Battle of Drøbak Sound 1940
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 9 April 1940 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1940 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Norway | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Norwegian Campaign, Operation Weserübung, World War II | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 59.7009, 10.5927 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Drøbak Sound took place in Drøbak Sound, the northernmost part of the outer Oslofjord in south-eastern Norway, on 9 April 1940. It marked the end of the "Phoney War" and the beginning of active combat in World War II in Western Europe.
A small fleet of the Nazi German navy (the Kriegsmarine) led by the heavy cruiser Blücher was dispatched up the Oslofjord to begin the German invasion of Norway, to seize the Norwegian capital Oslo and capture King Haakon VII and his government. The fleet was engaged in the fjord by Oscarsborg Fortress, an aging coastal installation near Drøbak, that had been relegated to training coastal artillery servicemen – leading the Germans to disregard its defensive value. However, unbeknownst to German military intelligence, the fortress' most powerful weapon was a torpedo battery, which would be used to great effect against the German invaders.
The fortress' armaments worked flawlessly despite their age, sinking the Blücher in the fjord and forcing the rest of the German fleet to withdraw. The loss of the German flagship, which carried most of the troops and Gestapo agents intended to occupy Oslo, delayed the German occupation long enough for King Haakon and his government to escape from the capital.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Drøbak Sound (revision 1381293155), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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