Operation
Weserübung
By Alex Camai, Emily Sullivan,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Buk
Lau, and Shrek
THESIS
Operation Weserübung was a battle over Norway for British and
German interests, leading to a British defeat and a loss of
confidence in English naval power, making it even more difficult
to unify to attack Nazi Germany.
MAP
MAP
Basic Diagram of Operation
Basically, Germany and the Allies (Shreks) are fighting over the rights to Norway along with other north European/Scandinavian
countries like Denmark and Sweden, who claimed their neutrality. Germany wants its ports to launch Uboats and navy, and England has
a mining operation there. The Danish capitulated immediately but the Norwegians announced their will to fight.
Pls don’t hurt
me
Git out me
swampe!
No Norway is me
swampe, not yers!
Norway’s Squad
The Norwegian Navy was unprepared for the German offensive. The forces consisted of the following:
The Panserskipsdivisjon (say that five times fast)
2 Coastal defense ships, the Eidsvold and Norge
2 Older Coastal Defense Ships (the Germans later turned these into anti-aircraft ships for themselves)
Dated BEFORE 1920 (Old)
15 Torpedo boats
4 Destroyers
Dated From 1858 (REALLY OLD)
9 Submarines and warships
German Advantage
Germany would have the jump on Norway
because the Norwegians were more
concerned about the Allies and their naval
offensive.
Eidsv-OLD
The Norwegian ship Eidsvold was from a class of obsolete ships including the Norge that had
insufficient technology (such as lack of bottom torpedo defense) and outdated weaponry.
U jelly Norway?
Continued
In a sense, trying to fight German U-Boats with the Eidsvold was like playing Airsoft with a Nerf gun.
Norway resists
Captain Off and the Eidsvold were wrecked by Germany at Narvik along with the Norge.
Oops.
Germany was able to get a head start against England because their ships were already at sea.
But England had something up their sleeve...
SURPRISE ATTACK!
Summary cont.
This was England after the surprise attack.
LOL! Scrub didn’t even think I
would attack them during a
snowstorm. Ha, I’m so MLG,
aren’t I, Germany?
They used a unique strategy to attack
German ships unexpectedly, under a
snowstorm, with a fleet of battleships.
Summary Cont.
This was Germany after England surprise
attacked them ->
MOAR SUMMARYZ
Germany got England back later. While the English fleet was withdrawing, German ships
attacked them back. They ended up beaching the Hardy, damaging the Hotspur, and sinking the
Hunter.
LOL England revenge is
sweet
AMERICA! FUDGE YEAH!!!
After Norway and Denmark were invaded by
Germany, the US troops went to Iceland to
protect it. As many as 40,000 troops flew
over and set up in Iceland.
The End?
A successful campaign by Germany against France and the Low Countries furthered the operation.
Eventually, France and England withdrew from Norway.
England and France
Hey Norway, how’s it
going? Wanna let me
occupy your ports?
TIMELINE
-April 4, 1940: Hitler decided to start the operation...in five days. #procrastination
-April 8, 1940: British begin their mining operation in Norwegian waters. German units were already at sea and got a march on the
British.
-April 9, 1940 (FIVE DAYS LATER): Operation begins
-German destroyers intercepted by Eidsvold commanded by Captain Off. German ships demanded surrender, but when the Captain
rejected, German torpedoes rekked the Norweigian ship, losing all but 8 of its crew of 193. The Germans then proceeded to sink the
Norge, losing 101 of its crew. German KDR was 286-0
-British ships intercepted German transports under the cover of a snowstorm, rekking two and heavily damaging one.
German ships killjoy the withdrawing British and attack them. Hardy was hit several times and was beached. The Hunter
sunk, and the Hotspur was damaged.
-May 10, 1940: Germans launch successful campaign against France and the Low Countries
-June 5-8, 1940: British and French get wrecked and withdraw from Norway
-June 10, 1940: Norwegian armed forces get wrecked and surrender
-June 4-9: Operation JUNO: German relief forces link up at Narvik and attack enemy shipments/protect German shipments
-June 8: German ships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau encounter the British aircraft carrier Glorious and it gets wrecked by
the Germans
Apres de la bataille: Fun facts and
outcome
Who can tell me what this says? ^
-The Royal Navy lost a fleet carrier, two light cruisers, and 9 destroyers.
-The German Navy lost its heavy cruiser Blücher, 2 light cruisers many more smaller ships.
-The operation revealed errors in the chain of command, resulting in the replacement of the second fleet
commander: Wilhelm Marschall (Germany).
-Hitler considered Norway as the “zone of destiny” (CUE CHOIR MUSIC)
-The heaviest fighting occurred near Narvik
-Casualties and resource costs were minor compared to the other battles later. 5,296 injured and dead for
Germany. The British, French, and Poles had 4,899 wounded and dead. Norwegian forces suffered 1,335
deaths.
-The German Navy got major wreckage. Their strength was diminished to a degree that it affected the war.
-However, the navy still managed to occupy Norway, and Hitler even said that it was “one of the sauciest
undertakings in the history of modern warfare.”
Pictures
The Blücher sinking
V
DESCRIPTION
●
●
●
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Goals of operation
o German forces wanted to seize control of Norway’s ports, which would become a useful
base of operations to launch their U-boat attacks.
Lead up to Operation:
o Raeder, German navy commander, was frustrated by Hitler’s restrictions on naval
operations not allowing him to seize the initiative and achieve early success.
o 1939, Britain was planning on invading Norway
Operation Weserübung
o Raeder planned this operation of Norway and Denmark
o Was going to be the big moment for the Navy in the war for Germany
o Secured important port facilities for surface raiders and U-boats in Norway and a
shipping route for iron from Sweden
o substantial losses
(German Navy: World War II)
Oh noes
A wild enemy soldier appears! What do you
do?
A)Throw potatoes
B)Answer the following quiz questions
C)Scream
D)Die
Question 1
Why did the Germans want to take Norway?
A)They wanted to live there
B)For the social security
C)To use as a front to launch H-Boats
D)To use as a front to launch U-Boats
Question 2
What was the British aircraft carrier ironically
named who was sunk by German ships?
A)No Friends
B)Glory
C)FALCON PAAAAAAAAAAUUUNNNCH
D)Glorious
Question 3
How many destroyers did the Royal Navy
lose?
A)3.1415926
B)(cos(180)+1) x tan(45)+3^2
C)sec540 x tan80+csc(tan(59))
D)cot(45.23)log(56 x tan(45))
B)9
True or False?
The Germans did not lose a substantial
amount of ships.
A)True, they lost the heavy cruiser
B)False, the Germans only lost one ship
C)Potato
D)2.71 millimeters
Question 5
German relief forces linked up with the
existing force in OperationA)JUNO
B)1
C)SUN
D)GUN
E)KIM JONG UUNION
Question 6
June 5-8: Who got rekked?
A)Britain and Belgium
B)Iraq and the United States
C)Britain and France
D)420 and Blazin
BONUS
Which town was roughly in the center of the
battle?
A)Middelfart
B)Seattle
C)Fartkontrol
D)Barcelona
BONUS TWO
What is “speed bump” in Norwegian?
A)FART
B)NOLF
C)FARTSDUMP
D)POOPSDIARRHEA
ULTIMATE BONUS
What is this? ---> A
A)The letter A
B)The color black
C)The first letter of the alphabet
D)A 90 degree rotated unfinished drawing of
Pacman eating a tic-tac
CONGLAJURATIONS
YUO ARE NAO MLG PRO
WORKS CITED
Bird, Keith W. "WESERÜBUNG, Operation (April 1940)." World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia. Ed.
Spencer C. Tucker. Vol. 2. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2012. 797-800. Gale Virtual Reference Library.
Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
Bird, Keith W. "German Navy: World War II." World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society. ABCCLIO, 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
MacDonald, Britton W., and Spencer C. Tucker. "Narvik, Naval Battles of (April 10 and 13, 1940)." World
War II at Sea:An Encyclopedia. Ed. Spencer C. Tucker. Vol. 2. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2012. 532534. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.
"Operation Weserübung – Denmark and Norway – Maps and Resources." Historical Resources About The
Second World War. WordPress, 1 Sept. 2008. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
Greene, Jack. "Norway, Navy." World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Spencer C. Tucker. Vol. 2. Santa
Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2012. 568-570. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
http://www.history.army.mil/books/70-7_02.htm
"Operation Weserübung - Denmark and Norway - Maps and Resources."Historical Resources About The Second World
War. N.p., 01 Sept. 2008. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.