Operation Weserubung

RANGERDANE · **RANGERDANE**

The German Invasion of Norway – April 1940

Germany needed rich Iron Ore from Sweden to feed the war machine now in full swing. Increasingly Britain has been intercepting and sinking German merchant ships s operating in neutral waters of the North Sea and the Skagerrak Strait.

Just over half of that iron ore was shipped to Germany from Narvik, in the far northern port in Norway. One such shipment was sailing south from Narvik in the cargo vessel Altmark. The British Navy had set up a blockade of free shipping in the North Sea and on 16 February, the British Destroyer Cossack forced the German cargo ship Altmark into the shallows along the coast of Norway and boarded her. This act of piracy was a blatant breach of Norwegian neutrality.

Der Fuhrer was furious when he heard what that gangster Churchill had done and ordered Admiral Donitz to break the English blockade and make the English pay for their piracy. Operation Hartmut began on 11 March, when the first wolf pack of U-Boats designated Eis Teufel to wreak havoc with the English blockade and provide reconnaissance on Narvik and Trondheim left port. A second Untersea Fleet was dispatched on 31 March, and a third pack sailed on 6 April.

On March 26 in a conference with Der Fuhrer Gross Admiral Raeder stated that he believed British invasion of Norway was imminent given the recent troop build up in English shipping ports, the naval blockade of the North Sea, English mining of Norwegian Sea ports and most recently the Altmark incident. Admiral Raeder briefed Der Fuhrer on the German invasion of Norway. On April 1, Hitler signed the operational order for Operation Weserubung; W Day was set for April 9, and zero hour for 0515. At 0200 on April 3, the first three ships of the lead-off groups (Ausfuhr-Staffel) departed from Hamburg bound for Narvik. Troop transports began to sail on 6 April, and the Surface Action Warships (Kriegsschiffe-Staffel) on the morning of 7 April. The largest German naval fleet since the Battle of Jutland was now underway.

Despite all German efforts to conceal invasion activity and fleet movement, the British Admiralty began to receive intelligence regarding German movements soon after the first ships of the Ausfuhr-Staffel had sailed. The most significant report was from Copenhagen; the Admiralty was informed that ten German ships carrying a division of troops were proceeding on a northerly course out of the Baltic, their reported destination Narvik. While passing this information to Admiral Sir Charles Forbes, the Commander of the Home Fleet, the Admiralty described its validity as doubtful.

A misconception was responsible for the disbelief in German intentions. British naval doctrine eschewed landing a military force on a hostile shore without assurance of firm control of the sea contiguous to the area to be invaded; it was assumed the Germans pursued a similar policy. Between April 3 and 7, all the ships comprising the Ausfuhr-Staffel and Seetransport-Staffel. Finally at 0530 on 8 April the Kriegsschiffe-Staffel had sailed from Wilhelmshaven. This force consisted of two battle cruisers, four heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, eighteen destroyers, eight torpedo boats, four minesweepers, and eight auxiliary vessels. Forty- nine surface ships and 12 U-boats had sailed - which constituted almost the entire German Navy. By 0600 on 8 April, the number of German ships, including troop transports, poised off different points of the Norwegian coast totaled 107. In manpower and tonnage the German armada represented the largest seaborne operation in history.

By this time the Admiralty could no longer ignore the overt invasion force and launched the home fleet to engage the KriegsMarine. The British Battleship Renown, two aircraft carriers and a force of eight destroyers, known as the Wilfred Force, were sailing north east toward the Norwegian coast. The Admiralty also brought a Cruiser Squadron to high alert levels as a contingency force at Rosyth. A second Cruiser Squadron was also readied to escort a British amphibious landing force to Norway. An amphibious fleet was assembled to bring an Infantry Division to Norway. The units designated to conduct the assault landings were the 146th and 148th Infantry Brigades. Of the six battalions comprising the two brigades, two battalions were assigned to seize Stavanger, two were set for Bergen, and one each would take Trondheim and Narvik. This Force was given the code name “the R4 expedition”.

The R4 expedition would be transported in troopships with an accompanying Cruiser Squadron 2 force. Planning for the operation had been conducted haphazardly, and troops, equipment and shipping were assembled hastily. While the force to be landed numbered 18,000 men, troop and equipment organization was poor.

The British had sighted several German ships at 0800 on April 7, traveling in convoy were sighted off the western entrance of the Skagerrak; the ships were part of the Kriegsschiff-Staffel. In the early afternoon a force of twelve Blenheim aircraft attacked the warships, but failed to do any damage. With the knowledge that the German Navy was at sea in force, Admiral Forbes and the remainder of the Home Fleet sailed from Scapa Flow that same evening.

The Admiralty believed that the Germans were trying to get the Gneisenau and Scharnhorst into the Atlantic to threaten the vital lend-lease trade routes. HMS Renown and eight other destroyers under the command of Admiral Whitworth sailed to meet the German navy in what might be the second battle of Jutland. During the night of April 7-8, Groups 1 and 2 of the Kriegsschiff-Staffel traveling together approached their destinations, Narvik and Trondheim. Heavy seas helped to screen German ships from British observation. Admiral Whitworth and his Renown Task Force engage the Kriegsschiff-Staffel. As Admiral Whitworth sailed to engage the Kriegsmarine he radioed the Admiralty that he was engaging and required the remainder of the home fleet to engage the Germans. Admiral Forbes and the Home Fleet sailed north to the sound of the guns.

On the afternoon of April 8 an incident occurred which delayed the home fleet from engaging Kriegsschiff-Staffel Group 1. At 1430 a British flying boat sighted Hipper and four destroyers sailing westward; this was Group 2, and the westerly course was merely a maneuver to coordinate the attack on Trondheim. Knowledge of Group 2's location, however, caused Admiral Forbes to change the Home Fleet's sailing course from northeast to northwest in an effort to intercept. Intelligence that a German flotilla was steering on a westward course confused Forbes. Admiral Forbes changed his fleet course again, after determining that he had no chance to intercept the German western force, he too assumed that the German force might be trying to break out of the North Sea with the goal of reaching the Atlantic trade routes.

Ten destroyers from Kriegsschiff-Staffel Group 1 sailed through Vestfjord and into Ofotfjord without being observed. At 0530 on April 9 this force appeared off Narvik, where the Germans were finally challenged by the Eidsvold and Norge, two Norwegian coastal defense ships, which were torpedoed and sunk. After this brief engagement the destroyers disembarked their troops along the quays of Narvik harbor. General Edward Dietl, commanding the German 3rd Mountain Division, went ashore with the first troops, met the local Norwegian commander, and demanded immediate surrender. Caught by surprise, the Norwegians were in no position to resist; they capitulated without resistance. At 1810 Dietl reported that Narvik was in German hands.

Axis Sea Fleet:
Group 1: BC 'Gneisenau' and 'Scharnhorst' , and 10 Z Destroyers to attack Narvik
Group 2: CA 'Hipper' and 4 Z Destroyers to attack Trondheim
Group 3: CA Bremse, Cl 'Koln' and 'Konigsberg' and 4 Z Destroyers to attack Bergen
Group 4: Cl 'Karlsruhe' and 4 Z Destroyers and 6 S-Boats to attack Stavanger
Group 5: CA 'Blucher' and 'Lutzow' and Cl 'Emden' and 4 Z Destroyers and 6 S-Boats was to attack Oslo.
Group 6: U-boat (x 12) screening west of German fleet
Narvik Landing group: Nordmark (x 4)
Trondheim Landing group: Nordmark (x 4)
Bergen Landing group: Nordmark (x 4)
Oslo Landing group: Nordmark (x 4)

Axis Air Gruppen Skaget:
1st Staffel Jagdgeschwader "Richthofen" (Me109 x 4)
2nd Staffel Jagdgeschwader "Galland" (Me109 x 4)
1st Staffel Schlachtgeschwader (JU87 x 4)
2nd Staffel Schlachtgeschwader (JU87 x 4)
3rd Staffel Schlachtgeschwader (JU87 x 4)
4th Staffel Schlachtgeschwader (JU87 x 4)
1st Staffel Kampfgeschwader (JU88 x 4)
2nd Staffel Kampfgeschwader (JU88 x 4)
3rd Staffel Kampfgeschwader (JU88 x 4)
4th Staffel Kampfgeschwader (JU88 x 4)

British Fleet:
Home Fleet Group 1: HMS Renown (Hood), HMS Glorious (Illustrious), HMS Ark Royal, Sea Hurricane (x2), Swordfish (x 3), Truculent and 8 Destroyers (Javelin)
Home Fleet Group 2: HMS Rodney, HMS Valiant (Warspite), HMS Warspite, HMS Furious (Illustrious), Sea Hurricane, Swordfish, Truculent and 8 Destroyers (Javelin)
Cruiser Group 1: HMS Cumberland (Kent), HMS Kent and 8 Destroyers (Javelin)
Cruiser Group 2: HMS Neptune (Ajax), HMS Ajax and 8 Destroyers (Javelin)
Troop Transport Group: 8 x Jeremiah O’Brian

Royal Air Force Scappa Group:
46 Squadron Hurricanes (x2)
24 Squadron Wellingtons (x2)

Victory Conditions:
1. Axis Player wins by allowing the Invasion Forces to remain in port for 8 turns.
2. Allied Player wins by landing Invasion Forces in two Norwegian ports
3. Additionally each player's objective is to destroy their opponent’s fleets. Points are accumulated based on the cost of each unit.
Bonus Points:
Battleships / Aircraft Carrier +10
Cruisers, Aircraft and U-Boats +5

Scenario Special Rules:
Warspite SA range 6 is not in play
Halifax Bomber SA defensive armor, high level bombing, pin pointer is not in play
Kondor SA Anti-Ship missile is not in play