or (or unofficially: ''Rombaksfjord'') is a
fjord that branches off of the main
Ofotfjorden in
Narvik Municipality in
Nordland
Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...
county,
Norway. The fjord is about long and is surrounded by steep mountains, and the
town of Narvik lies on the south shore of the mouth of the fjord. The
European route E06 and
European route E10 highways run along the northern shores of the fjord. The fjord has two bridge crossings: the
Hålogaland Bridge
The Hålogaland Bridge ( no, Hålogalandsbrua) is a suspension bridge which crosses the Rombaksfjorden in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is the second-longest bridge span in Norway. The bridge is part of the European Route E ...
, completed in 2018, crosses at mouth of the Rombaken fjord and the
Rombak Bridge
The Rombak Bridge ( no, Rombaksbrua) is a suspension bridge in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The bridge crosses the Rombaken fjord near the town of Narvik. The bridge was opened in 1964. The main span is and the maximum clea ...
which crosses at a narrow point about mid-way down the fjord.
History
Along the inner part of the fjord there used to be a city——with 700 inhabitants.
[Hadde både bordell og bowlingbane - så forsvant byen]
ad brothel and bowling lane - then the city disappeared/ref>
It had its time of greatness during the construction of the Ofotbanen
The Ofoten Line ( no, Ofotbanen) is a railway line in Narvik, Norway. It runs from the Port of Narvik to Riksgränsen on the Norway–Sweden border, where the line continues as the Ore Line via Kiruna and Gällivare to Luleå. The Ofoten Line ...
, between 1898-1903.[
]
World War II
Rombaken was the site of several naval battles during the Battle of Narvik
The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940, as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian town of Narvik, as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War.
...
in World War II. Ten German destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s, half the destroyer force of the Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
, and one U-boat were sunk during the battle. It is also where ORP ''Grom'', one of the two most heavily armed and fastest destroyers of World War II, was sunk by the a Heinkel He 11 from Luftwaffe's ''Kampfgeschwader'' 100.
After World War II
Parts of the bow of the German destroyer ''Georg Thiele
The German destroyer ''Z2 Georg Thiele'' was one of four Type 1934-class destroyers built for the German Navy ('' Kriegsmarine'') during the mid-1930s. She was named after Georg Thiele, a Korvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain) who commanded the ...
'' remain visible above the water in Rombaksbotn to this day. The wrecks at Narvik remain popular diving spots, although some are off-limits because they still contain unexploded ordnance. Three of the German destroyers were lifted in 1964 and moved to Framnesodden, near Eidsvoid, to clear the shipping lane. The destroyers '' Anton Schmitt'', '' Diether von Roeder'' and ''Wilhelm Heidkamp
Pumpenmeister (mil. rank: Maat) Wilhelm Heidkamp (20 January 1883 – 5 October 1931) was a German sailor who fought in World War I.
Biography
Heidkamp was born in Herkenrath and joined the Imperial German Navy as a machinist in 1902. He ...
'' rest in of water there and were opened for diving. A number of other wrecks are accessible, too, but most have been preserved as historic sites and it is forbidden to dive to them.Wrecks of Narvik - wreck diving in the Narvik area
accessed: 21 November 2010
Media gallery
File:Rombaken harald groven.jpg, Part of Rombaken
File:Rombak Bridge-2.jpg, The Rombak Bridge
The Rombak Bridge ( no, Rombaksbrua) is a suspension bridge in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The bridge crosses the Rombaken fjord near the town of Narvik. The bridge was opened in 1964. The main span is and the maximum clea ...
is a suspension bridge over the fjord
File:Bernd von Arnim scuttled.jpg, The German destroyer Z11 Bernd von Arnim
Z11 ''Bernd von Arnim'' was a built for Nazi Germany's '' Kriegsmarine'' in the late 1930s. At the beginning of World War II, the ship was initially deployed to blockade the Polish coast, but she was quickly transferred to the German Bight to l ...
, beached and scuttled at Rombaken during the Second Naval Battle of Narvik during World War II.
See also
*Nygårds Hydroelectric Power Station
Nygårds Power Station is a hydroelectric power plant in Storelva in Narvik. It has a power output of 25 MW generated by three vertical Francis turbines. Originally, it was used also for the generation of single phase AC for the railway, but ...
References
{{authority control
Fjords of Nordland
Narvik