Altmark incident

BelligerentsUnited KingdomGermanyCommanders and leadersPhilip Vian Heinrich DauStrength 3 destroyers 1 tankerCasualties and losses 1 wounded 8 killed
10 wounded 299 British prisoners rescued

The Altmark incident (Norwegian: Altmark-affæren; German: Altmark-Zwischenfall) was a naval incident of World War II between British destroyers and the German tanker Altmark, which happened on 16–17 February 1940. It took place in what were neutral Norwegian waters. On board the Altmark were roughly 300 Allied prisoners (officially internees), whose ships had been sunk by the pocket battleshipGraf Spee in the Southern Atlantic Ocean.

British naval forces cornered the tanker, and later the destroyer HMS Cossack boarded the Altmark in the Jøssingfjorden near the village of Jøssingfjord and liberated all the prisoners. Eight German sailors were killed and ten wounded during hand-to-hand fighting, which took place during the boarding. A British sailor was also wounded during the fighting. The internees were rescued and taken by Cossack to Britain. The German government claimed that the boarding had been a violation of international law and of Norwegian neutrality and later used the incident in the propaganda broadcasts of "Lord Haw-Haw".