Drøbak Sound, 1940 - Either I will be Decorated or Court Martialed. Fire!

[@saturnv2419]

Note to any commander: Friendly ships will not enter your port at night completely darkened out.

[@feonor26]

Luckily commander Eriksen knew this very well

[@KuK137]

Well, it might be friendly ship with broken generator or electrical installation. Or a big civilian one lacking lights or in emergency. He was lucky nazis were trying something, because he is right, in normal time it would be 99% chance of court martial and prison...

[@feonor26]

@@KuK137 It could be but highly unlikely. They all knew something was up and that an invasion was possibly imminent. There was a lot of tension in Europe at that time so everyone was on high alert.

[@saturnv2419]

@@KuK137 That is not darken ship. If a ship with broken generator, they will still have back up and even hand held light for navigation.

[@askforgreg1216]

@@saturnv2419 right, the friendly ship will do everything in their power to indicate that they're friendly and what their intentions are so as to avoid the obvious consequences of NOT making every effort to indicate they're friendly. This is something they're trained for, I hope, in general, no matter the country.

[@lanefunai4714]

New Recruit: Shouldn't we fire a warning shot? Pensioner: What are they gonna do, fire me?

[@immikeurnot]

"Oh, no. They might draft me and send me to war with obsolete equipment in a fort that's basically only fit for target practice by the enemy! Oh, wait..."

[@jeesmith99]

Johnny Carson said the same thing announcing he was going to NBC and Los Angeles (Burbank) so many years ago.

[@MarcusHansen276]

Ohhh I’m so scared. Im not set for life or anything

[@luckyroogaming3142]

Ok, after reading this one it made me laugh a little.

[@TrondBørgeKrokli]

As a Norwegian, I can say for sure that such a conversation seems pretty relatable. It also made me chuckle quite a bit. ^_^ 😀😀

[@tanall5959]

Fun fact: Those torpedoes that sent Blucher down? They were Whitehead torpedoes. The first self-propelled torpedoes put into regular service. They predated first World War, hailing from the end of the 1800's in fact, and yet they sealed the fate of arguably the most modern heavy cruiser afloat at the time.

[@academyofshem]

Those Austrians sure knew how to make torpedoes, eh?

[@Simonsvids]

@@academyofshem Actually British made (of course) but inspired by an Austrian theoretical design and improved upon.

[@The_Modeling_Underdog]

@@Simonsvids If I may introduce a small correction here, while the torpedo design was indeed a refinement by Robert Whitehead upon the original austro-hungarian design by Giovanni Luppis, the torpedoes used by the Oscarsborg underwater battery were Fiume-Whitehead Mk.Vd's built in Rijeka in 1900.

[@cumunist2120]

Well the Bismarck was sunk by shitty outdated torpedo biplanes so yeah

[@thetrainman1000]

I do find that so ironic, particularly when compared with the infamous American Mark 14 torpedo. However, underwater explosions of any kind are very dangerous, since water carries the force of the explosion far greater than through air. German torpedo defense tended to underperform. It is also highly likely that the crew were still very unfamiliar with the ship and it's systems, since the ship is not even a week old. Perhaps with better damage control, the Blucher probably would have survived. Still kudos to the Austrian design, and the Norwegians maintaining them well enough to serve their duty on that day. Austro-Hungarian naval achievements have been woefully neglected, despite they were the ones who created the first self-propelled torpedoes and commissioned the first battleship with triple gun turrets.

[@Mr-Q2]

The torpedoes which ultimately sank Blücher were Austro-Hungarian Whitehead torpedoes older than HMS Dreadnought herself. Just goes to show that old and obsolete does not mean harmless.

[@legiran9261]

Keyword is "Range". A Flint Spear is just as deadly as a Barret M107 at arms length.

[@Mr-Q2]

@@legiran9261 Well sure, but in this case it was intelligence. The Germans were apparently unaware of the existence of the torpedo battery, being an underground battery meant that it didn't show up on aerial reconnaissance photos.

[@deuteriumoxide2783]

And the Whitehead was as far as I know the first self propelled torpedo ever made.

[@MrPh30]

Ca late 1938 ,early 1939 authorities is Norway was notified by several bookstores from several places. German and embassy personell had bought many complete sets of all kinds of maps and charts that was published and ready for sale. Later it was found out the Soviets also had done so also. And there was many a fjord cruise by KDF in the years before that also. Eva Braun was on one of them

[@sylvainprigent6234]

I think they were lucky that the Torps actually functioned properly

[@at_omic8578]

"Either I will be decorated or I will be court martialed. Fire!" has to be one of the most badass military quotes out there, my mind cannot be changed about this

[@vksasdgaming9472]

It tells of leadership. Colonel Eriksen (commander of Oscarsborg) made a decision, used military discipline to make it happen and whatever it causes he is responsible. Hindshight proved his judgement right, but then he didn't know it.

[@kjellg6532]

@@vksasdgaming9472 Oberst Eriksen also shall have said: “To fire a gun is easy, to decide to fire is not that easy”. He took his decision. So did the commander of a small torpedo boat in Stavanger. The commander at Odderøys fort in Kristiansand. Fighter wing at Fornebu. Kvarven Fort in Bergen. Agdenes fort at the entrance of the Trondheimsfjorden. Many commanders of army detachments. They are many, but Eriksen is the best known due to the success of Oscarsborg fortress.

[@kimleechristensen2679]

If only the captains of the two Norwegian coastal defence ships at Narvik had taken the same decision or had the same attitude as Eriksson. Then the initial naval actions at Narvik might have been even more worse for the germans, to an extent that they might haven't been successful in landing a large enough land force to take and hold Narvik. 🤔🤔🤔

[@andrewvelonis5940]

He was not the only officer to have faced that choice.

[@capt.stubing5604]

When you’re in the icy Norwegian waters, the last thing you want to hear is, ‘abandon ship.’

[@МихайлоСєльський]

Undetermined number of Blucher's sailors would have agreed. If they hadn't frozen and drowned)

[@ophirbactrius8285]

The German Nazi Naval Fleet : " We gonna passing through to the Oslo City at all costs! "... Norway : "No way!"...

[@derrickstorm6976]

cold water is the last problem on the list at that point, my friend

[@interpl6089]

@@derrickstorm6976 no it isn't, literally being order to leave the ship and freeze to death is insignificant to you?

[@belis35]

Were there survivors from the Blücher ?

[@marks1638]

One of my neighbors (a former Norwegian Citizen) in the 70's talked about being on the gun crew that manned the Krupp guns that day (he got drafted for the duty). He said that they fired in violation of standing orders from the Government, but they were right to do it. After that happened all hell broke loose and the Germans were pissed that they got fired on and the Blucher sunk. When the German's captured the capital they put out notice that anyone at the fort that day was a war criminal and would be hung. They kept their heads down and left the area (in some cases the country) after the take over. The Commanding Officer survived the war (though he was technically declared a war criminal for a short time.) The King, later after the he left the country, declared him a hero and the others (including my neighbor) heroes for trying to stop the Germans. He had a certificate on his wall from the King declaring him a "Hero of Norway" for the shooting.

[@disbelief3911]

Secretly invading another country and then getting mad when shot at...

[@Cybermat47]

‘You’re a war criminal because you shot us when we launched a surprise invasion of your country!’

[@haroldmedalen6757]

@@Cybermat47 That is being kind of thin skinned!

[@MyH3ntaiGirl]

@@Cybermat47 Russia to Ukraine "You are war criminals cause you make us invade you"

[@thecamocampaindude5167]

Damn thats a hell of a way to thank somemeone for saving their life

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

Blücher: The future is now old man! Norwegian Battery: *I'm gonna put some dirt in your eye.*

[@propellhatt]

Pocket sand! Never defend a coast line without it!

[@quentintin1]

the better thing is that the guns were made by Krupp and of the model used on German pre-Dreadnoughts from the 1890's the Torperdoes were of the same vintage, literally so old that nobody was sure they would have worked, and to top it off the torperdoes were built in Autria-Hungary, so they were from a country that no longer existed at the time of the battle so the Blucher, a state of the art heavy cruiser, so new that the crew was still finishing their training was sunk by 50 year old German guns and Austro-Hungarian torperdoes.

[@joedwyer3297]

Germany: "i thought you were going to fire a warning shot" Norway: "i missed the part where thats my problem"

[@AlechiaTheWitch]

Or a torpedo into- i aint gonnA finish that

[@Mirageknight2133]

Blucher: *sinks* Norwegian Battery: Gonna cry?

[@zacharyzier314]

Germans: “We thought you were gonna fire warning shots!” Norwegians: “Well yes, but actually no”

[@Queltamas]

That was a Norwegian warning shot

[@Fontan_]

"Keep advancing and more of you will sink" sounds like a good warning to me

[@seneca983]

To be fair, they had been already shot at before (though I don't know if these included warning shots or only real attempts to hit, but none of them hit anyway). Of course, Eriksen couldn't know that.

[@slitor]

@@Queltamas "We sen't five, don't blame us if you don't open your mail!"

[@SergeantC2]

"The sinking of your flagship ought to be a warning to the rest of your flotilla."

[@haakonsteinsvaag]

A beutiful piece of irony is that The guns at Oscarsborg that sank Blucher were made in germany and named Aron, Moses and Josva.

[@haakonsteinsvaag]

@@Clipgatherer I'm not sertain why they got the names they did. Maybe they just wanted to go old testament/medival on whoever dared to enter the Oslo fjord without permission. I just find it funny.

[@Lawnmower737]

Even more ironic, because your ship was sunk by Austro-Hungarian torpedoes made in 1900. That’s got to be pretty embarrassing, to say the Austro-Hungarians (who mind you are no longer a nation) helped sink your new ship.

[@dalsosegno]

now that is poetic

[@iverruler]

@@Clipgatherer That was more of a nazi thing

[@gazof-the-north1980]

I believe the gun named Moses was so named because the engineers that orginally installed it actually dropped it into the water at one point.

[@ravelordnito9504]

This engagements is often talked about when discussing the war in Norway, and this is THE most comprehensive oversight of it i have seen of it, absolutely fantastic!

[@radicalttc]

Back when men, Were Men. And the women were glad of it.

[@MrNicoJac]

(an "oversight" is something you should've seen but missed; you probably mean the word "overview"😅) More importantly, glad you enjoyed it so much ^^

[@brianb2376]

BazBattles did a really good video of this as well, check it out!

[@neilwilson5785]

Yep, this channel is so good at this stuff.

[@davidheyl1206]

Thank you si much

[@evanw2375]

With stories like this, I always feel patriotism for countries that aren't even mine. Well done pensioners

[@mac_attack_zach]

Allied patriotism 💪

[@jameswg13]

Also worth mentioning the Blucher was also carrying German troops , lots of SS and Gestapo personnel crucial to setting up the pro German government and also getting rid of people they wanted rid of in Norway quickly. A lot of them died when she sank

[@kostakatsoulis2922]

If I remember correctly, there was a special contingent of troops aboard the Bucher which had specific orders to capture the royal family

[@Katask0p0]

Good

[@NavidIsANoob]

That just made this already badass home defense even better.

[@NSResponder]

Good riddance.

[@thenextbondvillainklaussch3266]

This is the Cheery on top of the whole story

[@eviloverlordsean]

"50 year-old torpedoes are trained on the Blucher..." "OK, boys let's just roll the dice and hope we hit 7's!!!"

[@dirtyblueshirt]

You go to war with the torpedoes you have, not the torpedoes you want.

[@henrik3291]

Funny thing is that they had no idea if the torpedoes would work.

[@tt-ew7rx]

@@henrik3291 In theory this is true for every torpedo ever fired - there is a chance that it would not work. However you are right these were probably more likely not to work than most. On the other side, the Germans were just presenting their ships on a plate as if serving dinner and the Norwegians rightfully ate as much as they could.

[@b1laxson]

@@dirtyblueshirt USA MK 14 early war representing.

[@jameswg13]

They were austro Hungarian made torpedo's as well and the fortresses main guns were built in Germany around the same time

[@cart8819]

"Blinds norwegian patrol craft who try to identify them using searchlights with their own much more powerful beam" Assert Dominance

[@zacharyzier314]

@Logical Musicman Sinks brand new heavy cruiser *ASSERTS DOMINANCE*

[@TheIndianalain]

@@zacharyzier314 Sinks brand new heavy cruiser WITH OBSOLETE GUNS AND 50 YEAR OLD TORPEDOES!

[@JohnyG29]

@Logical Musicman I see you've played knifey spooney before.

[@EncrypticMethods]

@@TheIndianalain Lol, I'm curious if the engineers of those torpedo docks were surprised when they worked at all but then were devastating against modern ships

[@doncasino]

"Dominance" aka Nazi fascists getting their asses whooped.

[@HollywoodMarine0351]

"Either I will be decorated, or I will be court-martialed. Fire!" ~ Oberst Birger Kristian Eriksen (9 April 1940) That quote should have been included in the movie.

[@b1laxson]

Yeah I was rewatching the movie and was looking for it.

[@HollywoodMarine0351]

@@b1laxson makes me wonder why the director or screenwriter omitted this from the movie.

[@hotbam37]

what movie are you referring to?

[@HollywoodMarine0351]

@@hotbam37 the 2016 biographical war film ”The King's Choice” (Norwegian: Kongens nei).

[@b1laxson]

@@HollywoodMarine0351 you can buy-rent it on youtube

[@sumguje5917]

When Blücher was hit, they started shooting everywhere at random. A woman named Anette Marie Hansen was probably Norways first civilian death in WW2. She looked out her kitchen window trying to see what the noise was all about, and got hit.

[@trollege9618]

Gotta be very very unlucky to get hit.

[@derrickstorm6976]

shame :(

[@azyjmexcuseokstop924]

damn that's unlucky

[@Ruben1994OL]

The first official Norwegian death during world war two is actually pretty well documented. The first Norwegian death of the war, after war was declared, was a navy captain named Leif Welding Olsen. He commanded a small patrol vessel, a discomissioned whaling boat named POL III, which was armed with searchlights and machine guns. Look it up, there are several of pictured of it. POL III and her crew were patrolling the outer Oslofjord and their mission was to ensure that Norway's neutrality wasn't challenged by any foreign military power as tensions is Europe were rising. The small vessel spotted the German invasion fleet at around 23:00 on April 8th 1940, and challenged them with warning shots and searchlights. Witness testimony from cremembers on POL III states that Albatross rammed the aft of POL III, and lit her up with her much more powerful searchlight. A brief exchange between captain Olsen and the commander of Albatross began, where the Germans demanded POL III's surrender. Olsen denied the German demands and fired off flares signalling to coastal artillery and navy units nearby that "enemy ships are penetrating the perimiter". The vastly superior German ship Albatross responded with machine gun and autocannon fire, which left Captain Olsen severely injured after getting hit in the legs. I haven't found any indications of how severely he was hit, but it is safe to assume that his wounds were fatal. POL III had taken heavy damage and and the crew decided to abandon ship. While boarding POL III's life raft, the raft capsized and Captain Olsen fell into the water. The crew got the raft sorted out, but weren't able to retrieve the Captain out of the water before he became exhausted to the point where he couldn't keep himself afloat any longer and disappeared into the deep. He was posthumously awarded the St. Olavs medal with a silver oak leaf, which is the second highest Norwegian military decoration being awarded for bravery. The remaining crew were picked up by Albatross and held as prisoners. POL III were shot up and left to sink, as Albatross had to hurry after the rest of the invasion force. To wrap up the story, POL III was found the next day, not having sunk after all. It had simply drifted away, but was still afloat. The Germans towed it back to port, repaired it and recomissioned it. In German service it was mostly used as a patrol/guard boat. After the war ended it was refurbished with a new engine and hydraulic steering, and was used for fishing and as a well-boat. A well-boat is a boat used for transporting fish. It was named "Samoa" in German service, "Johan E." as a fishing boat, and "Odd Oscar", "Fisktrans and finally "Arnøytrans" as a well-boat, until it was scrapped in 2011. It was scrapped after having run aground in 2007, even if no real damage were discovered. This comment got a whole lot longer than I first intended it to be xD

[@kjellg6532]

@@Ruben1994OL Now when Kpt Welding Olsen died no war declaration existed. It is correct that Welding Olsen is the first military to loos his life, but a number of sailors on merchant ships was already dead. It is probably correct that fru Hansen was the first civilian casualty during the invasion.

[@marvinm8343]

Ah, Kriegsmarine ships and improbable crippling hits. Name a more iconic duo.

[@The_Modeling_Underdog]

Make it a trio and bring Scuttling to the party. Though she was AWOL this time around.

[@Nmille98]

Royal Navy really maxed out luck and random crits.

[@leiflohne3096]

That is so true! Wow

[@nordicnostalgia8106]

@@Nmille98 It would seem the Germans made luck their dump stat

[@raymondpaller6475]

@@Nmille98 The RN had something else in its favor......Adolph didn't really want to win the war; just like he really didn't much like or want to paint. (Yes, the payoff for him is that he gets to be hopping mad pissed off & aggrieved when some Vienna university art prof tells him his painting sucks) So whoever/whatever runs this railroad/circus that goes on this planet just frequency & phase matches the karma outcomes to include German ships going down on improbable hits. Prinz Eugen is the marque exception proving the rule. If Adolph was aboard his own boats, his soul could happily append Mein Kampf with additional chapters.

[@chrisfiorina8624]

Nothing better than eating a bowl of cereal and watching these videos.

[@willek1335]

You can eat in a couple of hours when Histograph release a similar type of video

[@morgan97475]

Fruity Pebbles or Cap'n Crunch?

[@JTA1961]

Cheerio mate...

[@thecommanderjb]

Müesli here

[@johnscott1667]

Golden nuggets all the way

[@johngalt3568]

This video is another example of your excellent coverage of a seemingly obscure yet important military engagement that most of us would never have heard of without your having drawn attention to it. As always, thank you for your scholarship and well presented summation of events. I always enjoy your take on military history.

[@genevieve.annabelle3296]

By far the best history Channel. The animations are spot on, and the birds eye view really puts things in perspective.

[@saeedmhomed8150]

I totally agree I love watching his vids!

[@MrDino1953]

Was that a deliberate pun?

[@davidheyl1206]

Thank you so much

[@genevieve.annabelle3296]

@@MrDino1953 no not at all 😅

[@dr.vikyll7466]

Best military history channel sure, but I am unsure about "best history channel" overall.

[@Paveway-chan]

Norway, about the old 'training' forts: "It's a sörprise tool that will hälp us later"

[@russkatherealoriginal6904]

You get a like. I’ve been satisfied

[@Matthew10950]

D O N A L D! D U C K, Duck.

[@danielnordwarholm4363]

Ö and ä are swedish letters. We would never use them in Norway. Ø and æ all the way!

[@Paveway-chan]

@@danielnordwarholm4363 Oh, I know. I am Swedish, and I am messing with you Norwegians

[@alicorn3924]

@@Paveway-chan Is it because of the old Danish-Swedish rivalry? Because Norway was, for most of the time controlled by Denmark.

[@kryshik1]

Germans: "Let's sail straight to Oslo with our newest warship in the lead, the Norwegians won't fire at us" Norwegians in the Oscarborg fortress: *Doom music intensifies*

[@noobster4779]

I mean, the main problem where not the nrowegians but the royal navy. The germans needed to be in ports as fast as possible before the royal navy could show up and kill them. The entire norway campaign was for the germans one of the biggest gambles of the entire war risking their entire navy on the fact that the royal navy would be to slow to get shit done in time. they were right. It was still a long term failure because the ships they actually lost couldnt be replaced long term but the fact they literally pulled a naval invasion over thousands of km distance right infront the british noses is still one heck of a steel balls move. If you get enough luck to have that work in the first place then you might as well risk the norwegians beeing asleep during you invasion :D

[@g11operator]

one of the factors that lead to Blucher’s sinking is the fact that admiral hipper-class heavy cruisers were poorly ventilated which probably helped the fire spread throughout the ship, and cramped spaces which making the ship difficult to traverse in made it harder for damage control to assess the situation, also, damage control was completely obliterated out when the explosion in the hanger took place, so basically her design and construction is also a factor to her sinking

[@g11operator]

Correct me if I am wrong please

[@Inkling777]

Good points. I'd add that crowding 1000 or so occupation troops and Gestapo on board also made the ship crowded, hindering efforts to contain the fires.

[@zMotte]

After blucher sunk some of the surving crew swam to the shore and made it to a train station where my great grandfather happend to be. He could speak german because he had studied in germany before the war. A lot of the crew were just 18, 19 years old and when my great grandfather saw them they were crying and saying «war is hell».

[@kebman]

@@walkergargagliano142 I heard a story about German torpedo boats landing outside Stavanger during the early morning of 9 April. They quickly commandeered the phone of a nearby farm house, as they were ordered to phone Berlin upon landing. But in the chaos they dialled the wrong number... Instead their call ended up at the mansion of a Swedish count, waking him up much earlier than he'd planned. “Nä men vem fan ringer vid den här tiden på dygnet?” (Who the hell calls at this hour?) he bitched before picking up the phone and saying, "Hallå?" Bewildered when he heard German soldiers talking about having successfully taken their objective in Norway, he hung up on them and frantically tried to reach the Norwegian embassy in Stockholm. When he finally got hold of them, they thought it was prank call and hung up on him.

[@SamEmilio2]

@@walkergargagliano142 it win the award for best alternate video title

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

Those 18 and 19 year olds were much happier killing untermenschen women and children.

[@thecamocampaindude5167]

Remember: the ennemy has a life

[@chrissorreda4982]

@@walkergargagliano142 Remember, the first country the Nazis invaded, was Germany. That said, your comment is gold haha

[@b1laxson]

"An 11 inch gun is still an 11 inch gun" - (I think it was Drachinfel)

[@thelastdruidofscotland]

in this case, 5 of them, at almost point blank range, rather them, than me I think...

[@mema0005]

A cruiser so new they were still painting it as they steamed towards Norway, getting taken down by a somehow secret 50 yr old torpedo battery and a 100 yr old gun battery. What is it about "plans falling apart at the first contact with the enemy"?

[@Zaluskowsky]

Exactly. Hehe

[@oldfrend]

or as the great american philosopher Mike Tyson once said, "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" hehe

[@charlesatanasio1622]

It was mostly pure arrogance. Never let pride get to your head.

[@sskuk1095]

The gun battery was much newer!

[@confusedturtle2275]

@@sskuk1095 what? the guns were most definetely far older than the Blucher. What in the world made you think that they were newer than a ship that finished construction a day before it sunk?

[@b.elzebub9252]

- You were supposed to fire a warningshot!! - I did. - But you hit Blücher in the face!! Look, it's burning! - Well, yes. Seemed a pretty effective warning to me. *rest of the fleet gets the fuck out of dodge* - See? They got the message. All is well.

[@kjellg6532]

Noop. - No addional warning shots are needed. They ignored the warning shots at about 24:00 at Rauøy and Bolærne forts. It is correct that the first 28 cm hit was too high and made little damage, but you do npt shoot warnings with a 28 cm and only have two rounds to fire.

[@sof5858]

Great vid. Interesting fact, Eriksen was nearly court martialed over what they perceived to be an 'early surrender' of the Oscarsborg fort. Not sure what a handful of new recruits and pensioners could have done in a land battle.

[@MrNicoJac]

But not much more. Glad they weren't court martialed though!

[@blindleader42]

*perceived. I think autocorrect ambushed you. 😁

[@sof5858]

@@blindleader42 nice one 👍🏻

[@Inkling777]

That charge was unfair. As you can see from the photos, the fort, built long before, had no defense against plunging fire. If he hadn't surrendered, his men (mostly new recruits) would have died for nothing.

[@Codraroll]

@@Inkling777 That's pretty much what the court concluded too. The charges were dropped quite quickly.

[@mjszczepankiewicz8496]

Brave artileries men from Norway

[@glenchapman3899]

Pretty impressive they were basically trainees. With antiquated equipment and score two hits from two shots. Sure the range was 2000 meters, but at night into sea fog!!!

[@vitamemec4708]

This is uncanny. I was just watching this scene from A King's Choice moments before this video was uploaded

[@andmos1001]

Funny fact about the bombing og this fort: one of the bombs hit a shred, causing multiple tools to be spread. One spade nearly killed a soldier, which later reported to his commander that the enemy has run out of bombs and are currently throwing tools at them

[@Paludion]

People talk so much about the Oscarborg Fortress that I had no idea there were other defenses closer to the sea attacked as well ! That's why I like watching different videos covering the same battle : I always learn new details.

[@holdenmcgroin8699]

Germans: why no warning shots? Norwegians: oh, did you not receive them earlier mate?

[@pavelslama5543]

Oh, these were the warning shots, they just incidently managed to hit ur ship. Sorry not sorry, you may bill me later xD

[@cristiant6566]

"we mailed them"

[@fvike]

Great video. Two things of interest; Egersund is not one of the major population centers in Norway, but it was the site of the telephone cable to the UK. So it needed to be seized and cut. The other thing is that german reconnaissance had classified Oscarsborg as obsolete, and not a major threat, but they did not know about the torpedo battery.

[@Xukti]

Eriksen: "Either I will be decorated, or I will be court-martialed." Norwegian high command: "Why not both?!"

[@rosaleslem]

This made my day hahaha

[@Halgreim]

What a beautiful video on a key moment in Norwegian and WW2 history. One must bear in mind that for the commander it was a possibility that the ships was indeed british, hence the famous quote in the title, and a real chance of him ending his career in tragedy.

[@Dave_Sisson]

I was also thinking about that. But it's highly likely that they had a book with silhouettes of warships of the time which officers would have memorized as part of their training. It would have been easy to identify it as a heavy cruiser, and it had a very different profile to British heavy cruisers like the County Class. So I'm fairly sure they knew it was German.

[@kossakken]

When the King was woken up and told Norway was under attack, he asked "by whom?". The allies also had plans to get to Norway first, and if they had, they would have been the aggressor. I think for posterity we should all be happy Norway ended up on the allied side, but it wouldn't have been less right of him to fire on an Allied invasion force.

[@papaguy2001]

One of my favorite stories from WW2. The most unlikely of mini-"victories." Thanks for producing this!!

[@glennheth3472]

I visited Oslo many years ago and sailed right by the wreck of Blucher. Apparently some days you can still see an oil sheen on the water over her final resting place.

[@derrickstorm6976]

shame they haven't been able to clean the ship :(

[@glennheth3472]

@@derrickstorm6976 There was a big cleanup operation in the 90s that drained most of the fuel from her tanks.

[@Francisco1.9.8.8.]

You've done it again, TOR. I can only imagine what felt those peaceful Norwegians when they spotted those huge grey ships. Shame you didn't include the Blücher capsizing. That picture astonished me as a kid. A big hug from Uruguay

[@renanooliveira]

Hi Francisco, that picture, if it is the one that I know of, is of the SMS Blütcher after Battle of Dogger Bank in WWI.

[@Francisco1.9.8.8.]

@@renanooliveira Hi, Renan. This is the one I mentioned: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dr%C3%B8bak_Sound#/media/File%3AGerman_cruiser_Bl%C3%BCcher

[@45auto82]

Yet another true tale that proves: Never underestimate old men or their weapons….they likely know how to use them!

[@slartybartfarst55]

A great, precise telling of a fast but decisive engagement. Thank you.

[@TheOperationsRoom]

You're very welcome!

[@aghostofthepast]

The production quality of this is through the roof. The mist, terrain and ship models look fantastic! the differnce between the first vids and newer ones is insane!

[@MatSpeedle]

The Norwegian people are without doubt some of the nicest people I've ever met, but you should never underestimate them. Cleary the Germans did and paid for it.

[@derrickstorm6976]

More likely they overestimated the cloud/fog cover, and because they wanted to assault the fjord only in the cover it's pretty clear they didn't underestimate the Norwegian defenses

[@ColoradoStreaming]

Same goes for the Finns and Russia.

[@LarsCarlsen-or6ky]

Almost as nice as Danes...

[@GeorgiaBoy1961]

@ The Operations Room: Thanks for a well-done presentation. Always a pleasure to see/hear such a thorough analysis, particularly of this now largely-forgotten episode from the history of WWII.

[@bjrnarestlen1234]

Not sure if it's mentioned, but it should be mentioned that Birger Eriksen was trial'ed after the war for surrendering the castle... He was very vocal about how other Norwegian commanders behaved during the april days, something he took a lot of heat for. A famous quote form him is this, upon being asked by some of his subordinates if they really are going to shoot live rounds at the enemy: "Visst fanden skal det skytes med skarpt!" (Roughly translated as "shure as hell, we're shooting live rounds!"

[@CapricornEGO]

Prime example of a "I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion".

[@jeffho1727]

I am former enlisted and therefore have the very normal low opinion of officers but this shows an officers worth when their adherance to duty comes to the forefront. They are few and far between

[@quentintin1]

@@jeffho1727 according to wikipedia, his reasoning for deciding to ignore the ROE was that by the time the ships reached his battery, they would have passed others which would have shot warnings at them, so live fire was fair game after the war he was given the highest Norwegian military award for gallantry

[@jeffho1727]

@@quentintin1 yep he took a look at the situation , made a decision and was willing to live with it. Tops in my book.

[@feonor26]

@@jeffho1727 That's what a true leader is, someone who is willing to make the hard decisions.

[@williammcdorman6426]

@@quentintin1exactly, my thoughts also

[@florians9949]

Blucher: I am the future of the Kriegmarine. Old Norwegian Guns: Let me show you how it is done kid!

[@mace8873]

Except the guns were German, but whatever...

[@feonor26]

@@mace8873 Supplied by Krupp in the late 18th century and the torpedos were from Austria-Hungary. Ironic really, the empire strikes back ;)

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

I remember this in A King's Choice. It's as lit like Blucher being attacked

[@TrondBørgeKrokli]

Thank you for this episode. I believe that most grown-up Norwegians who know about this part of our history are proud to this day of how a small group of determined and diligent men were able to perform so well in such a small amount of time. Without the sinking of Blücher, it is very possible that the Norwegian government and Royal Family would have been arrested by the German forces before escaping Oslo and eventually going to Britain. Also, one of the crucial moments of preparation to actually fire the cannons, Colonel Birger Eriksen gave the order to prepare the cannons for battle just before midnight on April 8, the night before this event took place. Without the valuable foresight of Colonel Birger Eriksen, this historic event might not have happened.

[@kjellg6532]

Also the Norwegian gold reserve was transported north and made it to allied ports. Oberst Eriksen was warned at about midnight on the 8th from Rauer and Bolærne forts. They had received warning flares and radio signals from Pool III. patrolling close to Færder Lighhouse. Eriksen made multiple phone calls to the outer fortresses, and was informed that the intruders had ignored the warning shots from the fortresses. This was his argument for firing directly in anger later at Oscarsborg without any further warning. To his honor, he immediately set the fortress on high alert and informed the police in Drøbak to start evacuation. Acting commander of the torpedo battery was scrambled from his home in Drøbak to man the torpedo battery and get ready at once! At about 03:30 half of the men was send to the barracks to rest and eat as the ships was nor heard of. At 03:38 he received reports from Filtvet Lighthouse about 12 km to the south: “5 larger, darkened war ships passing”. “German speech was heard from the ships”. 40 min later, Blücher was at gun point and Eriksen opened fire at 04:21 with 28 cm. Torpedo battery following at about 04:40 with two torpedo hits amidships.

[@notmenotme614]

@The Operations Room. As a follow up could go do a video on the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau engaging Royal Navy ships off the coast of Norway. Sinking the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, while HM Renown runs away with the Norwegian royal family onboard

[@noahsenz854]

There is a movie about this incident called “The King’s Choice.”

[@Interdictiondeltawing]

Sinking of Blucher

[@steve1978ger]

@Jojo Rabbit - when artists are ruled by accountants.

[@slitor]

@Jojo Rabbit Well.....You were brilliant.

[@slitor]

@Jojo Rabbit Be the RABBIT!

[@TheMaster4534]

@@steve1978ger and the accountants abuse the money to diddle children

[@Interdictiondeltawing]

Blucher: *exist* Everyone in the fortress: There will be no peace

[@roryryan2933]

This channel is superb. Each situation is presented with the sort of clarity and easy watching that comes from loads of preparation. The narrative is crisp, the accompanying battle maps just right. The research is thorough. Here is an expert at work.

[@badkittynomilktonight3334]

"The King's Choice" covers this event brilliantly. "These are enemies"

[@chunkycornbread4773]

When I see an operation room video drop whatever I was doing can wait.

[@Mister_Kourkoutas]

“A ships a fool to fight a fort” - Admiral Horatio Nelson

[@mwatney9775]

For those interested in this topic, I recommend the film The King's Choice which shows this engagement and the King's subsequent escape inland with his Government.

[@RoboticDragon]

Such a great channel, Baz's Battles also did this one like a year or more ago. What a crazy event.

[@c.w.simpsonproductions1230]

The depiction of this battle in the 2016 film is a visual marvel. Excellent piece of filmmaking.

[@shanemize3775]

That decision took all kinds of guts! Those Norwegian patriots knew that the might of the German war machine was about to land on them, their country, and their families and that they were not likely to win in the end, yet they pulled those triggers any way. Wow. God bless their memory. Another great video. Please keep them coming, my friend. These are the stories that need to be told today.

[@tessjuel]

The battle for Norway wasn't that one sided. Both Norway and the UK made a couple of fatal, some of them almost unforgiveable, mistakes later and Norway still held out longer than any other country the nazis invaded (except for Russai of course).

[@johnc2438]

Great tale! Had read about this in other histories... good to have a video, and fine one at that. Thanks -- retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer in Oregon, USA. 👍

[@maultshake]

I got so excited to see you posted a new video. You made my day my man! Thank you!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

More to come!

[@baggingstruetoyou5881]

Blucher: *exists* Everyone in the fortress: "and I took that personally"

[@vegtamthewanderer1516]

This is one of the most underated actions in the war imo

[@DamnSpiders666]

"...deliberately aiming slightly high as to cause serious damage, but not sink the target..." That WAS your warning shot

[@GM-fh5jp]

One of the oldest maxims of naval warfare is that warships can not and should not engage land based forts. At Gallipoli in WW1 this lesson was once again learned the hard way by the British and French navies. The German Navy appears in this case to have forgotton such hard earned knowledge.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

If you know fortress is old, armed with barely working obsolete guns and only used to train recruits in neutral, militarily weak country that is in state of peace and not expecting any invasion you can just sail past it. They couldn't know commander was old guy who decided to ignore Rules Of Engagement on his own initiative and fire straight at them.

[@kjellg6532]

@@vksasdgaming9472 Oberst Eriksen followed his Rules of Engagement to the letter! The purpose of Oscarsborg is to prevent any intruder to pass, heading for Oslo.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

@@kjellg6532 Rules of Engagement tell how you engage possible enemy. They usually say you give a warning shot before shooting at them. If there were no doubt about correct action there is no "either I will get decorated or court-martialed. Fire. "

[@kjellg6532]

@@vksasdgaming9472 Eriksen, on four hour notice set the fortress in high alert getting ready for war in peacetime. Norway had not been at ware since 1814. Had no contact with his superiors. Knew nothing about what lay ahead. There where civilians at the fortress. The small town Drøbak could be destroyed. He and his men could have been killed. I can clearly se his distress, orders or no orders. On sees the problem in aftermath. He was accused after the war and he was decorated with the highest Norwegian medal. One of his statements is: It is easy to fire a gun, it not that easy to decide to fire. Words from a wise man.

[@jackied.v.carson6059]

I love these anecdotal videos! They have so much re-watchability- thank you for sharing!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Glad you like them!

[@ptilrem]

My request actually came through, I approve of this. The sinking of Blücher is very well known here, but I actually learned new things from this video.

[@gregparrott]

Do you know of a documentary with broader coverage of the German invasion of Norway, Norway's initial opposition to it, and Norway's underground opposition?

[@powerkingez9682]

There is a movie called max manus about a Norwegian resistance fighter who sank german ships and so on, highly recommend it, and Max was a true hero fighting against the sovjets in Finland aswell as a voulenteer before the norwegian war

[@MZMotor95]

Thanks again for doing these videos on Norwegian war history. I am very proud of the brave norwegian men and women during that difficult time. 🙂

[@Littlebudda12321]

Can't excuse my miss of this video for 1 day! Thank you again for a new magnificant video!

[@PCSheepy]

I do love an Ops Room notification Another great and informative video. Keep them coming

[@nigelroche7888]

Thank you I had never heard of this action The Colonel deserves more than the country's top military award, he deserves the recognition you are giving him, so do all the others involved.

[@ELCADAROSA]

Lesson to be learned: don’t underestimate the ol’ war dogs!

[@daveythe2nd146]

What a strong personality to make such decision. Admirable

[@hojoj.1974]

Absolutely marvelous. Thank you for telling this story.

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Our pleasure!

[@vincentstella5131]

Another awesome video from The Operations Room Crew. Keep up the great work!

[@admiralthrawnbar4899]

Honestly, it probably would have gone a lot better for them if they had ran aground. The troops would have been able to disembark, the ship wouldn't have sunk, and once Norway was captured, it could probably have been repaired. Instead, they remained on course and got torpedoed and sunk where it couldn't be salvaged.

[@LarsCarlsen-or6ky]

Boo hoo for the Krauts they were invading BTW

[@casparcoaster1936]

Jesus H... that was a real warning shot! Such rivetting stuff!!! Ain't click bait here... no, it's the reel thang!!!!!!!!! My glass (coffee cup) is raised to Colonel B & everyone at the O Room!!!!!!!!!! Many thanks.

[@willek1335]

Hi. I'm a nerd so I have a license to nitpick. 😁 6:40 The ship actually sunk on the eastern side of the isles. Great work. +1

[@MrNicoJac]

Cool detail!

[@GreenhornPhototaker]

These smaller skirmishes (in the grand scheme of things) are wonderful to hear about, thank you!

[@larrytischler570]

I had a boss in the early 70's that served as a " 90 Day Wonder" in WWII on Halsey's flagship as a fire control officer. His most difficult mission was sailing into Tokyo Bay for the US Navy conduct the unconditional surrender of Japan. Japan was ordered to cover their shore batteries with white canvass to be visible. But it was known that military factions had/were plotted to continue the war in defiance of the Emporers orders. So his mission was a complete reversal of this German invasion and the war was ended instead of being prolonged.

[@jamesharbinger1711]

“... the heavy cruiser Blucher...” In the back of my mind, lightning cracks, and a horse whinnies

[@LocalDeepstateAgent]

It still baffels me how much the ship took in terms of hits befor it sank. Still goes to show even if needed in quantity, even old equipment can destroy a modern target.

[@i-a-g-r-e-e-----f-----jo--b]

Thanks for the great history video! "Although Eriksen was honoured for his efforts after the war, he also came under criticism by governmental investigators who felt he had surrendered his fortress sooner than had been necessary. Eriksen defended himself and stated that he had been acting under enormous pressure and that he had in fact opened fire against the German invaders contrary to standing Norwegian military orders to first fire warning shots at intruders."

[@billymule961]

The depletion of German naval assets as a result of invading Norway added to the decision to cancel operation sealion.

[@Matt-re8bt]

Your content is incredible. Thank you so much for creating it.

[@Riccool]

the last time i was this early, germany still had a chance in the war

[@moirakadhan745]

@@douglasparkinson4123 Nah, dunkirk really wasn't all that important to the outcome of the war as a whole.

[@DOSFS]

@@douglasparkinson4123 Dunkirk evacuation is important IF German gonna do an ampibious invasion of UK. But they can't thx to RAF and RN. In the long run, not so much as UK wasn't the bulk of Western Allied ground force compare to US who can fill in the gap easily if UK did losed all man in Dunkirk.

[@MrNicoJac]

Germany NEVER stood ANY real chance. Look up the Resource War video by Extra Credits if you wanna understand why. (I'd include a link but don't wanna get auto-deleted by YT)

[@redtob2119]

germany never had a chance to win

[@krityaan]

@@douglasparkinson4123 Burma was not going to fall to Japan because the BEF were destroyed, there's no correlation. The Japanese were beat back by the British Indian Army. The Indian Army even sent expeditionary forces to North Africa and Europe. Nearly all of London was in flames after the battle of britain. If that didn't affect the morale of the UK, losing the BEF wouldn't have either. You overblow the importance of Dunkirk, if saving manpower was so crucial to the overall war effort, the defeat of the entire French Army should've ended the war for the Allies then and there. It didn't.

[@KorbinX]

This was fantastically well done. I will add that The History Guy has a great supplemental video on this subject as well!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Awesome, thank you!

[@Loup-mx7yt]

I love that scene in the kings choice

[@heartofoak45]

I am pleased to hear that Col Eriksen and Anderson survived the war and were subsequently decorated. May God Bless The Kingdom of Norway.

[@ArjotGill]

please do a six day war in "the operations room version"

[@rasmusster2775]

^ This!

[@Suojeluninja]

There was SO much going on that just the first mornings air war would be enough.

[@JeepWranglerIslander]

Gonna need to have comments turned off though...

[@WhollyMowly]

Superb video again. Look forward to new videos on this channel immensely.

[@imouse3246]

A great story. I never tire of hearing it.

[@joeschenk8400]

Thanks for another excellent video.

[@nicedoggie1]

When I heard "Blucher"...I half expected to hear horses whinny. That said, what impressive resolve by such an unlikely force in defense of Norway.

[@andyvarte]

Young Frankenstein!

[@benjaminlehmann]

Nice work. Again, a facinating story told with precision and style.

[@FantaFruitBoi]

There needs to be a Sabaton song written about this engagement...

[@Rulusto]

Yes, oh lord yes

[@carl626]

Sabaton are swedish, dude.

[@Rulusto]

@@carl626 so? do they not make songs about greeks and japanese? germans? russians?

[@carl626]

@@Rulusto Did I say they didn't? They odds were stacked against you for believing Sabaton was Norwegians in all fairness. This is after all the YT comment section. 🤣

[@Rulusto]

@@carl626 when did we say that sabaton are norwegian??? I think there is a misunderstanding between us here. What we said was that sabaton should make a song about the battle of drøbak sound.

[@cwulfe1]

Another exciting true story brought to life again by, "The Operations Room"! Great job!!!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Glad you enjoyed it!