Battle of Drøbak Sound

Part of the Norwegian Campaign of World War II

Blücher sinking in the Oslofjord.

Date

9 April 1940

Location

Drøbak Sound, Norway

Result

Decisive Norwegian victory

German invasion force delayed
Flight of the Storting, Royal Family, and gold reserve

Belligerents

Norway

Germany

Commanders and leaders

Birger Eriksen (POW)

Oskar Kummetz (POW)
August Thiele

Strength

Oscarsborg Fortress:
Main Battery:
3 × 28 cm coastal guns
4 × anti-aircraft machine guns
Kopås Battery:
3 × 15 cm coastal guns
Husvik Battery:
2 × 57 mm mine barrier protection guns
Torpedo Battery:
3 × double land based underwater launch tunnels for 45 cm torpedoes
3 × single land based underwater launch tunnels for 45 cm torpedoes
Seiersten Battery:
2 × Bofors 40 mm L/60
anti-aircraft guns
3 × Colt M/29 7,92 mm anti-aircraft machine guns
Håøya Battery:
4 × Colt M/29 7,92 mm anti-aircraft machine guns
Nesset Battery:
4 × 57 mm Cockerill L/60 guns

Infantry support:
One company of the Norwegian Royal Guards
Total crew:
45 officers
293 NCOs and men,
69 officers and men of the Norwegian Royal Guards

2 heavy cruisers
1 light cruiser
1 torpedo boat
2 minesweepers

Casualties and losses

No casualties, although most buildings above ground at the Main Battery were burnt to the ground.

1 heavy cruiser sunk
1 heavy cruiser damaged
650–800 dead
ca. 50 wounded
c. 1,000 temporarily taken prisoner

Civilian casualties:
Three houses destroyed and two women killed by stray German shells in nearby Drøbak.
Cargo cutter Sørland sunk by German minesweepers with the loss of two crewmen.
Cargo ship Halden I damaged

Decisive Norwegian victory

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. It was the start of the war in Western Europe—and an end to the "Phoney War".

Oscarsborg Fortress near Drøbak engaged a German fleet sailing up the Oslofjord with the objective of seizing the Norwegian capital and capturing Haakon VII, the Norwegian king, and his government. At the time of the battle, the ageing fortress' Main Battery of guns was over 40 years old and the installation had been relegated to training coastal artillery servicemen, leading the Germans to disregard the fortress' defensive value. Furthermore, the most powerful weapon of the fortress was a torpedo battery, which no one but the Norwegian military knew about.

In the end, the fortress' armament worked flawlessly. By sinking the lead ship of the German armada headed for Oslo, Oscarsborg Fortress saved the Norwegian king and government from being taken captive in the first hours of the invasion.

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Wikipedia