the German destroyers were sunk by Warspite and her escorts, and the other five were scuttled by their own crews when they ran out of fuel and ammunition. First to go was Erich Koellner which was trying to ambush the Allied forces, but was spotted by Warspite's Swordfish and subsequently torpedoed and shelled by the destroyers and battleship. Then Wolfgang Zenker, Bernd von Arnim, Hans Ludemann and Hermann Künne engaged the British forces, but only managed to lightly damage HMS Bedouin. British aircraft from Furious tried to engage the German destroyers but were unsuccessful; two were lost. Wolfgang Zenker unsuccessfully attempted to torpedo Warspite.Finally, when the German destroyers were low on ammunition, they retreated, except for Hermann Künne, which had not received the order. Hermann Künne was fired upon by the pursuing HMS Eskimo, but she took no hits. Out of ammunition but undamaged, Hermann Künne was scuttled by her crew in Trollvika in the Herjangsfjord. After scuttling the ship, the crew placed demolition depth charges on the ship, attempting to sink her in Trollvika's shallow waters. Eskimo, still in hot pursuit, fired a torpedo which hit Hermann Künne, setting her on fire. Whether the German's own depth charges or the torpedo from Eskimo was the source of explosion, nobody knows [7]. Eskimo was in turn ambushed by Georg Thiele and Hans Ludemann, losing her bow but surviving. Diether von Roeder and Erich Giese, both suffering engine problems, fired upon the British forces while still docked, damaging Punjabi and Cossack, but they were both sunk before they could cause further damage. That was the last German counter-attack and the remaining German destroyers were scuttled soon after. The only German ship which survived within the port area was the submarine U-51.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Naval
• Battle
• Narvik
• April
• 1940
• Royal
• Navy
• RN
• Kriegsmarine
• Norway
• HMS
• Warspite

[Bothrops01]

My father was on the HMS Hunter (H35) when she was sunk in the 1st battle of Narvik on 10th April 1940.

He was one of the lucky ones who was pulled from the water by a german destroyer, he lost a lot of friends that day.

He spent the remaining 4 years of the war in German controlled POW camps, including Marlag and Stallag V111B. He is now 89 and one of three remaining survivors left from the HMS Hunter.

Thanks for posting this video.

[6771944]

Good video which shows the only bright spot in the British Norwegian campaign.

[phillip4644]

I guess Chamberlain's goverment fell after this fiasco.

[ijolite]

The 5-gun salvos of the KM destroyers (1:03) opposed the 8 guns of the 4 RN Tribals (0:04). The sailor near 2:33 waves at the flagship(?) from Bedouin’s A mounting, a gun of which had been disabled by a near miss (Dickens, below). This encounter may be when the admiral sent RN destroyers in pursuit of the last 4 KM ships trapped in the narrow Rombaksfjord. Bedouin went in astern, the 4 good guns of her X and Y mountings to the fore. Or is this later?

[ijolite]

@paulabo123 Stray shots like 1:03? HMS Glorious’ survivors on 8 June complained of the same thing, including small arms fire.

A white flag would have settled this. Instead, on the crippled Erich Giese survivors were told they’d done their “soldierly duty” but now cross 1500m of icy water to join the invasion force ashore. Minutes before 1:34 Cossack passed nearby but got abuse not pleas for help (Dickens, below). A dissident officer saved by Foxhound warned of the U-boats.

[paulabo123]

@mickyredmire I think germans were concerned when the brits started firing on soldiers in the water an in lifeboats

[dunjak111]

Ever heard of Erich Topp?

Search for his interview here on goolge.. They failed to sink the warspite with their sub, as the warspite entered the fjord..

[mickyredmire]

German seamen must have been a bit concerned when Warspite steamed into the fiord..

As a Brit, I'm very proud of our maritime history.

[GAMERGUY11001]

my name is narvik im named after a lake, and war.

[jipeess]

@Bothrops01

hi,

my grandad, charles stanley swales, was on the hunter too and taken to the gunnarn pow camp.

sadly he passed away -96,

he probably knew your dad.

i got some photos if you´re interrested,

[Rentaghost76]

stoopid limey fags gettin their asses handed to them as usual, until America shows up to save the day.!

[MrCamion81]

My Grandpa was the Lt. Cmdr on HMS Cossack in this very battle. Amazing.