German U-boat bases in occupied Norway
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

German U-boat bases in occupied Norway operated between 1940 and 1945, when the '' Kriegsmarine'' (German navy), converted several
naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that u ...
s in
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
into submarine bases. Norwegian coastal cities became available to the ''Kriegsmarine'' after the invasion of Denmark and Norway in April 1940. Following the conclusion of the Norwegian Campaign (June 1940), the occupying Germans began to transfer U-boats stationed in Germany to many Norwegian port cities such as
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...
, Narvik,
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
,
Hammerfest Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hammerf ...
and Kirkenes. Initial planning for many U-boat bunkers began in late 1940. Starting in 1941, the
Todt Organisation Organisation Todt (OT; ) was a civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi. The organisation was responsible for a huge range of engineering projec ...
began the construction of bunkers in Bergen and Trondheim. These bunkers were completed by Weyss & Freytagg AG between 1942 and 1943. The ''Kriegsmarine'' generally used U-boats stationed in Norway to extend its range of operation in the North Atlantic and
Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...
s. The Norwegian bases housed U-boats that took part in the interception of
Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
convoys crossing the Arctic Ocean to the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. Following the
liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany inv ...
by the Western Allies in 1944, U-boat activity in many Norwegian ports increased. With the French ports captured or cut off, many German U-boats re-located to Norwegian port cities. During the German occupation of Norway, the ''Kriegsmarine'' stationed over 240 U-boats in the Nordic country at one time or another, most of them members of the
11th U-boat Flotilla The 11th U-boat Flotilla (German ''11. Unterseebootsflottille'') was formed on 15 May 1942 in Bergen, Norway. The flotilla operated mainly in the North Sea and against the Russian convoys (JW, PQ, QP and RA series) in the Arctic Sea. The flotill ...
, which had 190 U-boats in its fleet during the flotilla's entire career. Other well-known flotillas in Norway included the
13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...
and 14th Flotillas.


German invasion of Norway

Germany invaded both Norway and
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...
on 9 April 1940. Norway was very important to Germany for two reasons: firstly as a base for naval units to harass Allied shipping in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, and secondly to secure shipments of iron ore coming in from Sweden through the port of Narvik. During
Operation Weserübung Operation Weserübung (german: Unternehmen Weserübung , , 9 April – 10 June 1940) was Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. In the early morning of 9 Ap ...
, Denmark fell in less than a day, becoming the briefest invasion in recorded military history. The Norwegians put up a stiffer resistance to the invading German forces. Nonetheless, by May the southern half of Norway was under German control. Following the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, the Allies were forced to evacuate Narvik, leaving the country to the Germans who would occupy it until the end of the war. After the invasion,
Vidkun Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (, ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who nominally list of heads of government of Norway, headed the government of Norway during t ...
led the collaborationist government of Norway, based around the fascist
Nasjonal Samling Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norwegian far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling and a group of supporters such ...
("National Gathering") party.


German use of Norwegian ports

During the
occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...
, several of the nation's naval ports were turned into U-boat bases that were used to harass Allied shipping in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. These included Bergen, Narvik, Trondheim, Hammerfest and Kirkenes. Over 240 U-boats were stationed in Norway at various times during the war, most of them were members of the
11th U-boat Flotilla The 11th U-boat Flotilla (German ''11. Unterseebootsflottille'') was formed on 15 May 1942 in Bergen, Norway. The flotilla operated mainly in the North Sea and against the Russian convoys (JW, PQ, QP and RA series) in the Arctic Sea. The flotill ...
which had 190 U-boats in its fleet during the flotilla's career. Other well-known flotillas in Norway included the
13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...
and 14th flotillas.


Bergen

The southern port of Bergen was captured by the Germans on 9 April 1940, on the first day of the invasion. The Germans immediately saw the potential for several Norwegian harbours and ports to function as bases of operation for the ''Kriegsmarines U-boats patrolling the North Sea and the Arctic Ocean. It would become the home of the
11th U-boat Flotilla The 11th U-boat Flotilla (German ''11. Unterseebootsflottille'') was formed on 15 May 1942 in Bergen, Norway. The flotilla operated mainly in the North Sea and against the Russian convoys (JW, PQ, QP and RA series) in the Arctic Sea. The flotill ...
. Bergen was the first Norwegian port to be established as a U-boat base. From July 1940 to the end of the war in May 1945, 270 U-boat patrols originated in Bergen. Bergen was also the site where the only
type XXI submarine Type XXI submarines were a class of German diesel–electric '' Elektroboot'' (German: "electric boat") submarines designed during the Second World War. One hundred and eighteen were completed, with four being combat-ready. During the war only t ...
left for a patrol in the war; left the port on 3 May 1945. Planning for the first U-boat bunker in Bergen began in late 1940 and was undertaken by the German military engineering group, the Todt Organisation. It coordinated the building of the first U-boat bunker in Bergen, codenamed ''Bruno'', as well as several other U-boat bunkers along the Norwegian coast. The construction of ''Bruno'' began in 1941. When it was completed it had seven pens, three of which were "dry" docks and three of which were "wet" docks. The seventh pen was used for storing fuel, torpedoes and other essentials. The bunker itself had a roof up to thick and was by in area. Once ''Bruno'' was completed, it could hold up to 9 U-boats. Bergen remained a quiet base during the first few years of the occupation, experiencing only one large Allied air attack. In 1943, the U-boat base added two new bunkers, ''U-Stützpunkt Prien'' and ''U-Stützpunkt Weddingen'' along with a shipyard named ''Danziger Werft''. The U-boat base at Bergen grew exponentially after the liberation of France by the
Western Allies The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy ...
, when the senior commanding officer of U-boat operations in the west (" FdU West") was moved from
Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...
, France to the city. A large expansion program was conducted at the base and several new anti-aircraft guns were set up to protect the U-boat bunkers. More engineers and technicians were moved to Bergen to accommodate the increased technical requirements of the base as well. Two more bunkers named ''Werft Gemeinschaftslager 1'' and ''Gemeinschaftslager 2'' were also built during this time. In late 1944 several British air attacks damaged the U-boat bases in Bergen. During one of these attacks, a 'Tallboy' bomb went straight through the roof of pen 3, damaging it beyond repair and putting it out of action for the remainder of the war. The base was handed over to the Allies, along with the rest of occupied Norway, on 8 May 1945 when all German forces in Europe surrendered. As a result of the intensive bombing of the city in late 1944 and 1945, the Bergen area was one of the worst damaged regions in the south of Norway at the conclusion of the war.


Trondheim

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
was an important U-boat base in Norway during the war. It was the home of the 13th flotilla and sent out around 55 U-boat patrols between June 1940 and the end of the war in May 1945. The list of surrendered U-boats in Trondheim included following: , , , , , , , , , , , and . Two U-boat bunkers, codenamed "
Dora I Dora I (Dora 1) is a former German submarine base and submarine pen or bunker built in Trondheim, Norway. Construction of the bunker (designated by the Germans as DORA I) was undertaken during the Second World War. Nearby is the uncompleted Do ...
" and "
Dora II Dora II (Dora 2) is an unfinished German submarine base and submarine pen or bunker in Trondheim, Norway, which is next to Dora I (Dora 1). Construction of the bunker (designated by the Germans as DORA II) was undertaken during the Second World War ...
", were constructed in Trondheim to provide additional repair facilities outside Germany itself. Like the bunkers in Bergen, the two bunkers in Trondheim came under the control of the Todt Organisation. Only "Dora I", which the ''Kriegsmarine'' took charge of in 1943, was completed before the end of the war. At long and wide it had five pens with space to hold seven U-boats. Construction of "Dora II" began in 1942Jak P Mallmann Showell ''Hitler's U-boat Bases'' (2002) Sutton Publishing but was never completed. If finished it would have been long by wide, with four pens capable of holding six U-boats.


Notes


References

* * * Mallmann Showell, Jak P. ''Hitler's U-boat Bases''. (2002) Sutton Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:German U-Boat Bases in Occupied Norway Military history of Norway during World War II Kriegsmarine U-boats German Navy submarine bases Norway history-related lists World War II naval-related lists