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terje439 -> RE: OT - WWII quiz (9/28/2008 1:45:21 AM)
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ORIGINAL: warspite1
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ORIGINAL: terje439
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ORIGINAL: warspite1
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ORIGINAL: morgil
7. I was thinking of the sinking of Blucher outside Oslo, atleast 800 dead, maybe not major enough :p
Warspite1
I think the loss of a brand new ship in such incompetent circumstances is pretty major. However, I think the number of dead is irrelevant for a question like this. Blucher was an 8-inch gunned heavy cruiser sunk in April 1940. The Graf Spee was an 11-inch gunned pocket battleship scuttled in December 1939. Therefore the first major loss was the Graf Spee. As with the Bismarck question, what finally sank the ship - British shells or torpedoes or crew scuttling is also irrelevant in determining what is a loss.
At that stage of the war Graf Spee was a major loss to the small but modern Kriegsmarine. These ships were boasted to be faster than a more powerful ship and more powerful than a faster ship. The fact was on paper, it should not have lost to the two British and one Kiwi cruisers - two of which were of the light variety - that engaged it.
I would rather say the decimation of the Kriegsmarine during Weserübung. In addition to Blücher they also lost most of their destroyers in Narvik.
But the Blücher raises another Q:
Q: Why was the sinking of the Blücher important in regards to Norwegian war effort?
Warspite1
The Blucher was carrying 2,000 troops, part of the force that was to take Oslo and capture King Haakon. As a result of the ridiculous decision to "carry on up the fjord" (good name for a comedy!), despite the fact that surprise was lost, the Blucher was quickly sunk - with over 1,000 dead.
The King, the government and General staff were able to scarper and organise what defence they could.
Yup, you only forgot one part of it, the invasion force was also supposed to seize the norwegian gold reserves which they did not manage to do. The gold was then moved to England and helped pay for the allied war effort.
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