A very one-sided naval action during the British evacuation of Norway in World War II, it is noteworthy for a very providential hit by a single torpedo which saved a British convoy and a cruiser transporting the King of Norway to Britain.

                                           Background.

Germany wanted to take over Norway for two reasons. First, to provide bases for German warships and submarines to use in the battle of the Atlantic, and second, because German industry was heavily dependent upon Scandinavian iron ore, most of which was trafficked to Germany via the ice-free port of Narvik. Hence, it was vital for both Germany, as well as England and France, as yet her only foes in the Second World War, since the conquest of Poland, to control the Norwegian coast. Encouraged by reports from Vidkun Quisling, the Norwegian politician, military officer, and pro-German traitor, Hitler decided to invade Norway. His resolve was steeled by the boarding of the German supply ship Altmark, which had been docked in Norwegian waters with British POWs aboard by an armed boarding party from the destroyer HMS Cossack. This incident convinced Hitler that the Allies were more than willing to violate Norwegian neutrality and underscored the importance for the Nazis to take Norway. In this, Hitler was correct, because Winston Churchill, the new prime minister of Britain, had decided to mine Norwegian waters, and thus force the Germans shipments of ore to pass through the international waters of the North Sea instead, which would open them to attack by the Royal Navy. Churchill also planned to take control of Narvik itself. Ostensibly, the justification would be to provide aid for the Finns in the Winter War against Russia, a pretext that vanished after the March 1940 peace settlement between Finland and the Soviet Union. It was not to be a violation of international law because Churchill planned to get the Norwegians permission and cooperation.

 

Beginning on 9th of April 1940, German troops invaded Denmark, to provide a staging area for their Norwegian conquest, and subdued Denmark within four hours.

The same day, the first German troops landed in Oslo, and began Operation Weserubung – the invasion of Norway. The Norwegians were too slow to mobilize and could not withstand the German blows that simultaneously fell on all the strategic areas of their country.

Nevertheless, they put up something up a fight. Torpedo batteries at the ancient fortress of Oscarsbborg on the Oslo fiord, struck and sank the German heavy cruiser Blucher with a large loss of life. This gave the Germans pause, for a short time, and allowed the Norwegian royal family to escape farther north to temporary safety.  to set up a government in exile. The presence of that government in exile would serve to make Quisling’s subsequent puppet government of Norway wholly illegal and illegitimate.

 

The Allies soon arrived to help out the Norwegians and fighting went on for Narvik at both land and sea. The German Navy was seriously mauled during the naval battles, and although Narvik and Central Norway held, Allied and Norwegian control of Southern Norway was lost. But any advantage retained by the allies was given up when on June 3rd, 1940, Allied forces were ordered withdrawn from Narvik because they were needed in France and the Low Countries, which had been invaded in May of 1940.

 

The deteriorating military situation prompted the King of Norway, his crown prince, and his cabinet to embark aboard the British heavy cruiser Devonshire to escape to England and set up a government in exile.

 

 

Fifteen transports were used to embark 24,500 troops from Norway, covered by the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal, two cruisers and five destroyers. Also assisting in the evacuation was a separate force comprising the British aircraft carrier Glorious, (25,000 tons, 48 aircraft, and 16 4.7-inch guns) and the destroyers Ardent and Acasta. Glorious’ mission was to embark land-based aircraft at Narvik and ferry them and their pilots home to Britain.

 

 

The German Response

 

The German navy had not been active recently because they were still licking their wounds after the serious drubbing they had taken earlier in the campaign. But as some of their ships were repaired, the German naval staff began to draw up plans for an attack on British naval forces in the Narvik area. The forces to be deployed were the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, (36,500 tons, 9 11-inch guns in three triple turrets), the heavy cruiser Hipper, (8 8-inch guns), and four destroyers. The force sailed on June 4th from Trondheim, under the command of Admiral Wilhelm Marschall.

Scharnhorst and Gneisenau

By evening on May 6th, they were midway between Norway and Iceland, and Marschall prepared to attack Harstad on the night of the 9th. Marschall was having second thoughts about his orders, however, for he didn’t think he had enough intelligence about the British in the Harstad area to justify risking his battleships. Early on June 7th, German scouting aircraft found and reported a convoy on a westbound course. Figuring the ships of the convoy were empty and had already disembarked their cargoes, the Germans decided to let them alone.

 

Word now reached Marschall that an Allied convoy had been sighted heading west off Andfjorden. Other reports placed heavy warships, including two aircraft carriers, one cruiser, and several destroyers, 45 miles north of Andennes. Conversely, another message placed only a single warship at Harstad.

 

Marschall’s orders were to attack the British naval forces in the Narvik area, but there didn’t seem to be much there, and anyhow, he had harbored doubts about the orders to begin with. He called a council of war aboard his flagship on June 7th, and his officers agreed with him that attacking the Narvik area, based on the scanty intelligence he possessed was not a good idea. The westward movement of the Allied ships indicated a withdrawal of the British, in which the convoys, loaded up with troops, would be especially juicy targets. It was very easy for Marschall to decide to head after the convoys instead, therefore.

 

The morning of the 8th now dawned. Visibility was good, as the Marschall’s ships moved in a line abreast formation heading east-northeast at fifteen knots. An hour and half later, Marschall’s decision was rewarded when a westbound tanker and an escort ship, believed to be a destroyer at first, but actually merely a trawler, came into view. The tanker was the 5,000-ton Oil Pioneer, and the trawler was the Juniper, armed with a single 4-inch gun.

 

Gneisenau opened fire from point blank range and quickly set the Oil Pioneer on fire. But the tanker’s empty tanks gave her the ballast she needed to remain afloat, and it took one of the German destroyers’ torpedoes to put her under. Heavy cruiser Hipper took Juniper under fire and shelled her repeatedly until after the cruiser had expended ninety-seven rounds, the trawler was seen to sink. Juniper’s radio call for help was jammed by Hipper, and it fell to the Germans to pluck 25 survivors from the tanker, and four from the trawler.[1]

 

The German fleet now continued its search on a north-northwesterly course, looking for the convoys. Scharnhorst and Hipper catapulted their reconnaissance floatplanes to hunt for targets.

 

A target was reported to the northeast, and another to the south. Hipper and a destroyer went after the northeast target. There turned out to be two targets, in that direction, however, The 20,000 ton troop transport Orama, carrying 100 German P.O.W.s and the hospital ship Atlantis. In accordance with the Geneva Convention, the Atlantis was left alone[2], while the Hipper opened fire on the Orama and hit her with her second salvo. Listing and burning, the troop transport went down, and Hipper picked up the survivors. Again, the Germans jammed their victim’s wireless, and the British received no radio signals.[3]

 

Meanwhile, the two battleships had looking for the target to the south, and by midday had found nothing. Marchall now abandoned the search and turned north-northwest at 19 knots.

He had decided to go after the two aircraft carriers reported 45 miles north of Andennes.

He detached Hipper and the destroyers to refuel and proceeded on ahead with the two battleships. This decision was a fateful one, and as forthcoming events would prove, not a good one either, but Marschall believed that his presence was now known to the British and that he would not have the luxury of refueling again at sea.

 

Sinking of the Glorious

 

At 3:45 pm, lookouts in the foretop of Scharnhorst reported a masthead ahead. Both battleships went to action stations and increased their speed to 26 knots. The gunnery officer soon reported that the target appeared to be an aircraft carrier, and that it was in sight.

HMS Glorious

Sure enough, the target was the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, escorted by destroyers Ardent and Acasta. Marschall’s intelligence had led him to expect two aircraft carriers, and their escorts. But what he did not know, was that Glorious had split off from the other aircraft carrier and her escorts, because she was short on fuel. Captain Guy Hughes of the Glorious was taken completely by surprise when German mastheads were sighted to the northwest, but the British only sighted the Germans twenty minutes after they themselves were sighted.[4]

 

Despite the fact that Glorious was in a combat area, sailing within range of German aircraft, readiness was extremely lax. They might have been just as well on a peacetime cruise. The carrier was cruising along at 17 knots, and speed could not be increased quickly due to the fact that some of her boilers had not been lit. Both destroyers were on station at each bow, and the carrier was zig-zagging, but the British were far more concerned about U-Boats, then they were about surface threats.[5]

 

To make matters worse, Glorious was not in any condition to conduct combat operations. Her decks her overcrowded with Gloster Gladiators and Hawker Hurricane fighters that had flown on board, and her own complement of bombers was only fifteen. And their pilots were exhausted.

 

Glorious immediately steamed at top speed to the south in an effort to put enough distance between herself and the Germans to range her Swordfish, but it was too late.

At 4:30, the Scharnhorst opened fire at 28,000 yards, well beyond the range of the Glorious’ 4.7-inch guns.

The Germans scored hits quickly. At least two shells ripped through the forward flight deck, demolishing two Swordfish biplanes readied for takeoff, and exploded among the Hurricanes below.[6] This caused a gas fire among the Hurricanes, which consumed them, and prevented any torpedoes from being readied. The carrier’s sprinkler system was turned against the fires, and brought under control, but the shell hole in the flight deck, described as “huge” by her warrant telegraphist, meant that no planes could be launched.

 

The German battleships continued shooting. Geirr Harr records:

 

Hits abaft the engine room started uncontrollable fires and shells penetrating the hull below the waterline resulted in water influx and a serious list to starboard. Shrapnel pierced a boiler casing, causing a temporary drop in steam pressure from two of the boilers. Pressure was restored though and the carrier continued to steam at well over twenty knots…

 

The ship now began to list to starboard. The 4.7.-inch guns remained silent, as the two battleships were still out of range.[7]

Glorious listing and under fire from German battleships

Gneissenau, chugging along at 30 knots, crossed behind Scharnhorst and overtook her, while the latter battleship shifted fire to Ardent. The carrier’s antenna was hit early, and both transmitter compartments below the island were knocked out, rendering the carrier’s communications system out of action. Multiple shells ripped into the island, and at least one hit the bridge, killing or wounding everyone in the island structure, bridge, and in the radio room, including Captain Hughes. The executive officer took command. Another German shell now tore into one of the boiler rooms, and the carrier quickly began to lose speed, circling to port.[8] ‘As the British flattop lost speed, her fate was sealed. Both German battleships positioned themselves on her port and starboard quarters, shelling her at will. But the smoke from the carrier, as well as the British destroyers made it difficult for the Germans to see good enough to shoot, and they ceased fire. But it was too late. The order to abandon ship was given aboard Glorious at 5:20, and twenty minutes later, she sank, settling on an even keel, before slipping under the swells.

 

Sinking of the Destroyers

 

As for the two destroyers, Acasta remained near the carrier to shield her, while Ardent went on the attack.

HMS Ardent

Gneisenau hit her early on with her secondary

HMS Acasta

batteries, but Ardent ducked into her own smokescreen until she regained speed and emerged to fire four torpedoes. The battleships successfully avoided the torpedoes with ease, although one passed near the Scharnhorst. For the next twenty minutes, Ardent ducked back and forth out of her smoke screen, firing her guns and launching her torpedoes at the two battleships, primarily the Scharnhorst, which was nearest of the two. Hit repeatedly, she nevertheless managed to retain her speed and maneuverability. Scharnhorst maneuvered just as well, and dodged all the underwater missiles, though hit by one shell that caused minor damage.  But the Germans had the British tin can figured when she slipped out of the smoke screen to launch her fifth salvo of “fish.” Scharnhorst’s secondary guns plastered the destroyer, and Ardent lost speed, and turned away, burning in several places. Yet her torpedo crews still had fight left; they fired a last “fish” at 5:13 pm, which passed Scharnhorst’s bow a little too close for comfort. But it was the destroyer’s parting shot; she capsized and sank at 5:25 pm. There was only one survivor.[9]

Scharnhorst firing main battery during Operation Juno in action against Glorious

Scharnhorst now shifted her aim to Acasta. The destroyer emerged through her own smoke, passing the sinking Glorious, fired four torpedoes, and was hit by a shell that tore through the forward mess deck. Acasta swung around to port and fired another four torpedoes, just as a shell struck the engine room and stopped the destroyer dead in a cloud of steam. Only the forward guns could shoot now, and the gunners kept firing until the increasing list rendered them unable to do so. Her commander now gave the order to abandon ship, and the destroyer sank by the stern with a heavy starboard list.

 

Torpedo Hit on the Scharnhorst

 

But the brave Acasta had drawn blood. Scharnhorst’s foretop lookouts spotted oncoming torpedo tracks and turned to comb the tracks but could not dodge all four of them. At 5:34 pm, a torpedo crashed into the starboard side, aft, abreast the aft 11-inch turret. The magazines of the turret were penetrated and caught fire and were abandoned. The explosion knocked out the starboard engine and driveshaft. Water gushed in through the enormous hole blown in her hull and flooded the middle engine room. Spreading fires rendered it necessary to flood all aft magazines. Her captain turned starboard to get near the Gneisenau.

 

Harr explains:

 

Scharnhorst was seriously hit and the ship’s speed fell away. In compartments III and IV, storerooms, magazines and fuel bunkers were flooded and a list developed to starboard. Water and fuel oil from ruptured bunkers poured into no.1 turbine room and the center turbine stopped at 18:05. Water was flooding through the main coupling room into the starboard turbine room, but the engine kept running for the time being, in spite of noises from the main thrust bearing of no.3 turbine. The chief engineer ordered the center turbine uncoupled and started pumbing fuel oil to correct the list. No. 1 generator room was without steam and two boilers in no. 1 boiler room had to be shut down. Eventually, the bridge pumps started to have an effect and the levels of flooding started to fall. The chief engineer reported the situation under control. Some 2,500 cubic meters of water had flooded various parts of the aft section, causing the battleship to trim almost three meters down by the stern, but counterflooding had all but eliminated the list. Maximum speed was 26 knots but would drop to about twenty if the bent driveshaft on the starboard turbine seized. Attempts to recouple the driveshatft failed and it eventually did seize about midnight, speed being reduced accordingly. Two petty officers and forty-six men had been killed by the torpedo hit and another three wounded.[10]

 

Due to the considerable damage inflicted upon Scharnhorst, Admiral Marschall had no other choice now but to break off the operation and head back to Trondheim. Scharnhorst needed an escort to nurse her back home, so he couldn’t send Gneisenau on ahead to continue the operation alone. It was now that the providential decision he had made to detach Hipper and the destroyers came back to haunt him. Had they been with him, he could have sent the Scharnhorst back to Trondheim under their guard, and forged on with Gneisenau and Hipper. But that choice was denied him now.

 

This was an enormously providential boon to the Allies, because had the Germans continued on ahead, they would have encountered, as well as a 22-ship convoy, the Devonshire, taking the King of Norway, his family and other government officials to England, as she was only thirty miles away at the time. Indeed, the cruiser picked up a garbled radio transmission requesting rescue aid, sent from Glorious before the carrier sank, but Devonshire’s captain decided not to go to the aid of the sailors. He had over 400 civilian passengers aboard, many of high rank, and did not believe he could hazard them unnecessarily.

Aftermath

Operation Juno turned out to be a German tactical success. At the cost of 50 men killed and one battleship damaged, the Germans sunk five ships, and over killed 1,519 British sailors. Nevertheless, because he had neglected to follow orders, which did not permit deviation from an attack on the Narvik area, rather than chasing after convoys and aircraft carriers, Marschall was sacked and replaced by Admiral Guenther Lutjens.

After emergency repairs at Trondheim, Scharnhorst sailed to Germany, for repairs that lasted six months. Gneissenau tried to sortie from Trondheim, alone, but she was torpedoed by the submarine Clyde and was out of action for six months.

 

And thus, ended Operation Juno, an operation in which the British, while suffering a high cost, had much reason to count their blessings.

Bibliography

 

Geirr Harr The Battle for Norway: April-June 1940 (Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, Pen and Sword Books Ltd.)

 

T.K. Derry The Campaign in Norway (London, England: 1952)

 

 

 

 

            

[1] Geirr Harr The Battle for Norway: April-June 1940 (Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, Pen and Sword Books Ltd)

[2] German observance of the Geneva Convention tended to vary based on the skin color of their foes in accordance with Nazi racial theories. The Germans generally followed the Geneva Convention with regard to the British and Americans due to their Anglo and white descent but deliberately violated it in regard to their Slavic foes in the Soviets, as the Germans had a very low view of those of Slavic descent.

[3] Geirr Harr The Battle for Norway: April-June 1940 (Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, Pen and Sword Books Ltd)

[4] Geirr Harr The Battle for Norway: April-June 1940 (Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, Pen and Sword Books Ltd) p. 632

[5] Geirr Harr The Battle for Norway: April-June 1940 (Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, Pen and Sword Books Ltd.) p. 632

[6] Ibid p. 639

[7] https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/UK-NWE-Norway/UK-NWE-Norway-14.html

[8]   Geirr Harr The Battle for Norway: April-June 1940 (Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, Pen and Sword Books Ltd.)

[9] Ibid p. 646

[10] Ibid pp. 653-654