Volume 14 Number 8 (3.50 NovemberlDecember 2015

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"SEEK SWEDISH WATERS"THI: DlINISH ARTILLERY SHIP NIELS JUEr. AND THE SCUTTLING OF THE DlINISH NAVY ON 29 AUGUST 1943

SØREN NØRBYR OYAL D ANISH DEFENCE C OLLEGE

afler all. This led, among other things, to agrowth in the Danish resistance movementand during the summer af 1943 the num­ber af attacks an Ger man fac ilities andDanes wor king for the Germans rosesharply. Durin g the months af June andAugust strikes para lyzed the country andthis eventua lly became toa much to bearfor the German military. a n 28 August theGermans gave the Danisn government anultimatum and demanded that the gavern ­ment immediately ban freedom af assem­bly, introduce a curlew and the death­pena lty for sabotage . This was too muchfor the Danish gove rnment, which there­fo re resigned, and this led to a Germandecision to take contro l af the Dani sharmy. This could, however, not be donewit hout suspend ing the enti re Dan isharmed fo rces , so a mave agai nst theDanish Navy was also incl uded in theplan, wh ich was give n th e code nam eOperation Safari. The mave aga inst thenavy was not popular with the Ge rma nNavy, since the Dane s did an importantjob af sweeping mines in the Dani shwaters.

The Ge rmans needed to str ike theDani sh fleet slmu lta neo usly in severalplaces. Most af the fleet was at the RoyalDockyard (Holmen) in Capenhagen, but anumber af ships we re engaged inminesweeping and in training new officersand crews. The largest ship in the DanishNavy, the artillery ship NIELS JUEL, waslaying at Holbaek in the southernmost partaf Isefjorden.

an board the NIELS JUEL were a crewaf 323 men . They we re all awa re tha1something was going an, and sh ip com ­mander, Com mander Ca rl A.S .Wes te rma nn had ordered "inc reasedreadiness" , wh ich meant that there hadbeen given no shore leave, and tha t theship's mac hinery was at 15-minutesnotice.

By 0430 the ship received a short alarm­signal from fleet headquarters. Steam wasimmediately raised an ail boiiers, and thecrew wen t to action sta tions - howeverwithout the use af the normal signal horn,

was , however, not ready to take such astep, which would surely have meant theend af the Danish co llaborative gave rn­ment and a much harsher German rule afDenmark.

As mentioned the Danish Navy had notbeen allowed to fight the German occupa­tion af Denm ark an 9 Ap ril 1940. Th isorder came from the Com mander of theNavy, Vice Admiral Rechnitzer, and creat­ed a lot of resentment towards him amongboth officers and crews. In May af 1940 allsen ior officers af the Naval HighCommand to ld Rechnitzer that they hadlost all confidence in him and urged him tostep dawn. Faced wi1h this mutiny, for lackaf a better word, Rechnitzer asked for, andreceived, the government's permission toleave his post. Captain Emmanuel Briandde Crevecoeur was named temporaryCommander af the Navy, but since he hadbeen ane af the "mutinee rs", the Danishgavernment believed that he had therebyshawn that he was unfit to beco me "real"commander af the fleet.

Instead, the gave rnme nt leoked to thelevel below the muti neers and found theman they were looking for in the 47-year­oid Commander (Se nio r Grade) AageHelgesen Vede l. In May af 1941 he waspromoted to Rear Admiral (skipping entire­ly the rank af Captain) followed by his pro­motion to Vice Admiral an 1 September1941. an the same day, he was promotedto Chief ol the Navy and director af theMinistry af Naval Affairs. His firs t prioritywas to prepare the fleet for the eventua litythat the Germa ns tried to take the sh ipsand one af his first orders was to preparebombs for scutt ling for eve ry sh ip undercommand. A number af 2V2, 5 and 10 kilobombs with a ten-minu te timer was pre ­pared and sec retly brought aboa rd theships, where they were placed in a safe inthe captain's cabin.

THE BREAKDOWN

Two Danish torpedo boats being towed through the ice-filled Capen hagen Harbour on5 February 1941, an their way into German hands. Before being handed over the boatswere stripped af weapons, radio material and fuel. That way the Danish gavemmentcould maintain that it did not contribute to the German war eflort, even though formerDanish naval vessels were now sailing unde r German command and participating inthe important task of training new crews for the German submarines. As payment forthe boats the Germans gave the Danish Navy materials for building new torpedo boats,but these were not completed befare the end af the war.

Afler the Ge rma n defeat at Sta ling radmost af the wo rld realized that theGer mans we re not go ing to wi n the war

When, an 9 April 1940, Germany attackedDanm ark and Norway, it came as a sur­prise for the Danish gavernment, whichquickly realized that resistance was futile.As aresult on ly a few Danish soldie rs inthe southern par t af Jutl and lo ught th eGermans. They ma naged to slow th eGerman advance for a few minutes, andthe Danish Navy was directly ordered notto resist the German attack .

Fall owi ng the Dani sh surre nde r, theGerman forces took over the responsibi lityaf defe nding Denmark. The Danish armyand navy was, however, allowed to contin­ue ope rating, even though the ir task wasno longer the defence af Denmark - thistask was now the responsibi lity af theGerman Wehrmacht and Kriegsmarine.

In mid-Apri l 1940, British aircrafl beganlayi ng min es in Danish wa ters , and theDanish Navy was ordered to participate inthe sweeping af these mines. The Chief afthe Navy initially refused this task, but fol­lowing the mining af three Danish ferries inthe Great Belt, the navy yielded. An agree­ment was made with the Germans, whereGer man minesweepers swept the rautenorth- south to and from Norway, whileOanish minesweepers swept east-west inthe Great Belt. The navy could herebymain tai n the illu sion that it was not con­tributin g to the German war effort. In thespring af 1943 the Navy, howeve r, had tobow to Germa n pressu re and agres toalso sweep the north/south routes.

In addition, the Navy was, from October1940, given the responsibility for the sea­ward part af th e Coast Guard betweenDenmark and Sweden, which were taskedwith preventing illegal travel between thetWQ countries.

In return the Navy was allowed to con­tinue operati ng and train ing new person­nel. The German requirements were, how­ever , harsh, and Danish naval ships wereonly allowed to operate in specific waters :South af Zea land , in the Isefjorden in thenor thern part af Zea land and the fewDanish submarines were also allowed touse the Mariager Fjord, which was the onlyplace deep enough for the boats to oper­ate subme rged . Fur therm ore the shipswere only allowed to mave in dayi ight andall move ments had to be reported to theGerma n author it ies at least 48 hours inadvance.

In the sp ring ol 1941 the Ge rmansforced the Danish gavernment to handover the Navy's six most modern torpedoboa ts. Thi s was a heavy blow to theNavy's morale, but the boats were handedove r and served the res t af the war asGerman "Torpedo fang boote" in the Baltic.The handover af the torpedo boats did notgo unnoticed among the parties fighti ngGer ma ny. an 26 February, the Dani shNavy received a note from the Briti shprime minister Churchil l, in which he stat­ed that the oniy thing that could save thehonour af the Dani sh Navy was that , inanticipa tion af future Ger man demands.the Dani sh Navy scu ttle its ten su b­mar ines. The Commander af the Navy

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trical system broke down.Westermann had ordered that the ship's

anti-aircraft-gunswere notto shoot unlessdirectly ordered to do so by him , anddespile Ihe bomb ing he did not give theorder to open fire . He did not regard Ihebombing as an attack, but as a warning ofwhat wou ld happen if NIELS JUEL leftIsefjorden. It is worth noting, however, thatnothing in German sources indicate thatthe attack was only meantas a warning .

Instead Westerma nn ordered Ihat theship be turned, so thaI her bows poinleddue south, so the Germans could not getthe rnistaken impression that the NIELSJUEL was leaving Ih e fjord . During theturn, the ship was again attacked. this timewith mach ine guns, and sev eral of theship 's anti-aircraft guns opened fire - with­outWestermanns permission .

The gunfire from the NIELS JUEL isreport ed to have dam aged one of th eGerman planes, but at the same time gun­fire from the German planes injured thefive man crew on one of NIELS J UELsanti-aircratt guns.

Still not regarding the attack as anythingother than a warning shot, Westermannchose to order the AA-guns crews belowdecks to proteet them against fire from theGerman aircraft , and despite several newstrafing attacks in the folIowing twenty min­utes, permission to fire back was notgivenby Westermann. A crew member tatercounted more Ihan 100 bullet holes in theship's deck.

FolIowing the att acks the period from0920 - 0935 was quiet , but at 0935 anoth­er German Ju-B? suddenly dropped out of

I NIELS JUEG RUTE

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A pholo laken Ihe momenl Ihe 250 kg bomb delonaled righl nexl Io I he NIELSJUEL. A naval officer who wil nessed Ihe allack, laler said Ihallhe waler columnwas so high and wide Ihal NIELS JUEL was almosl complelely covered and onlyIhe bo w could be seen.

the sky and drop ped Iwo bombs close Iothe artillery ship's port side. NIELS JUELsartillery officer subsequently described theatt ack: "At aboul 0935 a German planeatlacked from the port side. [...l Two heavybombs were dropped about 25 metresfrom the port side next to the bridge. Thebombs detonated almost directly beneaththe ship.'

Judged by the power af the explo sionsth e bomb s were approximateiy 250 kgeach, and the explosions were magnif iedby the faet that the NIELS JUEL was inshallow waters. So despite the faet thatnone af the bombs hit the ship, the misseswera enough to cause extensive damageaboard.

In ane af the ship's magazine, located atthe bottom ol the ship , con script OttoLudvig later described the atlack: "The !WObombs fell near the ship. One went in thewater only 4-5 metres from Dur magazine,and we heard !WO violent bangs. The det­onations lift ed us up from the floor . Thewho le ship shoo k, and sheIIs and war­heads fell off the shelv es and an to thefloor. At the same time the Iights went outagain, and we felt the ship heel heavily."

FolIowing this attack Westermann real­ized that the Germans were in faet tryingto sink his ship, and he ordered that anti­aircraft guns manned , and that any attack­ing German airc raft were to be engaged ,but no more attacks materialized.

Unbeknown to the Germans the secondatlack had actually put NIELS JUEL out afaction. The ship's artillery officer describedthe damage: "... The torpedoes began run­ning in the torpedo tubes, steam rose fromthe satety valve , the ship lurehed heavilyand drowned alrnost in the water from thebombs." All watertight bulkheads were rup­tured , the sta rboard side ol the shipsprung a number af leaks, the fire controlequipment was destroyed and there wasalso a minor leak in the bow. The damageclearly showed the weaknesses in NIELSJUE LS design , and that the shi p, whichwa s des igned and bu ilt during the fir stWorld War, was in 1943 thoroughly out -

knots. Westermann th en orde red theanchor released, and the German planestook thls as a sign that the ship, in accor­dance with the arder from Capenhagen,had anchored, and then lett the area.

In line wit h the rest af the f1eet theNIELS JUEL was equipped with a small 10kg bomb, which should serv e to des troythe ship in just a situation lik e this . Thedetonator did not, however, work, andWestermann instead gave the order to thecrew to ma nually destroy the ship. Themagazines we re floode d and the seacocks opened and soon more than 2500tons af water had filled the hull,causing theship to settle fir mly on the boltom, whilethe salt water ruined the machin ery andother equipment.

At the same time the crew destroyed theships equ ipment and guns, smalI arms,ammunition, rangefinders and anotherequipment was thrown overboard. A crewmember subsequently wrote: "Then camethe order to make NIELS JUEL useless ,and it was a sad spectac le, which we wit­nessed over the next hour s. Th e iargebreeches for the 15cm gun s we nt over­board , and gauges, switches , ves every­th ing was des troyed. All our anti-aircraftgun s, 40mm, 20m m and 8mm went thesame way with the ammunition. The firecon trol sys tem, which cost more than 2

dated. million Danish Kroner in 1935, was com-Short ly atter the attack a German sea- pletely destroyed. We used our rill es as

plane with the new orders from clubs and bayanets as crow bars , nothingCapenhagen arrived. These stated that the was spared. All our rifles and revolver sNIELS JUEL was to anehor at Hundested were rendered use less and thrown over-and awa it furth er orde ts . It was clear to board - the drums for the revolvers wentWesterman that despite the faet that the the same way. As did the equipment fromorder was signed by the Chief af the Navy, the bridge - te lephones, compass, dept hVice Admiral Vedel , it was in faet wrilten sounder, steering wheel, etc. Nothing wasby the German occupation authorlties . spa red, in short , everything was

Weste rmann therefore did not feel destroyed."obl iged to fol low the arde r. At the same This manifestation ol "patr iotic vandal-time Westermann was aware that his ship isrn", as one af the crew memb ers taterhad been heavi ly dam aged by German descr ibed it, was meant to make the shipbom bing. An atternpt to reach Sweden unusable for the Germ ans, and largewas not feasible and would most Iikely end amounts af ammunition spread areund thewith a sinking of the ship wilh many dead sh ip was later to ham per the Germ anand wounded among the crew . efforts to raise the ship.Westermann therefore decided to destroy While the destruetion was going on, thethe ship. crew was allowed free access to the

Course was set to the southwest, and at onboard supply af food, beverages, tobac-1048 NIELS JUEL was run aground at 16 co and other things from the ship invento-

The ship was beaehed jusl a lew hundred melres Irom shore.

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ries - just to make sure that this did not lall was so badly wounded that he died an 2into the hands ol the Germans. During the September.war, these lhings were all rationed, so this In the late afte rnoon a German planemave was quite popular, since this was the arrived, carrying orders for Westermann,first time in three years that the crew could instructing him to leave lo r Capenhageneat bread, for example, with as thick a escorted by a German torpedo boat thatspread af butte r as they could manage , was waiting outside Isefjorden. The rnes-and smoke all the cigare ttes tha t they senger was quickly made aware that thecould! NIELS JUEL was unable to sai! to

At the same time, the lour most serious- Cape nhagen, and he had to return toly injured crew members were taken to the Capenhagen empty-handed . He broughtnearby town ol Nykoebing in the ship's wit h him, however, a message frommotor boat, where they were immediately Westermann that NIELS JUELs crew soonbrought to the city hospital. Artillery had to be evacuated from the ship, as itQuartermaster H.E. Andreasen, however, was no longer possibie to cook an board,The crew waiting to be evacuated Iram the damaged ship. As with the crews Iromthe rest ol the Ileet's ships the olficers and crew Ira m the NIELS JUEL weresubsequently interned at the Royal Dockyard in Capenhagen. The German Nazileader Heinrich Himmler t ried to persuade Hitler to lorce the captured Danes in toservice in the German army at the Eastern Front, but this was lortunately notcarried into elfect, and in October 1943, the more th an 2,000 detainee Danishofficers and sailors wera released.

The vessel in tha previous issuewas the 'O' class cru iser HMSDELHI. She was refitted afBrooklyn Navy yard in 1941/42during which she was fitted withUS pattern 5-ich 38 cal guns andmodern Mk37 directars, the oniyship af her class to be so litted.The lirst correct name out ol thesou'wester was Mr L. Williams olWoiverhampton. His prize is an itswayto him.

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and the majority af the crew sleeping quar­lers were Ilooded.

First thing an the morning af 30 Augustthe Germans came an board and took thecrew prisaner. From there they were al ltranspo rted to the Royal Dockyard inCapenhagen , where they were interneduntil lale October 1943.

Despite the damage to the ship, theGermans subsequently managed to raiseher, and from Seplember 1944 it was usedby the Kriegsmarine as a German Irainingship named NORDLAND. As the war drewto a close the ship was, an 3 May 1945,once again scuttled by its crew, this time inthe Eckerntorde fiord. Most ol the snip wassalvaged alter the war and sold as scrap,but parts af Niels Juel is still al the bottomol fiord.

THE SCUTTLlNG QF THE FLEET AND ITSIMPLlCATIONS FOR DENMARK

During the night ol 29 August the DanishNavy sank 32 ol its 50 vessels . Just 14ships were taken undamaged by theGermans and four ships - an old torpedoboat and three small minesweepers ­made it to Sweden, where they wereinterned until May 1945. Seven Danisnofficers and ratings were killed by theGermans. The scuttli ng deprived theGermans af a number af ships, that theycould have used in their war effort , andsubseq uently the Kriegsmari ne had totransler more than 2,000 German sailarsto Denmark to manage the task af minesweeping previously handled by theDanish Navy.

The Scuttl ing ol the Danish Ileet wasalso - along with the work ol the Danishresistance mavernent - one af the reasonsthe Danas atterthe war wera seen as hav­ing lought the Germans, despit e thealmost unopposed German occupation afDenmark in April af 1940.

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