German cruiser Blücher
Encyclopedia
Blücher was the second of five heavy cruiser
s of the German Kriegsmarine
, built after the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles
. Named for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
, the victor of the Battle of Waterloo
, the ship was laid down in August 1936 and launched in June 1937. She was completed in September 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II
. After completing a series of sea trials and training exercises, the ship was pronounced ready for service with the fleet on 5 April 1940.
Assigned to Group 5 during the invasion of Norway
in April 1940, Blücher served as Konteradmiral Oskar Kummetz
's flagship
. The ship led the flotilla of warships into the Oslofjord
on the night of 8 April, to seize Oslo
, the capital of Norway. Two old 28 cm (11 in) coastal guns in the Oscarsborg Fortress
engaged the ship at very close range, scoring two hits.
Two torpedoes fired by land-based torpedo batteries struck the ship, causing serious damage. A major fire broke out aboard Blücher, which could not be contained. After a magazine explosion, the ship slowly capsized and sank, with major loss of life. The wreck remains on the bottom of the Oslofjord.
shipyard in Kiel
. Her keel was laid on 15 August 1936, under construction number 246. The ship was launched on 8 June 1937, and was completed slightly over two years later, on 20 September 1939, the day she was commissioned into the German fleet. As built, the ship had a straight stem
, though after her launch this was replaced with a clipper
bow increasing the over all length to 205.9 metres (675.5 ft). A raked funnel cap was also installed.
As launched Blücher was 202.8 metres (665.4 ft) long overall and had a beam of 21.3 m (69.9 ft) and a maximum draft of 7.74 m (25.4 ft). The ship had a design displacement of 16170 MT (15,914.6 LT) and a full load displacement of 18200 LT. Blücher was powered by three sets of geared steam turbine
s, which were supplied with steam by twelve ultra-high pressure oil-fired boiler
s. The ship's top speed was 32 knots (17.4 m/s), at 132000 shp. As designed, her standard complement consisted of 42 officers and 1,340 enlisted men.
Blüchers primary armament was eight 20.3 cm (8 in) SK L/60
guns mounted in four twin gun turret
s, placed in superfiring pairs
forward and aft."L/60" denotes the length of the gun in terms of calibers
. The length of 60 caliber gun is 60 times greater than it is wide in diameter. Her anti-aircraft battery consisted of twelve 10.5 cm (4.1 in) L/65 guns, twelve 3.7 cm (1.5 in) guns, and eight 2 cm (0.78740157480315 in) guns. The ship also would have carried a pair of triple 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo launchers abreast of the rear superstructure. The ship was equipped with three Arado Ar 196
seaplanes and one catapult. Blüchers armored belt
was 70 millimetre thick; her upper deck was 12 millimetre thick while the main armored deck was 20 millimetre thick. The main battery turrets had 105 mm (4.1 in) thick faces and 70 mm thick sides.
. Trials lasted until mid-December, after which the ship returned to Kiel for final modifications. In January 1940, the ship resumed exercises in the Baltic, but by the middle of the month, severe ice forced the ship to remain in port. On 5 April, the ship was deemed to be ready for action, and was therefore assigned to the forces participating in the invasion of Norway.
came aboard the ship while it was in Swinemünde. An 800-strong detachment of ground troops from the 163rd Infantry Division also boarded. Three days later, on 8 April, Blücher left port, bound for Norway; the ship was the flagship for the force that was to seize Oslo
, the Norwegian capital. Organized as Group 5 of the invasion force, the heavy cruiser Lützow and light cruiser
Emden
, and several smaller escorts steamed alongside Blücher. While steaming through the Kattegat
and Skagerrak
, the British submarine
spotted the convoy and fired a spread of torpedoes. The Germans successfully evaded the torpedoes, however, and proceeded with the mission.
Night had fallen by the time the German flotilla reached the approaches to the Oslofjord
. Shortly after 23:00 (Norwegian time) the flotilla was spotted by the Norwegian patrol boat Pol III
. The German torpedo boat Albatros attacked Pol III and set her on fire, but not before the Norwegian patrol boat raised the alarm. Shortly after midnight, Norwegian searchlights in the coastal artillery batteries on the islands of Bolærne
and Rauøy illuminated the ships, though the guns held their fire. At 23:30 (Norwegian time) the south battery on Rauøy spotted the flotilla in the searchlight and shot two warning shots. Five minutes later, the guns at Rauøy fired four shots at the approaching Germans, but due to poor visibility, scored no hits. The guns at Bolærne fired only one warning shot at 23:32. Before Blücher was targeted she was out of firing sector.
The German flotilla steamed at a speed of 12 kn (6.5 m/s). Shortly after midnight (Norwegian time) an order from the Commanding Admiral to extinguish all light houses and navigation lights was broadcasted over NRK. The German ships had been ordered to fire only in the event they were directly fired on first. Between 00:30 and 02:00, the flotilla stopped and 150 infantrymen of the landing forces were transferred to the escorts R17, R21 from Emden and R18, R19 from Blücher.
The R-boats should engage Rauøy, Bolærne and the naval port and city Horten
.
Despite the apparent loss of surprise, the Blücher proceeded further into the fjord to continue with the timetable to reach Oslo by dawn. At 04:40, Norwegian searchlights again illuminated the ship. Forty-one minutes later, the 28 cm (11 in) coastal guns placed at the Oscarsborg Fortress
opened fire on Blücher, beginning the Battle of Drøbak Sound
. The coastal guns scored several hits on her port side at very close range. The the first two 28 cm shots were on Blüchers port side. The first hit was high above the bridge, hitting the battle station for the commander of the anti-aircraft guns, killing AO II Kapitänleutnant Hans-Erich Pochhammer. The main range finder in the top of the battle mast was set out of alignment, but Blücher had three more major range finders (B-turret, bridge roof and C-turret) and many smaller on the bridge and the four range finder stations for the AA. The commander in the D-turret, Oberstückmeister Waldeck stated that the first 28 cm hit had no influence on the battle ability of the 20.3 cm turrets.
The second 28 cm hit caused serious damage: it hit near the aircraft hangar and started a major fire. As the fire spread, it detonated explosives carried for the infantry, further hindering fire fighting efforts. The explosion set fire to the two Arado seaplanes onboard; one on the catapult and the other in one of the hangars. The explosion also probably knocked a hole in the armored deck over the turbine room. Turbine 1 stopped and only the outboard shafts were operational.
The Germans were unable to locate the source of the gunfire. Blücher increased speed to 32 kn (17.4 m/s) in an attempt to move past the Norwegian guns. The 15 cm (5.9 in) guns on Drøbak
, some 400 yd (365.8 m) on Blüchers starboard side, opened fire as well. First engineer Leitende Ingenieur Fregattenkapitän Dip. Ing. Karl Thannemann wrote in his report that the hits from the guns on Drøbak, which were fired on the starboard side, were all between section IV and X in a length of 75 meters amidships, between B-turret and C-turret. However, all scores were on the port side.
After the first salvo from the 15 cm batteries in Drøbak, the steering from the bridge was disabled. Blücher had just passed Drøbakgrunnen and was in a turn to port. The commander got her on track by using the side shafts, but she lost speed. Normally the rudder is controlled electrically from the bridge to the motors forward of the Handsteuerraum (hand steering room) deep under the armored deck, forward of the rudder. In an emergency it can be switched within seconds to hand steering. At 05:30, Norwegian land-based torpedo batteries scored two hits on the ship. The targeting device in the torpedo battery was very primitive. The speed of the torpedo was known and set, the speed of the target had to be set by guessing.
According to Admiral Kummetz' report, the first torpedo hit Kesselraum 2 (boiler 2) (just under the funnel) and the second hit turbinenraum 2/3 (turbine room for the side shafts). Boiler 1 was already destroyed by the gun fire. Only one boiler remained, but all steam pipes through boiler 1 and 2 and turbine room 2/3 was damaged and turbine 1 for the main shaft lost its power. By 05:34, the ship had been severely damaged, but had successfully passed through the firing zone; the Norwegian guns could no longer train to engage the ship. The ship's rudder was jammed to port, however, and the port shaft had to be stopped and the starboard shaft had to be run at full speed back so the ship could remain on a straight course.
After passing the gun batteries, Blücher crew, including the personnel manning the gun batteries, were tasked with fighting the fire. She had by that time taken on a list of 18 degrees, though this was not initially problematic. The fire reached one of the ship's 10.5 cm ammunition magazines between turbine room 1 and turbine room 2/3, however, which exploded violently. The blast ruptured several bulkheads in the engine rooms and ignited the ship's fuel stores. The battered ship slowly began to capsize and the order to abandon ship was given. Blücher rolled over and sank at 07:30, with significant casualties. Naval historian Erich Gröner states that the number of casualties is unknown, but Henrik Lunde gives the figure at around 1,000 soldiers and sailors. Jürgen Rohwer meanwhile states that 125 seamen and 195 soldiers died in the sinking.
The loss of Blücher and the damage done to Lützow forced the German force to withdraw. The ground troops were landed on the eastern side of the fjord; they proceeded inland and captured the Oscarborg Fortress by 09:00 on 10 April. They then moved on to attack the capital. Airborne troops captured the Fornebu Airport
and completed the encirclement of the city, and by 14:00 on 10 April the city was in German hands. The delay caused by the temporary withdrawal of Blüchers task force, however, allowed the Norwegian government and royal family to escape the city.
Blücher remains at the bottom of the Drøbak Narrows, at a depth of 35 fathoms (64 m). The ship's screws were removed in 1953, and there have been several proposals to raise the wreck since 1963, but none have been carried out. When Blücher left Germany, she had about 2670 cubic metres (94,290.2 cu ft) of oil onboard. She expended some of the fuel en route to Norway, and some was lost in the sinking, but she was constantly leaking oil. In 1991 the leakage rate increased to 50 litres (105.7 US pt) per day, threatening the environment. The Norwegian government therefore decided to remove as much oil as possible from the wreck. In October 1994 the company Rockwater AS together with deep sea diver
s drilled holes in 133 fuel tanks and removed 1000 MT (984.2 LT) of oil; 47 fuel bunkers were unreachable and may still contain oil. After being run through a cleaning process, the oil was sold. The oil extraction operation provided an opportunity to recover one of Blücher's two Arado 196 aircraft. The plane was raised on 9 November 1994 and is currently at the Flyhistorisk Museum, Sola
aviation museum near Stavanger
.
Citations
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
s of the German Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
, built after the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
. Named for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...
, the victor of the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, the ship was laid down in August 1936 and launched in June 1937. She was completed in September 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After completing a series of sea trials and training exercises, the ship was pronounced ready for service with the fleet on 5 April 1940.
Assigned to Group 5 during the invasion of Norway
Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
in April 1940, Blücher served as Konteradmiral Oskar Kummetz
Oskar Kummetz
Oskar Kummetz was a Generaladmiral with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He also served in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I. Kummetz was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions in the Battle of Drøbak Sound, during which his command, the was sunk by Norwegian...
's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
. The ship led the flotilla of warships into the Oslofjord
Oslofjord
The Oslofjord is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north....
on the night of 8 April, to seize Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, the capital of Norway. Two old 28 cm (11 in) coastal guns in the Oscarsborg Fortress
Oscarsborg Fortress
Oscarsborg Fortress is a coastal fortress in the Oslofjord, close to the small town of Drøbak. The fortress is situated on two small islets, and on the mainland to the west and east, in the fjord and was military territory until 2003 when it was made a publicly available resort island...
engaged the ship at very close range, scoring two hits.
Two torpedoes fired by land-based torpedo batteries struck the ship, causing serious damage. A major fire broke out aboard Blücher, which could not be contained. After a magazine explosion, the ship slowly capsized and sank, with major loss of life. The wreck remains on the bottom of the Oslofjord.
Construction
Blücher was ordered by the Kriegsmarine from the Deutsche WerkeDeutsche Werke
Deutsche Werke was a German shipbuilding company founded in 1925 when Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and other shipyards were merged. It came as a result of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I that forced the German defence industry to shrink...
shipyard in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
. Her keel was laid on 15 August 1936, under construction number 246. The ship was launched on 8 June 1937, and was completed slightly over two years later, on 20 September 1939, the day she was commissioned into the German fleet. As built, the ship had a straight stem
Stem (ship)
The stem is the very most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself and curves up to the wale of the boat. The stem is more often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively...
, though after her launch this was replaced with a clipper
Clipper
A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the 19th century that had three or more masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area...
bow increasing the over all length to 205.9 metres (675.5 ft). A raked funnel cap was also installed.
As launched Blücher was 202.8 metres (665.4 ft) long overall and had a beam of 21.3 m (69.9 ft) and a maximum draft of 7.74 m (25.4 ft). The ship had a design displacement of 16170 MT (15,914.6 LT) and a full load displacement of 18200 LT. Blücher was powered by three sets of geared steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s, which were supplied with steam by twelve ultra-high pressure oil-fired boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s. The ship's top speed was 32 knots (17.4 m/s), at 132000 shp. As designed, her standard complement consisted of 42 officers and 1,340 enlisted men.
Blüchers primary armament was eight 20.3 cm (8 in) SK L/60
20.3 cm SK C/34 naval gun
The 20.3 cm SK C/34 naval gun was the main battery gun used on all German World War II heavy cruisers.-Description:These built-up guns consisted of a rifled tube encased within an inner and outer jacket with a horizontal sliding breech block. The breech was sealed with an 18 kg brass case...
guns mounted in four twin gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s, placed in superfiring pairs
Superfire
The idea of superfire is to locate two turrets in a row, one behind the other, but with the second turret located above the one in front so that the second turret could fire over the first...
forward and aft."L/60" denotes the length of the gun in terms of calibers
Caliber (artillery)
In artillery, caliber or calibredifference in British English and American English spelling is the internal diameter of a gun barrel, or by extension a relative measure of the length....
. The length of 60 caliber gun is 60 times greater than it is wide in diameter. Her anti-aircraft battery consisted of twelve 10.5 cm (4.1 in) L/65 guns, twelve 3.7 cm (1.5 in) guns, and eight 2 cm (0.78740157480315 in) guns. The ship also would have carried a pair of triple 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo launchers abreast of the rear superstructure. The ship was equipped with three Arado Ar 196
Arado Ar 196
-See also:-Bibliography:* Dabrowski, Hans-Peter and Koos, Volker. Arado Ar 196, Germany's Multi-Purpose Seaplane. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 1993. ISBN 0-88740-481-2....
seaplanes and one catapult. Blüchers armored belt
Belt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
was 70 millimetre thick; her upper deck was 12 millimetre thick while the main armored deck was 20 millimetre thick. The main battery turrets had 105 mm (4.1 in) thick faces and 70 mm thick sides.
Service history
Blücher spent the majority of November 1939 finishing fitting out work and finishing additional improvements. By the end of the month, the ship was ready for sea trials; the ship steamed to Gotenhafen in the Baltic SeaBaltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. Trials lasted until mid-December, after which the ship returned to Kiel for final modifications. In January 1940, the ship resumed exercises in the Baltic, but by the middle of the month, severe ice forced the ship to remain in port. On 5 April, the ship was deemed to be ready for action, and was therefore assigned to the forces participating in the invasion of Norway.
Operation Weserübung
On 5 April 1940, Konteradmiral Oskar KummetzOskar Kummetz
Oskar Kummetz was a Generaladmiral with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He also served in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I. Kummetz was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions in the Battle of Drøbak Sound, during which his command, the was sunk by Norwegian...
came aboard the ship while it was in Swinemünde. An 800-strong detachment of ground troops from the 163rd Infantry Division also boarded. Three days later, on 8 April, Blücher left port, bound for Norway; the ship was the flagship for the force that was to seize Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, the Norwegian capital. Organized as Group 5 of the invasion force, the heavy cruiser Lützow and light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
Emden
German cruiser Emden
The German light cruiser Emden was the only ship of its class. The third cruiser to bear the name Emden was the first new warship built in Germany after World War I....
, and several smaller escorts steamed alongside Blücher. While steaming through the Kattegat
Kattegat
The Kattegat , or Kattegatt is a sea area bounded by the Jutland peninsula and the Straits islands of Denmark on the west and south, and the provinces of Västergötland, Scania, Halland and Bohuslän in Sweden on the east. The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Øresund and the Danish...
and Skagerrak
Skagerrak
The Skagerrak is a strait running between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area, which leads to the Baltic Sea.-Name:...
, the British submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
spotted the convoy and fired a spread of torpedoes. The Germans successfully evaded the torpedoes, however, and proceeded with the mission.
Night had fallen by the time the German flotilla reached the approaches to the Oslofjord
Oslofjord
The Oslofjord is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north....
. Shortly after 23:00 (Norwegian time) the flotilla was spotted by the Norwegian patrol boat Pol III
HNoMS Pol III
Pol III was a patrol boat of the Royal Norwegian Navy, used for guarding the inlet of the Oslofjord in early April 1940. She was a small vessel, originally a whaler, of 214 tons...
. The German torpedo boat Albatros attacked Pol III and set her on fire, but not before the Norwegian patrol boat raised the alarm. Shortly after midnight, Norwegian searchlights in the coastal artillery batteries on the islands of Bolærne
Bolærne
Bolærne is an archipelago in the outer part of Oslofjord, in the municipality Nøtterøy in Vestfold, Norway. The islands have a total land area of 2.6 km². The largest island, Midtre Bolærne, covers 1.1 km². The islands have been inhabited from the 16th century. There was a coastal...
and Rauøy illuminated the ships, though the guns held their fire. At 23:30 (Norwegian time) the south battery on Rauøy spotted the flotilla in the searchlight and shot two warning shots. Five minutes later, the guns at Rauøy fired four shots at the approaching Germans, but due to poor visibility, scored no hits. The guns at Bolærne fired only one warning shot at 23:32. Before Blücher was targeted she was out of firing sector.
The German flotilla steamed at a speed of 12 kn (6.5 m/s). Shortly after midnight (Norwegian time) an order from the Commanding Admiral to extinguish all light houses and navigation lights was broadcasted over NRK. The German ships had been ordered to fire only in the event they were directly fired on first. Between 00:30 and 02:00, the flotilla stopped and 150 infantrymen of the landing forces were transferred to the escorts R17, R21 from Emden and R18, R19 from Blücher.
The R-boats should engage Rauøy, Bolærne and the naval port and city Horten
Horten
is a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the villages of Borre, Åsgårdstrand, Skoppum, and Nykirke....
.
Despite the apparent loss of surprise, the Blücher proceeded further into the fjord to continue with the timetable to reach Oslo by dawn. At 04:40, Norwegian searchlights again illuminated the ship. Forty-one minutes later, the 28 cm (11 in) coastal guns placed at the Oscarsborg Fortress
Oscarsborg Fortress
Oscarsborg Fortress is a coastal fortress in the Oslofjord, close to the small town of Drøbak. The fortress is situated on two small islets, and on the mainland to the west and east, in the fjord and was military territory until 2003 when it was made a publicly available resort island...
opened fire on Blücher, beginning the Battle of Drøbak Sound
Battle of Drøbak sound
The Battle of Drøbak Sound took place in the northernmost part of the Oslofjord on 9 April 1940, on the first day of the German invasion of Norway...
. The coastal guns scored several hits on her port side at very close range. The the first two 28 cm shots were on Blüchers port side. The first hit was high above the bridge, hitting the battle station for the commander of the anti-aircraft guns, killing AO II Kapitänleutnant Hans-Erich Pochhammer. The main range finder in the top of the battle mast was set out of alignment, but Blücher had three more major range finders (B-turret, bridge roof and C-turret) and many smaller on the bridge and the four range finder stations for the AA. The commander in the D-turret, Oberstückmeister Waldeck stated that the first 28 cm hit had no influence on the battle ability of the 20.3 cm turrets.
The second 28 cm hit caused serious damage: it hit near the aircraft hangar and started a major fire. As the fire spread, it detonated explosives carried for the infantry, further hindering fire fighting efforts. The explosion set fire to the two Arado seaplanes onboard; one on the catapult and the other in one of the hangars. The explosion also probably knocked a hole in the armored deck over the turbine room. Turbine 1 stopped and only the outboard shafts were operational.
The Germans were unable to locate the source of the gunfire. Blücher increased speed to 32 kn (17.4 m/s) in an attempt to move past the Norwegian guns. The 15 cm (5.9 in) guns on Drøbak
Drøbak
Drøbak is an unincorporated city and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Akershus county, Norway. The city is located along the Oslofjord, and has 13,358 inhabitants....
, some 400 yd (365.8 m) on Blüchers starboard side, opened fire as well. First engineer Leitende Ingenieur Fregattenkapitän Dip. Ing. Karl Thannemann wrote in his report that the hits from the guns on Drøbak, which were fired on the starboard side, were all between section IV and X in a length of 75 meters amidships, between B-turret and C-turret. However, all scores were on the port side.
After the first salvo from the 15 cm batteries in Drøbak, the steering from the bridge was disabled. Blücher had just passed Drøbakgrunnen and was in a turn to port. The commander got her on track by using the side shafts, but she lost speed. Normally the rudder is controlled electrically from the bridge to the motors forward of the Handsteuerraum (hand steering room) deep under the armored deck, forward of the rudder. In an emergency it can be switched within seconds to hand steering. At 05:30, Norwegian land-based torpedo batteries scored two hits on the ship. The targeting device in the torpedo battery was very primitive. The speed of the torpedo was known and set, the speed of the target had to be set by guessing.
According to Admiral Kummetz' report, the first torpedo hit Kesselraum 2 (boiler 2) (just under the funnel) and the second hit turbinenraum 2/3 (turbine room for the side shafts). Boiler 1 was already destroyed by the gun fire. Only one boiler remained, but all steam pipes through boiler 1 and 2 and turbine room 2/3 was damaged and turbine 1 for the main shaft lost its power. By 05:34, the ship had been severely damaged, but had successfully passed through the firing zone; the Norwegian guns could no longer train to engage the ship. The ship's rudder was jammed to port, however, and the port shaft had to be stopped and the starboard shaft had to be run at full speed back so the ship could remain on a straight course.
The loss of Blücher and the damage done to Lützow forced the German force to withdraw. The ground troops were landed on the eastern side of the fjord; they proceeded inland and captured the Oscarborg Fortress by 09:00 on 10 April. They then moved on to attack the capital. Airborne troops captured the Fornebu Airport
Oslo Airport, Fornebu
Oslo Airport, Fornebu was the main airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from 1 June 1939 to 7 October 1998. It was then replaced by Oslo Airport, Gardermoen and the area has since been redeveloped. The airport was located at Fornebu in Bærum, from the city center. Fornebu had two runways, one...
and completed the encirclement of the city, and by 14:00 on 10 April the city was in German hands. The delay caused by the temporary withdrawal of Blüchers task force, however, allowed the Norwegian government and royal family to escape the city.
Blücher remains at the bottom of the Drøbak Narrows, at a depth of 35 fathoms (64 m). The ship's screws were removed in 1953, and there have been several proposals to raise the wreck since 1963, but none have been carried out. When Blücher left Germany, she had about 2670 cubic metres (94,290.2 cu ft) of oil onboard. She expended some of the fuel en route to Norway, and some was lost in the sinking, but she was constantly leaking oil. In 1991 the leakage rate increased to 50 litres (105.7 US pt) per day, threatening the environment. The Norwegian government therefore decided to remove as much oil as possible from the wreck. In October 1994 the company Rockwater AS together with deep sea diver
Underwater diving
Underwater diving is the practice of going underwater, either with breathing apparatus or by breath-holding .Recreational diving is a popular activity...
s drilled holes in 133 fuel tanks and removed 1000 MT (984.2 LT) of oil; 47 fuel bunkers were unreachable and may still contain oil. After being run through a cleaning process, the oil was sold. The oil extraction operation provided an opportunity to recover one of Blücher's two Arado 196 aircraft. The plane was raised on 9 November 1994 and is currently at the Flyhistorisk Museum, Sola
Flyhistorisk Museum, Sola
Flyhistorisk Museum, Sola is an aviation museum located in Sola, near Stavanger, Norway. The museum was founded in 1984, and is run by local volunteers on an unpaid basis...
aviation museum near Stavanger
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
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