HNoMS Nordkapp OPV (1937)

The lead ship of the "Nordkapp" class of fishery protection vessels, "Nordkapp" was launched 18 August, 1937 at Horten naval shipyard, with build number 123. [Horten municipal archive for local history: [http://www.lokalhistoriskarkiv.no/arkivet/historiske_sider/horten_verft/byggenummer Build numbers at Horten Yard] no icon] She had one sister ship, HNoMS "Senja". "Nordkapp" was named after the North Cape in Finnmark. As was typical of her class "Nordkapp" was very unstable in rough seas and was viewed from the beginning as a second-rate vessel. Even with such a poor outset "Nordkapp" sailed throughout World War II with a fine service record.Sivertsen 2000: 31]

"Nordkapp" in the Norwegian Campaign

When the Germans invaded Norway on 9 April, 1940, "Nordkapp" was stationed in Northern Norway, belonging to the Royal Norwegian Navy's 3. Naval District [ [http://niehorster.orbat.com/022_norway/navy_03.htm Administrative Battle Order of the Royal Norwegian Navy 8 April 1940] ] and commanded by Lieutenant Commander Jon Seip. During the Norwegian Campaign "Nordkapp" saw the first actions of her career.

inking the "Kattegat"

Background

In the evening of 9 April "Nordkapp" intercepted the 6,031 ton German tanker "Kattegat" [http://www.warsailors.com/homefleet/shipsb2.html#bodo2 M/T "Bodø"] , warsailors.com] of Bremen in the Glomfjord south of Narvik. "Kattegat" was one of two naval tankers the Germans intended to use in order to quickly refuel the ten destroyers of the Narvik task force, enabling them to escape back to Germany before the Royal Navy could trap and sink them. In preparation of her supply mission the "Kattegat" had departed the pilot station at Kopervik in Western Norway on 6 April, scheduled to arrive at Narvik on 9 April. [Waage 1963: 80] The Kriegsmarine support tanker had sailed to Norway from Wilhelmshaven on the German North Sea coast on 3 April in preparation for the invasion. [ [http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4004-13APR01.htm Naval Events, 1-7 April 1940] , Naval-history.net] While the other tanker, 11,766 ton "Jan Wellem", had reached Narvik from the German Basis Nord at the Bolshaya Zapadnaya Litsa inlet on the Kola Peninsula in Russia before the German attack, [cite web |url=http://www.oilru.com/or/16/204/ |title=The Basis Nord Mystery |accessdate=2008-08-26 |author=Kovalev, Sergey |date=26 August 2008 |work= |publisher=Oil of Russia International Quarterly Edition] the captain of the "Kattegat" had been warned of a British naval mine field in the Vestfjord (Operation Wilfred) and refused to continue, choosing instead to anchor up in Sandlågbukta, Neverdal at Ørnes, Glomfjord.

Hailing

After closing to a cable length of the "Kattegat" Lieutenant Commander Seip [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hail hailed] the German tanker, demanding that it identified itself. In response the German captain signalled that "Vidkun Quisling had been made the new prime minister of Norway and that all Norwegian naval vessels were under orders to cooperate with the German Kriegsmarine". Seip would receive no information from the "Kattegat" before he himself had given his name and rank. While this signal exchange was going on "Kattegat" dispatched radio messages asking for Kriegsmarine assistance and escorting the remainder of the way to Narvik.Waage 1963: 81]

Before he confronted the German ship the "Nordkapp"'s commander had been instructed by the 3. Naval District to take her as a prize, but after speaking with two Norwegian pilots who had guided the German tanker a short time earlier he decided that this would be too hazardous an undertaking.Sivertsen 2000: 23]

As the pilots, who had entered "Nordkapp" during the patrol boat's signal exchange with "Kattegat", reported that the tanker's thirty-nine man crew were all armed and wearing naval uniforms Seip considered it impossible to board and seize the ship since his own 22 man crew had a total of only four rifles amongst them. He assessed that to control the large German crew all the way into the port of Bodø while being outnumbered and probably out gunned would have been too difficult.Waage 1963: 82]

inking

In response to the aggressive signals received from the "Kattegat" Seip signalled back a short message telling the German crew to abandon ship within 10 minutes or face the consequences. At the end of the ten minutes no reaction from the German crew had been observed and "Nordkapp" fired a warning shot. As still no reaction could be seen in the protruding darkness four 47 mm rounds were fired into the "Kattegat's" waterline. As the Germans had opened their ship's valves while leaving the tanker the "Kattegat" sank quickly. Thirty-four of the crew were brought on board the "Nordkapp" as POWs from a nearby wharf while the remaining five managed to escape into the hills after their ship was sunk. [ [http://www.vrakdykking.com/narvik6.htm Wreck diving site on the Battles of Narvik] no icon] The 34 POWs from the German tanker were brought to Mosjøen and handed over to military authorities there.

Consequences and aftermath

The effect of removing the "Kattegat" from the Germans' supply chain was devastating, [O'Hara, Vincent P. [http://books.google.com/books?id=z85Xh21qniEC&pg=PA32&dq=German+tanker+%22kattegat%22&lr=&sig=ACfU3U3ZMMGeu-_rLE6nsnUwwaIFqN-EJA#PPA32,M1 "The German Fleet at War"] , Naval Institute Press, 2004, p. 32] the German destroyers at Narvik could only be refueled two at a time, instead of the planned four at a time.Sivertsen 2001: 86] Also, the "Jan Wellem" did not hold enough fuel for all 10 of the German destroyers. [Dildy, Douglas C., John White, [http://books.google.com/books?id=VjDG09h86OwC&pg=PA47&dq=German+tanker+%22kattegat%22&lr=&sig=ACfU3U36rsEuvCHHp9nlqYtt5GJ2y-qmEA "Denmark and Norway 1940"] , Osprey Publishing, 2007, p. 47] Consequently, the German warships at Narvik failed to make their escape in time and were destroyed by the Royal Navy in the Battles of Narvik. As the five destroyer strong 2nd Destroyer Flotilla under Commodore Bernard Warburton-Lee entered the Ofotfjord on 10 April to initiate the First Battle of Narvik Vice Admiral William Whitworth, in charge of the Royal Navy forces in the Narvik area, received a message from Norway stating that "Kattegat" had been intercepted and sunk convert|3|nmi|km|2|lk=on off shore.Waage 1963: 83]

The "Kattegat" was later salvaged by the Norwegian military, with 1,400 tons of diesel and 207 barrels of grease unloaded at Svolvær. On 15 May, before "Kattegat" was ready to sail to Tromsø, she was bombed and damaged by a German plane. As the damaged ship still held 5,000 tons of oil the local fishing boat fleet helped themselves to the cargo until the Germans arrived to retake the ship after the capitulation of mainland Norway in June. [Sivertsen 2000: 24] The short time "Kattegat" was in Norwegian hands she served under the name M/T "Bodø".

Guard and escort duties

The next task for "Nordkapp" after she had dealt with "Kattegatt" came on 13 April when she was ordered to go to Brønnøysund. A German Heinkel He 115 had landed there after running out of fuel and been seized by the local police who had taken the four German airmen into custody. The plane was captured intact with a full bomb load and was later flown to Tromsø by Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service lieutenant Sivertsen and pressed into Norwegian service.Sivertsen 2000: 32]

From 16 to 22 April "Nordkapp" was deployed with a Royal Navy squadron of 14 warships and two troopships that had arrived at Sjonafjord north of Sandnessjøen. As the force split up and some of the destroyers sailed south "Nordkapp" followed the main force north. During the time she followed the British vessels the force was subjected to several German air attacks without the Norwegian ship suffering any damage.

Patrol and bombardment missions

After leaving the British task force "Nordkapp" spent most of her time until late May patrolling and guarding a British mine field in the Andfjord in northern Nordland / southern Troms.

At 24 May she called at Bodø and by 30 May the evacuation of 4,000 British Army troops from the Bodø region began. By that time Bodø had been heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe over several days and German troops was observed advancing towards Røsvik north-east of Bodø. On 3 June "Nordkapp" was despatched together with the 463 ton British-operated Q-ship "Ranen" [Warsailors.com: [http://www.warsailors.com/freefleet/norfleetr.html#Ran D/S Ranen] ] to the Leirfjord to try and stop the advance of the enemy by sea. The two ships bombarded German forces in the area before splitting up and heading north, "Nordkapp" sailing to Svolvær.

Friendly fire incident and evacuation

On 7 June, 1940 "Nordkapp" arrived at Svolvær and received the order that had been given by the Norwegian High Command to evacuate all operational naval vessels to allied ports. While most of the thirteen navy ships that escaped the capitulation of mainland Norway started their journeys that day, "Nordkapp" remained until the early hours of the next day in order to give refugees and volunteers more time to gather for the voyage to the UK. According to Lieutenant Commander Seip's orders his ship's first destination abroad was to be the Faroe Islands.Berg 1997: 32]

In the evening of 7 June German planes bombed and destroyed an oil tank facility in the town. At around 0200hrs, before "Nordkapp" was ready to sail west and start five years of service in exile, two ships arrived at Svolvær and started destroying the remaining oil tanks with artillery fire. Assuming the ships to be German the second in command of the "Nordkapp", Ensign Andersen, who was in command of the ship as Lieutenant Commander Seip was in a conference on land at the time, sailed out and attacked the two unknown ships. As he opened up on the two ships with his single cannon they quickly returned fire and a 45 minute artillery duel ensued. Neither side managed to hit their adversary during the fight and eventually the two sides discovered each others true identity. The ships "Nordkapp" had been battling for three quarters of an hour were the "Ranen" and the 655 ton Royal Navy ASW trawler "Northern Gem". [Uboat.net: [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/6427.html HMS Northern Gem (FY 194)] en icon] The "Ranen" had been bombarding German positions together with "Nordkapp" just four days previously.

After the nearly fatal friendly fire incident "Nordkapp" returned to Svolvær and took on board volunteers before leaving port at 0300hrs on 8 June. [Berg 1997: 33] The passengers included 19 Royal Norwegian Navy personnel, many of whom were crew members of vessels sunk in the preceding two months. [Berg 1997: 33-34]

On 9 June "Nordkapp" joined the British evacuation convoy. During the journey west the ships were attacked by German bombers but avoided suffering any damage. [Berg 1997: 34]

After four days at sea "Nordkapp" reached Tórshavn on the Faroe Islands on 12 June, resupplying before continuing on to the UK.

ervice abroad

Iceland and the Shetland Bus

After arrival at Rosyth in Scotland on 18 June 1940 "Nordkapp" was rebuilt and rearmed and was declared operational on 14 September 1940. She was posted to Iceland from 21 September, 1940. On Iceland she served as a patrol vessel until 9 September, 1943 when she was transferred to Shetland in order to support the Shetland bus operations. At Shetland she operated from 22 September 1943 together with the RNoN patrol vessels "Horten", "Molde", "Narvik" and "Risør". [Berg 1997: 104]

Operation Neptune and Scapa Flow

Between D-day and 18 June, 1944 "Nordkapp" took part in Operation Neptune, the naval part of the invasion of Normandy. On 6 June she escorted a convoy of transports from Southend-on-Sea in the East of England to the British invasion beaches and thereafter escorted ships along the coast of Normandy. [Berg 1997: 142] The main threat from which she protected allied shipping was that of German E-boat and U-boat attacks. [Berg 1997: 136]

On 11 September 1944 she sailed from Portland to Aberdeen for maintenance and stayed there until 15 December 1944 when she was again transferred,Thomassen 1995: 229] this time to guard duties at the Home Fleet's main base at Scapa Flow, a role she would continue until 1 January 1945. Thereafter she moved to Lerwick, Shetland were she was based until VE day.

Return to Norway

Ten days after the final German surrender in Norway, on 18 May, 1945, "Nordkapp" left her exile in Methil in the UK and sailed for home. Two days later, on 20 May, she arrived at her new base at the south-western port of Stavanger, ending almost five years of exile.

Post-war

After the end of World War II "Nordkapp" resumed her pre-war duties as a coast guard vessel until being decommissioned and laid up in Horten on 29 July 1954. She was sold off to civilian ownership in 1956 finding a new career as a fishing vessel under two owners, first as the "Skarodd" and then from 1971 as the "Tor Hugo". Her long career ended on 27 November 1972 when she sank off West Africa after suffering leaks and disastrous hull failure.

ee also

* List of World War II ships of less than 1000 tons
* List of Allied forces in the Normandy Campaign

References

Literature

* Abelsen, Frank: "Norwegian naval ships 1939-1945", Sem & Stenersen AS, Oslo 1986, ISBN 82-7046-050-8 en icon&no icon
*, Oslo 1997 ISBN 82-993545-2-8 no icon
* Sivertsen, Svein Carl (ed.): _no. "Jageren Sleipner i Romsdalsfjord sjøforsvarsdistrikt april 1940", Sjømilitære Samfund ved Norsk Tidsskrift for Sjøvesen, Hundvåg 1999 no icon
* no icon
* no icon
* no icon
* no icon (Also published in English ["The Narvik Campaign"] and French ["La bataille de Narvik"] editions.)