Animation of the sinking of the heavy cruiser Blücher during the German invasion of Norway ( Operation Weserübung ) The ship was lost in the Oslofjord , after she was hit by artillery shells fired from Oscarsborg fortress.
The story I've heard is that Lützow and the other ships turned around because when Blücher was hit by torpedoes they thought it was mines, so they didn't want to continue and hit them aswell. They did not know the fortress had a torpedobattery. Also only two shots was fired from the 28 cm guns on the fortress, all other shots came from two other fortresses that opened fire after the shots from oskarsborg. Oskarsborg was also informed that unknown ships was on their way so they were prepared. Commander Eriksen har orders to fire warning shots first but didn't because he knew Blücher would have passed the fortress before they could have reloaded if he did due to his lack of personell.
It was even more ironic that the guns are older than hms dreadnought, and the torpedo are white head torpedo which are the world first self propelled torpedo.
Warning shots like they dident get that when they entered the first gun place they fired machin guns at blucher if thats not a warning before they cam to Oscarsborg then idk
From what I heard, the soldiers and sailors jumped into the water, scared and with scratches from the cannons and the torpedoes. Then while near one thousand tried to swim to land, the oil ignited, leading the dawn of the 9th of April, filled with haunting screams of several hundred germans tortured to death by fire. I have family living nearby where Blücher still is. On some days you can actually see the Blücher coloring the water surface, not much, but a little grey-ish spot.
Moral of the story. Morale is pronounced differently and means how the men feel in a some sort of military setting regarding motivation to fight. There's no such thing as a morale of the story, that makes no sense. You are clearly American and are trying to write things out you've never seen before, you should not do that, or people easily see that you're not very literate.
He didn't mention, that the 28 cm cannons were from the 1890'ies - almost 50 years old - nor that Oscarsborg was to a big extent manned by recruits, who had started their training just a few days before.
I recommend a norwegian movie called The King's Choice, it focuses on these initial days of the invasion. Erik Hivju plays Colonel Birger Eriksen, commander of Oscarsborg Fortress. Random fact: You might have seen Hivju's son, Kristofer, he plays Tormund in Game of Thrones.
I’d rather say “well done, commander Birger Eriksen”. He was left alone with the decision, by a passive government that was unwilling to realize the severity of the situation. After being asked by one of his subordinates whether they should in fact use sharp shots, he is still known for having replied «we sure as hell will fire sharps! I'll either be executed or I'll be treated as a war hero. Fire!»
Andreas I deliberately didn’t translate the quote word-for-word as I don’t think that would work in English. I may not have found the best wording but I think at least the meaning is preserved. Or, how would you translate «Visst fanden skal der skytes med skarpt!» to English?
The Germans decided which language to speak when they arrived with battleships in the fjord and the Norwegians decided to answer in the same language. My respect for, and love to the Norwegians for their kicking the nazis in the belly. Unfortunately, my home country, Denmark, didn't have the same opportunities to stop the invading force this spring 1940. Totally flat at the border to Germany allowing the German mechanized forces to wipe out our defenses in no time. Our harbors were undefended, as a mean to stay out of war as a neutral country. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Holland (Nederland) and Belgium were determined to stay neutral in the coming conflict. It would have required a full militarization of all Danish men between 16 and 45 just delay the German invasion. This was not an option if we would stay recognized as a neutral country. All neutral countries were between a rock and a hard place.. Only Sweden and Schweiz were spared invasion. Regards from Denmark
Too bad Churchill was determined to start a murderous, destructive World War and rejected all of Germany's numerous peace offers. Too bad that England, France and the Soviet Union were preparing BEFORE THE WAR to invade and violate the neutrality of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland so they could attack Germany from the north, the west and the east. Too bad England and France were moving to invade neutral Norway in April 1940 so Germany was FORCED to act, beating England by TWO HOURS in the race to strategic Narvik Fjord. Churchill even rejected Hitler's extremely generous peace offer personally delivered by Rudolph Hess in late 1940, where Germany offered to withdraw from ALL conquered nations in return for a peace treaty. Hitler knew that Stalin was a dangerous, powerful Communist/Bolshevik preparing to attack and conquer all of Europe, just like Lenin tried in August 1920. Drunken banker puppet Churchill was determined to see Europe consumed in war. WWII was Churchill's War.
@@lindsaygraham5687 I don't know where you get your ideas from, & wondered whether you are a Hitler apologist? One couldn't appease Hitler, s Chamberlain learnt to his cost in Sept 1939. I think most people would find your remarks deeply offensive. Are you a Holocaust denier?
It basically meant a occupation without any combat. Just like the occupation that Hitler did with the sudetenland and Austria as part of "Anschluss" where refereed as "friendly occupations" it was of course part of the German propaganda which is why it sounds strange to a modern audience.
Yeah, som Nice guy named Vidkun Quisling had promised Adolf Hitler, that Norway would accept the German occupation with open arms, but the King,, the Prime minister, the government, along with the Norwegian people would not accept this, and the Kings guard would fight to their deaths to get the Crown family, and the Government to exile in Scotland
@@7john7able My late mum lived throughout the war - she well remembers having to wear cardboard shoes, as the the Germans took all the leather shoes. So much for "friendy occupation".
3:51 - The torpedo battery, armed with ancient 1905 German-made weapons, actually fired all 9 tubes in salvo - 2 hit the water and immediately sank, 5 sank on their way, 2 managed to make it to the Blucher and hit.
Uh, play stupid games (like invading sovereign nations and starting wars), win stupid prizes (like being blown up, burned, and drowned in freezing waters).
I wonder why there are so many photos and footage of Ukrainian villagers greeting German panzers with bread and salt in 1942, a traditional welcome there.
Krauts and squareheads are very close genetically; so there's an argument for it for sure. but it's wrong to be neutral if a group can do anything at all though they'll die for trying - alas, decisions decisions for them, the poles in the Uprising, etc. etc.
The German plan seemed a horrible, risky waste of large heavy warships in such tight inshore waters, even against expected weak defensive forces, and more foolish still to expect it to go off without fighting and without engaging and neutralizing those batteries. But their mistakes aside, this engagement was a magnificent last hurrah for old-school coastal fortifications and even the fixed coastal artillery, which did more initial damage than I realized.
They were trying to get IN THERE and land infantry to capture the treasury and the King. Sooo, Norway would give up quickly. Not enough room in the fjords for single purpose ships like transports and supplies AND warships for firepower.
I heard the following ships turned around as they thought the 2 toroedos were actually mines... An uncleared mine area. Wouldn't blame them if it was "an excuse" to retreat.. Would've been further slaughter... Yes even with undermanned guns only able to reload 1 or 2 max... The shores side guns still ready for further action.
@@mauriceofnassau5476 Given I am British, and Brits are a plural, and the Brits sank the Blucher in 1915, "we" is entirely acceptable term in English. You may wish to sharpen up your own English skills before you critique others.
ur channel has serious potential, keep up the good work! But if I may give a suggestion, try to speak more clearly so it's easier to understand what you're saying (no offense, just trying to help).
Also, that fortress commander certainly had the right attitude given the prevailing political and military circumstances. "I haven't been notified of those ships. Nor are they communicating with me that they are friendlies. Norway has nothing like that. Open Fire!" For that matter, if he had a copy of Jane's handy, he'd have known exactly what they were.
The Norwegian sinking of so many German ships had a greater effect than just defending Norway. The German navy did not have enough capital ships to invade England because they lost so many in Norway. Hitler lost the war because he didn’t invade England. Hence Norway stopped Hitler in the long run and was instrumental in the German defeat.
Hitler lost the war because he started a war he could never win under any circumstance if by some miracle he managed to land troops in Britain what is he going to do about the Red Army at his back door?
I can see that we were opposed to them but the command had little option to obeying the command and faced the prospect of a dire death. So on one point of view we triumphed but we killed a lot and had a lot killed - in the process going bankrupt and losing an empire and a number one place in the world.
Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein und das heißt: Erika. Heiß von hunderttausend kleinen Bienelein wird umschwärmt Erika, denn ihr Herz ist voller Süßigkeit, zarter Duft entströmt dem Blütenkleid. Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein und das heißt: Erika.
As mentioned rear-admiral Kummetz failed as so often flag-officers of the geman imperial navy & the german Kriegmarine failed. Flagg-captain Woldag demanded max possibe speed already entering the fjord. As usual in the Geman navy Kummetz was promoted for his failure.
You really need to improve those videos. The animation is poor, is too slow and too robotic. And your voice! It is so sad... try to speak in a normal way. It seems you are confessiong some sin, you feel guilty, or you regret what you're saying. And please take off those annoying end cards!
Blücher sank there in 1913, April 9th 1940 was not an Invasion the Germans came because the Labour Party in Norway was violating this non-combat neutral Norway there was none soldiers there's at Oscarsborg that very day in 1940 April 9th. February 22nd 1940 in North of Norway the first battle about Narvik Operation Vikings 6 German Ships War sound that very Day That's the reason for this So Cold Invasion Derek is still there in Drøbak sol it's possible to die down and Take a look at it and see if it is from the first or the second world war That's a waste of time because the anchor its there in Drøbak and it is one in Oslo Aker brygge this anchors are not from 1940 it's from around 1900
Have only recently watched the film "The King's Choice", in which the sinking of The Blucher was mentioned, I was determined to find out more since my late mum (Grete Morris, born in Oslo in 1928) told me that a relative had ordered the ship's sinking. This happened a day after her 12th birthday. I now know more about this thanks to the RU-vid videos.
The 62 year old Colonel of the fort was warned about 1 hour before the German arrival. Giving the order to man the guns. Considering telephone communication was intact he knew about the first defensive guns opening fire.
As he said in the video they expected nobody to be shooting at them. They allso went under full power and no navigation light to try and stay hidden. Later that day the germans bombed the fort. The night was allso said to be quite dark because it was overcast and a bit of fog. If you google "the sinking of Blucher" you can see a clip from the movie "the kings choice" where they picture the scene quite well.
@@LarS1963 the first hit destroyed the battle station of the anti Air commander, And damaged the rangefinder. The main guns where fully operational. Allso the fort was severely under manned, they even got the cooks to help preparing the guns. The fort itself didn't have the manpower to reload the 28cm guns so they just fired what they had in the barrel and went to cover.
What he didn't mention in the video was the battery on the east side of the fjord by Drøbak. They where the once knocking out the steering of blucher and hitting the other ships. The 28cm guns only sendt 2 shells down range.
"We will sneak our small fleet past them, they wouldn't expect it, or lie down and take it" .... ...once again. Makes me wonder, how the surprising successes of the blitz among other easy victories that must have affected Hitler and some generals... Would he have been so oblivious and artogaby hubris if it wasn't for those previous events??
At about midnight oberst (colonel) Eruksen at Oscarsborg was informed” “Unknown ships forcing theier way passed Bolærne and Rauøy fortesses. He raised the alarm. At about 04:38 (Norwegian time) he received report from Filtvet lighthouse: “Three large warships passing, northbound. German talk onboard!” Fire was opened at 04:21. Oberst Eriksen was alarmed, he had his orders and he knew they were German.
You really have to work on how to narrate such a video and use your voice. After 1 Minute i couldnt stand this monoton nearly depressing narration. Sry for bad english..have also to work on my english skills
What a waste of lives, and a beautiful heavy cruiser. The Nazis had no idea how to utilise a navy that stood for humanity and fair play in war. Not some idealistic Arian myth.
