| The German heavy cruiser Blucher was the German
Kriegsmarine's newest ship at the outbreak of World War II. Blucher is most
notable for being sunk by Norwegian guns on April 9, 1940, less than three years
after her launch, on the first day of the invasion of Norway (Operation Weserubung).
Blucher, the former pocket battleship and recently
reclassified heavy cruiser Lutzow and the light cruiser Emden, commanded
by Rear Admiral Oskar Kummetz, were sailing up the Oslo fjord to land troops for
the occupation of the Norwegian capital, Oslo, but the 47 year old (and, ironically,
German) 28cm guns of Oscarsborg fortress opened fire at 05:21 German time (04:21
Norwegian time) from a range of 1400 to 1800 meters, quickly putting Blucher
out of control (Blucher was hit directly above the bridge in the artillery
command station and the second 280mm hit set fire to aircraft fuel deposits).
She briefly returned fire, but as "the bigger guns could not find any aim
of military importance", the impact on the fortress was only marginal. She
then drifted into range of a torpedo battery, which hit her with two torpedoes.
Blucher sank at Askholmene at 07:23 German time (06:23 Norwegian time), taking
830 men with her into the deep. As a result of the sinking,
Oslo was not captured for several hours after the planned invasion of the capital,
allowing the Norwegian royal family, parliament and cabinet to escape: additionally,
Norway's gold reserves were moved out of reach of the invaders and ultimately
shipped to the Allies for Norway's use during the war. Blucher
still lies at the bottom of the Oslofjord north of Oscarsborg fortress. |
