Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
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- Jul 11, 2008
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The "Altmark-Incident"...
On February 16, 1940, a boarding party from the British destroyer HMS "Cossack" captured the German civilian supply ship "Altmark" and freed 299 British sailors held captive there!
The captured British, all members of the merchant marine, had previously had to make a long journey on the "Altmark":
They all come from the German traffic jammer "Admiral Graf Spee"...
... prizes raised and sunk in the South Atlantic!
Even before the German "pocket battleship" could be knocked out by its pursuers off Montevideo on December 17, 1939...
... (their captain Hans Langsdorff after that committed suicide)...
... the "Graf Spee" had delivered the prisoners to her supply tanker "Altmark".
Their captain Heinrich Dau...
... succeeded in making his way with the unarmed freighter first to West Africa and then via Iceland to northern Norway - he was unable to go directly to Germany due to the British naval blockade.
The "Altmark" initially hid from the Allies in the Norwegian Jøssingfjord...
... where it was repeatedly searched by members of the Norwegian Navy - due to rumors of British prisoners present there.
During each search, Captain Dau denied the presence of the British on his ship - who were always hidden in tiny chambers deep in the ship's hull.
Attempting to make its way to Germany during the long, dark winter nights, the unflagged Altmark, anchored close to shore in Norwegian territorial waters, was caught off Egersund by a British patrol flotilla led by HMS Cossack. ..
... sighted - and their captain Philip Vian...
... gave the order to board the ship and search it thoroughly.
After a short fight with the Germans, in which eight German sailors died, who were later buried in Norway...
... the captured Britons could be completely freed...:
They were brought to Leigh by HMS "Cossack" and put ashore there on February 17, 1940...:
The whole action, in which the "Altmark" ran aground, took place under the eyes of the crews of four Norwegian warships who, on the orders of their commander, Captain Lura on the "Fireren", did not lift a finger because the Norwegians did not want to take sides to avoid being drawn into the war.
This episode, known in Germany as the "Altmark Incident", was the reason for Hitler and the Nazis to begin the military occupation of Norway on April 9, 1940.
On February 16, 1940, a boarding party from the British destroyer HMS "Cossack" captured the German civilian supply ship "Altmark" and freed 299 British sailors held captive there!
The captured British, all members of the merchant marine, had previously had to make a long journey on the "Altmark":
They all come from the German traffic jammer "Admiral Graf Spee"...
... prizes raised and sunk in the South Atlantic!
Even before the German "pocket battleship" could be knocked out by its pursuers off Montevideo on December 17, 1939...
... (their captain Hans Langsdorff after that committed suicide)...
... the "Graf Spee" had delivered the prisoners to her supply tanker "Altmark".
Their captain Heinrich Dau...
... succeeded in making his way with the unarmed freighter first to West Africa and then via Iceland to northern Norway - he was unable to go directly to Germany due to the British naval blockade.
The "Altmark" initially hid from the Allies in the Norwegian Jøssingfjord...
... where it was repeatedly searched by members of the Norwegian Navy - due to rumors of British prisoners present there.
During each search, Captain Dau denied the presence of the British on his ship - who were always hidden in tiny chambers deep in the ship's hull.
Attempting to make its way to Germany during the long, dark winter nights, the unflagged Altmark, anchored close to shore in Norwegian territorial waters, was caught off Egersund by a British patrol flotilla led by HMS Cossack. ..
... sighted - and their captain Philip Vian...
... gave the order to board the ship and search it thoroughly.
After a short fight with the Germans, in which eight German sailors died, who were later buried in Norway...
... the captured Britons could be completely freed...:
They were brought to Leigh by HMS "Cossack" and put ashore there on February 17, 1940...:
The whole action, in which the "Altmark" ran aground, took place under the eyes of the crews of four Norwegian warships who, on the orders of their commander, Captain Lura on the "Fireren", did not lift a finger because the Norwegians did not want to take sides to avoid being drawn into the war.
This episode, known in Germany as the "Altmark Incident", was the reason for Hitler and the Nazis to begin the military occupation of Norway on April 9, 1940.
