Chapter XVII
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Chapter XVII: Neutrality and the Altmark
Some 37 Norwegian merchant vessels were sunk while the country was still neutral. The number could’ve been higher had the Navy not ordered ships to hug the coast as much as possible, and sent its destroyers to escort incoming merchants, while securing fjords with smaller patrol craft. Northrop N-3PB floatplanes kept an eye on Norway’s waters, notifying the Navy when new merchant vessels entered Norway’s waters.
When the Soviet Union invaded Finland on 30 November, 1939, Norway, like much of the rest of the world, was sympathetic to the Finns. As it became clear that the Red Army was having a tough time against the Finns, volunteers from many countries, mostly Scandinavian, began to make their way to Finland. Active military personnel were not permitted to go to Finland, but over 700 Norwegians would eventually volunteer. Finnish refugees were accepted in Finnmark county as the Red Army advanced to their homes, and the Royal Norwegian Army strength on the Finnish border was increased. Fundraisers were conducted, raising money and guns for the Finnish war effort, among other things, and more and more volunteers began to go to Finland. A dozen of the older 7.5cm guns that had been the Army’s main artillery piece until 1935 were covertly transferred to the grateful Finns, while Norway allowed aircraft heading for Finland to use Sola Air Station as a base. However, the real highlight of Norway’s neutrality was the Altmark incident.
15 February, 1940
Near Bergen
Altmark’s Chief Engineer was staring worriedly at the gauges on his beautiful engines. Most were red-lining, as Altmark’s engines strained to get her to Norwegian waters before the British destroyer overtook her. Altmark was theoretically capable of 22 knots with her engines pushed, but with the wear from being at sea for months, he doubted she could go over 20. If the ship managed to get into Norway’s territorial waters and convinced the Norwegians to allow her to go to Bergen, the ship would be safe. If the Norwegians figured out that the ship had hundreds of prisoners onboard, or that she had some 3.7cm anti-aircraft guns, they would probably deny her entrance, and she would be captured.
On the bridge, Heinrich Dau watched as the British destroyer’s silhouette slowly grew. The destroyer was probably doing over 30 knots, but was still at least 15 kilometers out. Altmark was only about 5 kilometers from Norwegian territorial waters where, he was sure, the Norwegians would protect a civilian ship. Altmark’s guns were disguised, and every effort was being made to make sure that the prisoners had no clue about what was going on, so that they couldn’t alert an inspection committee. A plan had been set up to make sure that an inspection party would think that Altmark was just a German merchant tanker, and nothing else. He smiled as he saw a floatplane approaching the ships. That meant that the Norwegians would send a force to protect him. Altmark was saved.
HNOMS Sleipner sliced across the North Sea at flank speed. She’d been escorting a pair of cargo ships, but a report of a German tanker being chased by a British destroyer called for a warship. Odin, which was south of Bergen on escort duty, was also coming, though she was a ways out, while Gyller was raising steam in Marineholm Naval Base. Commander Oliver Larsen hoped this would be an easily handled incident. Lookouts reported a merchant ship ahead. That would be the ship being pursued. The ship was at battle stations, with guns fully manned, and torpedo tubes ready to discharge their deadly fish
Sleipner closed on the German vessel, the name Altmark written on her bows. When they were close enough, Larsen keyed the megaphone. “Tanker Altmark, this is His Majesty’s Norwegian Ship Sleipner. Please identify yourself.”
A reply came from the Altmark, “Am Norddeutscher Lloyd Line tanker Altmark, pursued by British warship. Requesting escort to Bergen, inspections welcome.”
Larsen turned to his XO. “Seems legit,” he shrugged. “If the inspection turns up anything fishy, we’ll force her to leave immediately.”
“Sir!” a signalman burst onto the bridge, which, unlike those of British destroyers, was fully enclosed to help with the cold weather. “HMS Cossack, the ship after Altmark, says she is carrying prisoners from the Graf Spee!”
Everyone had heard about the Graf Spee’s demise at the River Plate, and if that were true, along with the German ship faking her identity, Larsen could make her leave. He decided on a compromise.
“XO, the water doesn’t seem too rough, does it?”
“No, sir. Calm day.”
“Okay. I want you to take a party to inspect that tanker over on the motor boat.” He turned to the signalman. “Signal Cossack to send a boat to conduct a joint inspection, tell that to Altmark as well. Tell Cossack that if Altmark is clean, she will be allowed to enter Norwegian waters, and she must back off.”
The XO was in the process of launching the boat when Cossack’s reply was received. “Captain Vian thanks you for your willingness to uphold your neutrality, a boat will be sent.” Larsen breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully the tense situation could be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.
The investigation turned up nothing. Dau had managed to keep his prisoners unaware of the situation, and routed the investigation to not inspect where they were. The respective boarding parties were on the forecastle, and from there they would proceed to their boats and leave (the British very unhappily), when a gust of wind caught a tarp covering some of the clutter there. A British seaman moved to catch the tarp, but stopped when he realized what he was looking at: a twin 3.7cm gun, concealed behind an inconspicuous disguise of tools and cargo. He gave a shout, and the British party began waving at Cossack to get Vian’s attention. Some British sailors quickly took down the disguise around the gun, pointing at it, while the rest of the British sailors began brawling with the Germans to keep the gun uncovered to get Cossack’s attention. Sleipner trained her guns on Altmark, while Odin appeared to the south.
Cossack gave a great puff of smoke as she surged forwards, her guns turning to track Altmark. Many of the brawling sailors, along with the Norwegians attempting to break up the fight, lost their balance as Altmark turned sharply to starboard, aiming to ram Cossack. Vian, seeing this, cut his speed, causing Altmark to miss him, and brought Cossack alongside Altmark, the port quad 0.5 inch machine gun raking the rear decks. The destroyer grazed Altmark’s side, armed British sailors and marines spilling over her gunwales. The one-sided battle was quickly won by the angry Brits, three of them waving cutlasses, and the boarders, along with the Norwegians, went below decks, quickly finding the 300 odd prisoners. A famous exchange took place when a sailor shouted “are there any Englishmen here?” and was met with a large number of yelled confirmations. He replied, “well, the Navy’s here!” and was met with cheers.
A tense situation had developed. The British had attacked Altmark, which, though now revealed to be a combatant, was in neutral waters, and the Norwegians had not given the British approval to take control of the tanker. With 2(soon 3) destroyers, Larsen also had a large enough force to defeat Cossack if it came to that. An agreement was eventually reached that the British were allowed to keep the liberated prisoners, but the Norwegians would intern Altmark and her crew. In early March, as part of the Norwegian government’s appeasement to Germany to stop her from invading, Altmark and her crew were allowed to return to Germany.
The Altmark Incident was an important morale boost for the British in the midst of the Phoney War, and the crew of Cossack were met with a hero’s welcome when they docked at Leith. The ship was immortalized in a painting entitled ‘The Royal Navy’s Last Cutlass Action,’ showing the sailors, led by men with cutlasses, jumping aboard Altmark as Cossack draws alongside, guns blazing. Several medals were awarded, and nearly everyone in the United Kingdom and France knew of the battle within the week.
Adolf Hitler was enraged that the Norwegians hadn’t enforced their neutrality, and the Altmark Incident pushed him into a frenzy. He ordered Operation Weserübung to be conducted on April 9, and any chance of the invasion not happening was squashed. Fitting out ships for the invasion was continued at a quickened pace, and plans were soon finalized for invading Norway and Denmark.
Kommander Larsen expected to be reprimanded for his failing to stop Cossack from boarding Altmark, but all Kontreadmiral Tank-Nielsen did was tell him to carry out his own inspection next time. Privately, the higher-ups felt that Larsen had done an okay job-after all, there were British prisoners aboard the Altmark, which turned out to be armed, and going out of her way to sail through Norwegian waters. Larsen had managed to get the British to chill-if he’d found nothing in an only Norwegian inspection, they may have done what they did anyway and board Altmark. Cossack approached Altmark from the side opposite Sleipner, so Larsen couldn’t have fired effectively, and it happened extremely fast, so it was okay he hadn’t been able to get between the ships. The British got what they wanted, and had been given fair cooperation by the Norwegians, but not a free hand, so Norway’s neutrality would still be taken seriously by them. Altmark and her crew were returned to Germany, but as she was armed and carrying prisoners, the Germans didn’t (publicly) complain too much. But privately, they were planning to do much more than just complain.
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Chapter XVII: Neutrality and the Altmark
Some 37 Norwegian merchant vessels were sunk while the country was still neutral. The number could’ve been higher had the Navy not ordered ships to hug the coast as much as possible, and sent its destroyers to escort incoming merchants, while securing fjords with smaller patrol craft. Northrop N-3PB floatplanes kept an eye on Norway’s waters, notifying the Navy when new merchant vessels entered Norway’s waters.
When the Soviet Union invaded Finland on 30 November, 1939, Norway, like much of the rest of the world, was sympathetic to the Finns. As it became clear that the Red Army was having a tough time against the Finns, volunteers from many countries, mostly Scandinavian, began to make their way to Finland. Active military personnel were not permitted to go to Finland, but over 700 Norwegians would eventually volunteer. Finnish refugees were accepted in Finnmark county as the Red Army advanced to their homes, and the Royal Norwegian Army strength on the Finnish border was increased. Fundraisers were conducted, raising money and guns for the Finnish war effort, among other things, and more and more volunteers began to go to Finland. A dozen of the older 7.5cm guns that had been the Army’s main artillery piece until 1935 were covertly transferred to the grateful Finns, while Norway allowed aircraft heading for Finland to use Sola Air Station as a base. However, the real highlight of Norway’s neutrality was the Altmark incident.
15 February, 1940
Near Bergen
Altmark’s Chief Engineer was staring worriedly at the gauges on his beautiful engines. Most were red-lining, as Altmark’s engines strained to get her to Norwegian waters before the British destroyer overtook her. Altmark was theoretically capable of 22 knots with her engines pushed, but with the wear from being at sea for months, he doubted she could go over 20. If the ship managed to get into Norway’s territorial waters and convinced the Norwegians to allow her to go to Bergen, the ship would be safe. If the Norwegians figured out that the ship had hundreds of prisoners onboard, or that she had some 3.7cm anti-aircraft guns, they would probably deny her entrance, and she would be captured.
On the bridge, Heinrich Dau watched as the British destroyer’s silhouette slowly grew. The destroyer was probably doing over 30 knots, but was still at least 15 kilometers out. Altmark was only about 5 kilometers from Norwegian territorial waters where, he was sure, the Norwegians would protect a civilian ship. Altmark’s guns were disguised, and every effort was being made to make sure that the prisoners had no clue about what was going on, so that they couldn’t alert an inspection committee. A plan had been set up to make sure that an inspection party would think that Altmark was just a German merchant tanker, and nothing else. He smiled as he saw a floatplane approaching the ships. That meant that the Norwegians would send a force to protect him. Altmark was saved.
HNOMS Sleipner sliced across the North Sea at flank speed. She’d been escorting a pair of cargo ships, but a report of a German tanker being chased by a British destroyer called for a warship. Odin, which was south of Bergen on escort duty, was also coming, though she was a ways out, while Gyller was raising steam in Marineholm Naval Base. Commander Oliver Larsen hoped this would be an easily handled incident. Lookouts reported a merchant ship ahead. That would be the ship being pursued. The ship was at battle stations, with guns fully manned, and torpedo tubes ready to discharge their deadly fish
Sleipner closed on the German vessel, the name Altmark written on her bows. When they were close enough, Larsen keyed the megaphone. “Tanker Altmark, this is His Majesty’s Norwegian Ship Sleipner. Please identify yourself.”
A reply came from the Altmark, “Am Norddeutscher Lloyd Line tanker Altmark, pursued by British warship. Requesting escort to Bergen, inspections welcome.”
Larsen turned to his XO. “Seems legit,” he shrugged. “If the inspection turns up anything fishy, we’ll force her to leave immediately.”
“Sir!” a signalman burst onto the bridge, which, unlike those of British destroyers, was fully enclosed to help with the cold weather. “HMS Cossack, the ship after Altmark, says she is carrying prisoners from the Graf Spee!”
Everyone had heard about the Graf Spee’s demise at the River Plate, and if that were true, along with the German ship faking her identity, Larsen could make her leave. He decided on a compromise.
“XO, the water doesn’t seem too rough, does it?”
“No, sir. Calm day.”
“Okay. I want you to take a party to inspect that tanker over on the motor boat.” He turned to the signalman. “Signal Cossack to send a boat to conduct a joint inspection, tell that to Altmark as well. Tell Cossack that if Altmark is clean, she will be allowed to enter Norwegian waters, and she must back off.”
The XO was in the process of launching the boat when Cossack’s reply was received. “Captain Vian thanks you for your willingness to uphold your neutrality, a boat will be sent.” Larsen breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully the tense situation could be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.
The investigation turned up nothing. Dau had managed to keep his prisoners unaware of the situation, and routed the investigation to not inspect where they were. The respective boarding parties were on the forecastle, and from there they would proceed to their boats and leave (the British very unhappily), when a gust of wind caught a tarp covering some of the clutter there. A British seaman moved to catch the tarp, but stopped when he realized what he was looking at: a twin 3.7cm gun, concealed behind an inconspicuous disguise of tools and cargo. He gave a shout, and the British party began waving at Cossack to get Vian’s attention. Some British sailors quickly took down the disguise around the gun, pointing at it, while the rest of the British sailors began brawling with the Germans to keep the gun uncovered to get Cossack’s attention. Sleipner trained her guns on Altmark, while Odin appeared to the south.
Cossack gave a great puff of smoke as she surged forwards, her guns turning to track Altmark. Many of the brawling sailors, along with the Norwegians attempting to break up the fight, lost their balance as Altmark turned sharply to starboard, aiming to ram Cossack. Vian, seeing this, cut his speed, causing Altmark to miss him, and brought Cossack alongside Altmark, the port quad 0.5 inch machine gun raking the rear decks. The destroyer grazed Altmark’s side, armed British sailors and marines spilling over her gunwales. The one-sided battle was quickly won by the angry Brits, three of them waving cutlasses, and the boarders, along with the Norwegians, went below decks, quickly finding the 300 odd prisoners. A famous exchange took place when a sailor shouted “are there any Englishmen here?” and was met with a large number of yelled confirmations. He replied, “well, the Navy’s here!” and was met with cheers.
A tense situation had developed. The British had attacked Altmark, which, though now revealed to be a combatant, was in neutral waters, and the Norwegians had not given the British approval to take control of the tanker. With 2(soon 3) destroyers, Larsen also had a large enough force to defeat Cossack if it came to that. An agreement was eventually reached that the British were allowed to keep the liberated prisoners, but the Norwegians would intern Altmark and her crew. In early March, as part of the Norwegian government’s appeasement to Germany to stop her from invading, Altmark and her crew were allowed to return to Germany.
The Altmark Incident was an important morale boost for the British in the midst of the Phoney War, and the crew of Cossack were met with a hero’s welcome when they docked at Leith. The ship was immortalized in a painting entitled ‘The Royal Navy’s Last Cutlass Action,’ showing the sailors, led by men with cutlasses, jumping aboard Altmark as Cossack draws alongside, guns blazing. Several medals were awarded, and nearly everyone in the United Kingdom and France knew of the battle within the week.
Adolf Hitler was enraged that the Norwegians hadn’t enforced their neutrality, and the Altmark Incident pushed him into a frenzy. He ordered Operation Weserübung to be conducted on April 9, and any chance of the invasion not happening was squashed. Fitting out ships for the invasion was continued at a quickened pace, and plans were soon finalized for invading Norway and Denmark.
Kommander Larsen expected to be reprimanded for his failing to stop Cossack from boarding Altmark, but all Kontreadmiral Tank-Nielsen did was tell him to carry out his own inspection next time. Privately, the higher-ups felt that Larsen had done an okay job-after all, there were British prisoners aboard the Altmark, which turned out to be armed, and going out of her way to sail through Norwegian waters. Larsen had managed to get the British to chill-if he’d found nothing in an only Norwegian inspection, they may have done what they did anyway and board Altmark. Cossack approached Altmark from the side opposite Sleipner, so Larsen couldn’t have fired effectively, and it happened extremely fast, so it was okay he hadn’t been able to get between the ships. The British got what they wanted, and had been given fair cooperation by the Norwegians, but not a free hand, so Norway’s neutrality would still be taken seriously by them. Altmark and her crew were returned to Germany, but as she was armed and carrying prisoners, the Germans didn’t (publicly) complain too much. But privately, they were planning to do much more than just complain.
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