Kilbotn is a village in

Harstad Municipality ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the town of Harstad, the most populous town in Central Hålogaland, ...

Troms og Finnmark Troms og Finnmark (; sme, Romsa ja Finnmárku ; fkv, Tromssa ja Finmarkku; fi, Tromssa ja Finnmark, lit. Troms and Finnmark in English), is a county in northern Norway that was established on 1 January 2020 as the result of a regional reform. ...

county,

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 ...

. The village is located about south of the center of the town of Harstad, along the Vågsfjorden on the east side of

Hinnøya Hinnøya is the fourth-largest island in Norway, and the largest outside the Svalbard archipelago. The lies just off the western coast of Northern Norway. The island sits on the border of Nordland and Troms og Finnmark counties. The western ...

island. The villages of

Fauskevåg Fauskevåg is a village in Harstad Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the island of Hinnøya, along the Vågsfjorden, about south of the town of Harstad. The population (2001) of Fauskevåg is 341. The village ...

and

Sørvik Sørvik or Sørvika is a village in Harstad Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located along the Vågsfjorden on the island of Hinnøya about south of the town of Harstad Its population (2001) is about 451. The village ...

a are just a few kilometres to the south of Kilbotn. The population (2001) of the village is 332, but since 2002 it has been considered a part of the

Harstad ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the town of Harstad, the most populous town in Central Hålogalan ...

urban area.

History

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

used Kilbotn as a

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

base. On 4 May 1945, the last air raid of World War II in Europe took place when the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

attacked the Kilbotn anchorage with 44 aircraft from three offshore aircraft carriers in Operation Judgement. The harbour contained the submarine

depot ship A depot ship is an auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly limited space for maintenance equipment and crew dining, berthing and ...

''Black Watch'' with the moored alongside. The wreck of ''Black Watch'' lies in Kilbotn harbour close to the wreck of ''U-711''.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040727/http://www.kilbotn.com/ {{authority control Villages in Troms Populated places of Arctic Norway Harstad