The film is a good watch. It's less about the action and more about the story of the king and his relationship to the country in this situation. Remember, Norway as we know it in its current incarnation is not so old. The country had been ruled by its neighbors in some form or another for hundreds of years. The king was originally a Danish prince not set to inherit a throne, and the Norwegian people finally being a sovereign nation got to choose their own monarch. That was about 30 years before the Germans invaded. So with that in mind, imagine his perspective. Having adopted a nation who's people had chosen and embraced you as their king, a people who's independence and sovereignty was gained in recent memory - and now you are put in the position to give it up at gunpoint.
It's ironic but the guns in the Oscarsborg Fort were made by Krupp in Essen Germany. So the Blucher got to find out just how effective German guns could be. The torpedoes were the old Whitehead type but they still did the job with the second one doing more damage than the first which hit near the bow. The second one hit amidships right in the engine room. The Altmark was the supply ship for the sunken pocket battleship Graf Spee and the men on board were all the captured merchant marine sailors from ships the Graf Spee had sunk. The Oscarsborg Fort bombing did little damage as it had deep bunkers where the soldiers stayed out of harms way.
I think in the sinking, the Blücher was just extraordinarily unlucky. The first shots generated surprised hits and shore torpedo tubes were not what normally would have been expected. The German ships were reckless in entering the Sound and did not really expect a battle and were ordered not to fire unless fired upon. Normally one would have expected the ships to try to silence the forts at the very beginning. A ship of the Hipper class over 18,000 tons usually won't be sunk or disabled so easily and Prinz Eugen fought against British capital ships in Denmark Strait.
I do remember the Austro-Hungarian navy. My great grandfather was a sailor on the SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth. But to your point: yeah, they ended up scuttling the ship before the Japanese took them prisoner, so... :-) But to your criticism of the German planning here: they have a lot of reasons to believe Norway would just give up immediately. Sweden opted to stay neutral, Denmark folded on this day, nobody expected Norway to fight longer than France; yet they did. If you actually watch the movie, they negotiated Norway's surrender at the same time.
I worked at Oscarsborg in High School. Its now a hotel (the old barracks) and the main fortress is used for events such as weddings. Its often heavy fog there and in the winter it can freeze the whole area. Its such a stunning place. Its very perfectly located. In the early morning its so eerily quiet. I hope to visit it again in the future Edited for typo
The Norwegian heavy watyr plant was blown up by Norwegian comando's from Norwegian Independent Company No. 1, else known as the Linge Company, after it's first commander, Captain Martin Linge, who fell at the Målaøy Raid in Lofoten in 1941.
I think a possible reason for the Germans to think they could walk right in was the easy invasion of Denmark where German soldiers walked right into Kopenhagen facing no resistance at all until they reached the Palace of the Danish King. And as far as I know, the Torpedo was invented in Austria-Hungary.
The Germans were overconfident, this is true, but to be fair - given the information they had about the fortress, it’s defences and the force they (the Germans) were coming in with - their overconfidence was somewhat understandable. Truly, how could some outdated fortress managed by inexperienced recruits and old men possibly hope to win against a fleet of brand new and cutting-edge warships?
@@ExploringMilitaryHistory No, they couldn't; the point of Weserübung was to attack six cities at once, making the most of the most of the element of surprise. One caught commando and everything would be screwed. It was a calculated risk that paid off in the other port cities. Though I would say that the German recon was bad. The battery at the mouth of the fjord also fired, even though only a warning shot, so it's not about one man deciding - they were simply guarding their territory against intruders. And if you sail dimmed at night, you certainly look like one. My belief is the Germans hoped for the Norwegian government to have a better grip on their forces and a better communications network. If the government knew about the fleet coming, they might've folded. But the soldiers were left to their own devices and did what they do best. Btw. the exhibits on this battle in both the Norwegian Army Museum and the Norwegian Resistance Museum (which are about 350 metres from another) are both breathtaking. The Norwegians are very proud of this moment in their history.
Why would the coastal battery not have used armor piercing shells rather than high explosive shells? (this is what I read elsewhere, maybe its not accurate?)
Could be for various reasons. Someone Logistically made an error and their were no AP shells in the Fort at the Time. Even a Cruiser with its limited armor would still take massive damage from an 11in HE shell. Commander could have used HE since an AP shell would overpenetration a cruiser at that range. Since this fort was 40 years old with 40 year old equipment the Gun might have been originally intended to penetrate battleships and would overpen a Cruiser.
@@ExploringMilitaryHistory One more question please - Oscarsborg had 3 28CM guns, yet due to crew shortages were only manning two. Why not load all 3, fire two, then have the crews run over to the third gun and aim it so it can shoot if needed? Also - the Germans didn't fire on Oscarsborg , instead firing on the Kopås and Husvik batteries (I think). So why couldn't Oscarsborg reload the two 28CM guns that fired. Perhaps the visibility was bad, but If the guns were reloaded, they could have engaged the Lutzow. And if it retreated, sent it a departing salvo.
@@IntraFinesse All three 28 cm guns were loaded prior to the battle. The main battery could not fire a third salvo against Blücher - too close. Why they did not engage Lützow I do not know. Maybe because the range finder was fell out just prior to the first shot? Oberst Eriksen had to estimate the range from old drill. He knew the distances to every skerry in front of the battery.
@@Dingsrud Yes, I was wondering why the 3rd gun couldn't be targeted on the Lutzow, after the first 2 guns fired. It was further away but Erikson could have estimated a range. Maybe the Lutzow wasn't illuminated? If it was, and retreated, why not take a shot at it, from several thousand meters? Unless the chances of hitting it were too low and Erikson wanted to save the shot in case the Germans tried to force the passage later.
@@IntraFinesse I do not know the details. My guessing is: Blücher was spoted later from he 28cm battery than from the Kopås battery due to darkness and fog. Blücher was only illuminated by one seachlight, the only one operational. Its position was not optimal. Lützow was probably seen from Kopås, but maybe not from Main battery (28cm). Blücher opened fire. Main battery took multiple hits in its front rampart and was “sanded down”. It is said that the crew on the second gun was so scared that they left their position. It took time to get them back. Reloading took about 5-6 minutes - for a skilled crew, these where scared and newcomers wit no combat experience! At Kopås there are three 15 cm guns. One crew only shot about three shots, then took shelter. At an other gun, the the crew was ordered back at gunpoint by a young cadet. The third gun where manned by cadets wit some experience. This was the only gun that exhausted their available 10 rounds. They had more in the magazine, but would have had to row across the fiord to Kaholmen to collect fuzzes for the ammo. This was a demanding situation for an untrained crew. Norway had not been at war for more than 130 years and very limited resources where available for the military for decades They went from peacetime to red alert and war at the blink of an eye and only 4 hours for Oscarsborg. So did forts in Kristiansand, Bergen and Trondheim. The invasion of Norway came at a major loss for Kriegsmarine: 1 heavy cruiser, 2 light cruisers, 11 Zerstörer, one large torpedo boat and multiple Raumboote. In addition damage to Lützow and Hipper and loss of freighters, tankers and Luftwaffe planes.
The film is a good watch. It's less about the action and more about the story of the king and his relationship to the country in this situation.
Remember, Norway as we know it in its current incarnation is not so old. The country had been ruled by its neighbors in some form or another for hundreds of years. The king was originally a Danish prince not set to inherit a throne, and the Norwegian people finally being a sovereign nation got to choose their own monarch. That was about 30 years before the Germans invaded.
So with that in mind, imagine his perspective. Having adopted a nation who's people had chosen and embraced you as their king, a people who's independence and sovereignty was gained in recent memory - and now you are put in the position to give it up at gunpoint.
5:59 he was retired, but un-retired himself when he realized war was coming
It's ironic but the guns in the Oscarsborg Fort were made by Krupp in Essen Germany. So the Blucher got to find out just how effective German guns could be. The torpedoes were the old Whitehead type but they still did the job with the second one doing more damage than the first which hit near the bow. The second one hit amidships right in the engine room.
The Altmark was the supply ship for the sunken pocket battleship Graf Spee and the men on board were all the captured merchant marine sailors from ships the Graf Spee had sunk.
The Oscarsborg Fort bombing did little damage as it had deep bunkers where the soldiers stayed out of harms way.
Austro-Hungarians MVP! For once... Take that Conrad von Hötzendorf!
Lmao
When Austro Hungary hurts their ally again in a world war.
I think in the sinking, the Blücher was just extraordinarily unlucky. The first shots generated surprised hits and shore torpedo tubes were not what normally would have been expected. The German ships were reckless in entering the Sound and did not really expect a battle and were ordered not to fire unless fired upon. Normally one would have expected the ships to try to silence the forts at the very beginning. A ship of the Hipper class over 18,000 tons usually won't be sunk or disabled so easily and Prinz Eugen fought against British capital ships in Denmark Strait.
I do remember the Austro-Hungarian navy. My great grandfather was a sailor on the SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth. But to your point: yeah, they ended up scuttling the ship before the Japanese took them prisoner, so... :-)
But to your criticism of the German planning here: they have a lot of reasons to believe Norway would just give up immediately. Sweden opted to stay neutral, Denmark folded on this day, nobody expected Norway to fight longer than France; yet they did. If you actually watch the movie, they negotiated Norway's surrender at the same time.
I worked at Oscarsborg in High School. Its now a hotel (the old barracks) and the main fortress is used for events such as weddings. Its often heavy fog there and in the winter it can freeze the whole area. Its such a stunning place. Its very perfectly located. In the early morning its so eerily quiet. I hope to visit it again in the future
Edited for typo
Vidkun Quisling also played a part helping Hitler out. He was a Norwegian traitor who was executed after the war.
Typical that Wellington didn’t pay the favor back to Blücher smh
It's the naval battle equivalent of a hillbilly firing his blunderbuss. And he hits!
12:40 No 11" Gun is harmless. The Germans learned that the hard way XD
The Norwegian heavy watyr plant was blown up by Norwegian comando's from Norwegian Independent Company No. 1, else known as the Linge Company, after it's first commander, Captain Martin Linge, who fell at the Målaøy Raid in Lofoten in 1941.
Heltene fra Telemark ❤️
I think a possible reason for the Germans to think they could walk right in was the easy invasion of Denmark where German soldiers walked right into Kopenhagen facing no resistance at all until they reached the Palace of the Danish King.
And as far as I know, the Torpedo was invented in Austria-Hungary.
Stockholm? Might want to look at the map again...
The Germans were overconfident, this is true, but to be fair - given the information they had about the fortress, it’s defences and the force they (the Germans) were coming in with - their overconfidence was somewhat understandable.
Truly, how could some outdated fortress managed by inexperienced recruits and old men possibly hope to win against a fleet of brand new and cutting-edge warships?
I mean they could have sent in commandos to verify they did have them but the plan was rushed and this is the result of rushing it.
@@ExploringMilitaryHistory, a fair enough point.
@@ExploringMilitaryHistory No, they couldn't; the point of Weserübung was to attack six cities at once, making the most of the most of the element of surprise. One caught commando and everything would be screwed. It was a calculated risk that paid off in the other port cities. Though I would say that the German recon was bad. The battery at the mouth of the fjord also fired, even though only a warning shot, so it's not about one man deciding - they were simply guarding their territory against intruders. And if you sail dimmed at night, you certainly look like one.
My belief is the Germans hoped for the Norwegian government to have a better grip on their forces and a better communications network. If the government knew about the fleet coming, they might've folded. But the soldiers were left to their own devices and did what they do best. Btw. the exhibits on this battle in both the Norwegian Army Museum and the Norwegian Resistance Museum (which are about 350 metres from another) are both breathtaking. The Norwegians are very proud of this moment in their history.
@@ExploringMilitaryHistory Or at least have the Lutzow lead the formation, not the Blucher with the special troops on board.
Why would the coastal battery not have used armor piercing shells rather than high explosive shells? (this is what I read elsewhere, maybe its not accurate?)
Could be for various reasons.
Someone Logistically made an error and their were no AP shells in the Fort at the Time.
Even a Cruiser with its limited armor would still take massive damage from an 11in HE shell.
Commander could have used HE since an AP shell would overpenetration a cruiser at that range. Since this fort was 40 years old with 40 year old equipment the Gun might have been originally intended to penetrate battleships and would overpen a Cruiser.
@@ExploringMilitaryHistory One more question please - Oscarsborg had 3 28CM guns, yet due to crew shortages were only manning two. Why not load all 3, fire two, then have the crews run over to the third gun and aim it so it can shoot if needed?
Also - the Germans didn't fire on Oscarsborg , instead firing on the Kopås and Husvik batteries (I think). So why couldn't Oscarsborg reload the two 28CM guns that fired.
Perhaps the visibility was bad, but If the guns were reloaded, they could have engaged the Lutzow. And if it retreated, sent it a departing salvo.
@@IntraFinesse All three 28 cm guns were loaded prior to the battle. The main battery could not fire a third salvo against Blücher - too close. Why they did not engage Lützow I do not know. Maybe because the range finder was fell out just prior to the first shot? Oberst Eriksen had to estimate the range from old drill. He knew the distances to every skerry in front of the battery.
@@Dingsrud Yes, I was wondering why the 3rd gun couldn't be targeted on the Lutzow, after the first 2 guns fired.
It was further away but Erikson could have estimated a range.
Maybe the Lutzow wasn't illuminated?
If it was, and retreated, why not take a shot at it, from several thousand meters?
Unless the chances of hitting it were too low and Erikson wanted to save the shot in case the Germans tried to force the passage later.
@@IntraFinesse I do not know the details. My guessing is: Blücher was spoted later from he 28cm battery than from the Kopås battery due to darkness and fog. Blücher was only illuminated by one seachlight, the only one operational. Its position was not optimal. Lützow was probably seen from Kopås, but maybe not from Main battery (28cm).
Blücher opened fire. Main battery took multiple hits in its front rampart and was “sanded down”. It is said that the crew on the second gun was so scared that they left their position. It took time to get them back. Reloading took about 5-6 minutes - for a skilled crew, these where scared and newcomers wit no combat experience!
At Kopås there are three 15 cm guns. One crew only shot about three shots, then took shelter. At an other gun, the the crew was ordered back at gunpoint by a young cadet. The third gun where manned by cadets wit some experience. This was the only gun that exhausted their available 10 rounds. They had more in the magazine, but would have had to row across the fiord to Kaholmen to collect fuzzes for the ammo.
This was a demanding situation for an untrained crew.
Norway had not been at war for more than 130 years and very limited resources where available for the military for decades They went from peacetime to red alert and war at the blink of an eye and only 4 hours for Oscarsborg. So did forts in Kristiansand, Bergen and Trondheim. The invasion of Norway came at a major loss for Kriegsmarine: 1 heavy cruiser, 2 light cruisers, 11 Zerstörer, one large torpedo boat and multiple Raumboote. In addition damage to Lützow and Hipper and loss of freighters, tankers and Luftwaffe planes.
Imagine the tale « so how was your first week of military?» naah nothing much just shot down germanys biggest warship.
If engaging with planes first, it wouldnt be a suprise attack directly to Oslo.
The guns name is Moses and Aron ⚡️💪🏻
Drøbaksundet
Beaten by Retirees
Just the one...
Definitely triggered
Not an hour long video. Unsubscribed!
In response I will now make 5 minute Videos :)