Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,794
Propaganda war over a sunk ship ...
On Sunday, February 13, 1944, the Norwegian mail and passenger ship "Irma" sailed north from Bergen to Trondheim. .
On board are 45 crew members and 47 passengers, including about seven Germans (the numbers vary in the various sources). The cargo consists of general cargo, mail and 1,800 tons of herring.
The ship is under the command of Captain Sofus Strømberg ...:
In the early evening, the "Irma" was in the Hustadvika Bay off Kristiansund when she was shaken by a heavy explosion in the bow area in front of the Hestskjær lighthouse at 6:37 pm.
Shortly after this first explosion, which caused great damage on board, a second follows amidships. The ship immediately begins to sink. The explosions turn out to be torpedo hits.
In addition, massive machine gun fire rages into the erupting chaos on the sinking ship!
61 people are killed!
But:
Who attacked and sank the demonstrably unarmed steamer?
Nazi propaganda immediately accused the British (Norway is occupied by German troops and Germans are among the victims)....:
The German occupation authorities immediately issue a stamp branding the "Irma" incident as a war crime.
In addition, the Germans publish a declaration that 10 ore of the respective stamp value would benefit the surviving dependents of "Irma" victims...:
The Norwegian fascist party "Nasjonal Samling", which is in league with the Germans, and its leader Vidkun Quisling ...
... join the same horn and specifically accuse British motor torpedo boats of having this "skjendselsdåd" (infamy) on their conscience ...
The Royal Navy disgusts these accusations and declares: All Allied forces have strict orders not to attack Norwegian steamers traveling alone on the Norwegian coast in order to save Norwegian human lives.
Only after the end of the war does it emerge what those involved would have been too happy to cover up:
It was the Norwegian Navy that sank the "Irma"!
Two motor torpedo boats manned by Norwegians with the numbers "MTB 627" and "MTB 653" were from the British Shetland Islands on the auxiliary cruiser HMS "Molde" ...
... secretly brought to Norway - and "MTB 627" ...
... had fired the torpedoes and also shot the sinking ship with machine guns!
When this fact can no longer be denied, the Norwegian Navy declares that the "Irma" was a "legitimate target" because it was driven in the dimmed mode and was escorted by a German warship.
This version was (and is!) Vehemently contradicted by other Norwegians who rode the "Irma" at the time.
The "Irma" case is controversial in Norway to this day ...
On Sunday, February 13, 1944, the Norwegian mail and passenger ship "Irma" sailed north from Bergen to Trondheim. .
On board are 45 crew members and 47 passengers, including about seven Germans (the numbers vary in the various sources). The cargo consists of general cargo, mail and 1,800 tons of herring.
The ship is under the command of Captain Sofus Strømberg ...:
In the early evening, the "Irma" was in the Hustadvika Bay off Kristiansund when she was shaken by a heavy explosion in the bow area in front of the Hestskjær lighthouse at 6:37 pm.
Shortly after this first explosion, which caused great damage on board, a second follows amidships. The ship immediately begins to sink. The explosions turn out to be torpedo hits.
In addition, massive machine gun fire rages into the erupting chaos on the sinking ship!
61 people are killed!
But:
Who attacked and sank the demonstrably unarmed steamer?
Nazi propaganda immediately accused the British (Norway is occupied by German troops and Germans are among the victims)....:
The German occupation authorities immediately issue a stamp branding the "Irma" incident as a war crime.
In addition, the Germans publish a declaration that 10 ore of the respective stamp value would benefit the surviving dependents of "Irma" victims...:
The Norwegian fascist party "Nasjonal Samling", which is in league with the Germans, and its leader Vidkun Quisling ...
... join the same horn and specifically accuse British motor torpedo boats of having this "skjendselsdåd" (infamy) on their conscience ...
The Royal Navy disgusts these accusations and declares: All Allied forces have strict orders not to attack Norwegian steamers traveling alone on the Norwegian coast in order to save Norwegian human lives.
Only after the end of the war does it emerge what those involved would have been too happy to cover up:
It was the Norwegian Navy that sank the "Irma"!
Two motor torpedo boats manned by Norwegians with the numbers "MTB 627" and "MTB 653" were from the British Shetland Islands on the auxiliary cruiser HMS "Molde" ...
... secretly brought to Norway - and "MTB 627" ...
... had fired the torpedoes and also shot the sinking ship with machine guns!
When this fact can no longer be denied, the Norwegian Navy declares that the "Irma" was a "legitimate target" because it was driven in the dimmed mode and was escorted by a German warship.
This version was (and is!) Vehemently contradicted by other Norwegians who rode the "Irma" at the time.
The "Irma" case is controversial in Norway to this day ...
