Let's Build: Schwere Kreuzer Blücher

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more: Schwere Kreuzer Blücher.

Year 1940!

From the diary of a young engineer officer: At the beginning of April we left the port of Kiel, in whose shipyards we have been since the beginning of the war and awaiting the completion of our trials. We headed east until suddenly we received a radio order to go to Swinemünde to embark infantrymen there, probably for an exercise.

In the late afternoon we entered Swinemünde as ordered and embarked the infantry the following night. In addition to us, there are other Kriegsmarine units in port that are also loading troops on board. I am on duty in boiler room 3 in the shift from 24: 00-04: 00 hours. After my replacement in the morning, I see the ship's cranes carrying the last boxes of ammunition on board. The entire deck is now filled with boxes, sacks, equipment, and supplies. The soldiers have made themselves comfortable below deck and are trying to get some sleep.

At dawn we left the port heading west. We arrived in Kiel and moored to a buoy in the outer harbor. The infantrymen cannot be displayed on the upper deck in their gray uniform, so they appear in the most impossible fantasy uniforms that they borrowed from our sailors. From all the security measures taken, it appears that the exercise undertaken is likely to be of a serious nature.

Everything is brand new for infantrymen. Most of them had never seen a warship, much less had been on board. However, they soon become friends with our sailors and learn a little to appreciate their work, although they do not know what to do with most service devices. The next day, very early in the morning, our little unit, consisting of a pocket battleship (panzerschiff), a heavy and a light cruiser, several torpedo boats, and a flotilla of minesweepers, finally sets sail north.

The heavy cruiser "Blücher" left the Kiel roadstead on April 8, 1940 at the head of the Kriegsschiffsgruppe 5, first along the German coast and then north. As is already known, the Kriegsschiffsgruppe 5 consisted of the following units:

- Heavy cruiser "Blücher" (flagship)
- Heavy cruiser "Lützow" (former pocket battleship - Panzerschiff "Deutschland")
- Light cruiser "Emden"
- torpedo boats "Albatros", "Möwe" and "Kondor" (Raubvogelklasse - bird of prey)
- the 1. Räumbootflottille (R.17 to R.24)
- War cutter (KFK) Rau-7 and Rau-8

As the naval grouping sailed north past Langeland through the Great Belt, the German Wehrmacht was about to occupy Denmark. Danish broadcaster Kalundborg reported that strong units of the German navy were to pass off the Danish coast. But the British did not pay much attention to this message, as they were busy preparing their own landing in Norway. On the high seas, the commander announces the purpose and task of the grouping to the crew who have taken the upper deck:

“Enter the Oslofjord. Occupy Oslo with all its fortresses in the fjord, which is more than 150 kilometers long. No resistance expected. Resistance will be broken by force of arms. "

Source: http://members.aol.com/rkolmorgen/index.html (ofline)
Schwerer Kreuzer Blücher. Stapellauf, Kriegstagebuch, Werft, Operationsplan, Oslo-Fjord, Festung Oscarsborg, Unruhen in Oslo, Donald-Duck-Methode.

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more: Schwere Kreuzer Blücher.

Year 1940!

From the diary of a young engineer officer: The crew is ecstatic with joy. None of us would have thought that we would now be allowed to intervene in the fight. We are all proud of the task and of our gallant commander, who reported on the ship ready to fight. Since we are the largest and also the newest ship in the battle group, we are at the forefront. We have on board the entire naval and infantry high command, propaganda company and interpreters.

We will be at sea one more day before reaching the Norwegian coast. Visibility is good, the sun shines all day, the weather is really wonderful. Our scouts are circling over us to help secure our march. Suddenly the anti-submarine alarm goes off! They all rush to their battle station to close the bulkheads and be able to take the necessary defensive measures immediately in the event of a torpedo impact.

The torpedo trails are closing in on us. We evade them with skillful maneuvers; nothing happened. The anti-submarine curtain torpedo boats launch depth charges; the alarm ends. The formation regroups and the march continues north. A radio message informs that more than ten English submarines have positioned in our march. They will soon be felt; there is often an anti-submarine alarm. Fortunately, nothing is wrong with any of our ships.

The last night before the attack has arrived. Everything is ready for employment. The infantrymen have received their iron ration (combat ration), on which they are supposed to live for a few days after landing. The ship's crew has also established several smaller landing parties, primarily to occupy ships and other naval facilities in Oslo. I am also part of a raid. It is about equipping and ensuring a municipal technical facility. We leave our tools and hand weapons ready, our employment must be done immediately after arriving in Oslo.

It's shortly before midnight. Suddenly "alarm"! That means "ship ready for combat". With a single blow, the crew raced to their battle stations. Under no circumstances can they be left before the "clear ship status" has ended. So each of the people is now somewhere on the huge ship in what may be a small room of a few cubic meters, completely on their own. By telephone is in contact with various parts of the ship to transmit reports of the observed effects of the impact.

On April 9, 1940, around 01:00 hours, 150 soldiers from the 5th Company (Infantry Regiment 307) of the "Blücher" boarded the Räumboote R.18 and R.19. Around the same time, the Räumboote R.17 and R.21 approached the "Emden" side and the infantry was transferred there as well. These soldiers were the first to set foot on Norwegian soil. They were tasked with occupying the islands of Rauöy and Bolärne, as well as, in cooperation with torpedo boats, the Norwegian naval port of Horten.

Source: http://members.aol.com/rkolmorgen/index.html (ofline)
Schwerer Kreuzer Blücher. Stapellauf, Kriegstagebuch, Werft, Operationsplan, Oslo-Fjord, Festung Oscarsborg, Unruhen in Oslo, Donald-Duck-Methode.

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more: Schwere Kreuzer Blücher.

Year 1940!

As she continued sailing, "Blücher" was questioned by a Norwegian coast guard (Pol. III) asking for the name and country of origin. The "Blücher" did not reply and continued on her way. On the corresponding wave, the radio operators of the "Blücher" could hear a warning from the Norwegian Navy ship. The torpedo boat "Albatros" was also questioned and when she did not react, the Norwegian threatened to ram her. The "Albatros" now opened fire and sank the Pol. III, 14 Norwegian sailors were rescued from the icy waters. A little later, the first ships detached from the grouping. The Räumboote R 23 and R 24 were supposed to take the island of Bolärne by surprise, the R 20 and R 24 the island of Rauöy and the torpedo boats "Kondor" and "Albatros", as well as the R 21, R 17 and the whaler RAU 7 the naval port of Horten.

After the Drammen Fjord forked left, the Oslo Fjord was reduced to about 1,000 meters wide. Not much for a ship as big as the "Blücher". The Norwegian town of Dröbak is almost at the narrowest point. Opposite was the Oskarsborg fortress. Any ship that wants to reach Oslo has to pass through here. The fortress cannons (old Krupp guns from 1897) dominate the narrow pass. Even a large battleship has no chance here, because defensive moves are not possible. In addition to the fortress weapons, torpedo batteries were installed on the shore that can sink an enemy ship with deadly safety. All these facts were known by those responsible. Still, the risk was taken. The "Blücher" was getting closer and closer to the deadly zone and fate took its course. The head of the grouping may have sent the torpedo boat "Möwe" or one of the Räumboote across the straits as a vanguard to test whether the Norwegians would really keep quiet. These ships would have maneuvered much better in the narrow passage.

From the diary of a young engineer officer: My station is Boiler Room III, the main one on the ship. I am a "Feuermeister" there or, as they are called today, a boiler operator. I have two NCOs and ten men in the room, whom I can and must completely trust. It is up to the quick action of each individual in place whether the boiler room can continue to supply steam in the event of an impact or whether the fire must be “put out” because the consequences of the blow cannot be offset quickly enough.

Everything is going great today. The hours pass very slowly. So we've been on the Oslofjord since midnight and we're sailing upstream at a very slow speed. From time to time reports come to us from the navigation bridge to the boiler room:

"The first forts will pass!"

"The Norwegians fired a warning shot!"

But nothing else happens; so the Norwegians will certainly not oppose us. 05:17 hours we are safe before Oslo; the landing corps will soon be disembarked. Long before we had put aside gas masks, life jackets, and other materials from the ship that only made work difficult.

At 05:17 hours on April 9, 1940, the heavy cruiser arrived at Dröbak-Enge. At Dröbak-Enge, the Norwegians illuminated the "Blücher" brightly. For its part, the ship's headlights were also turned on, to dazzle the Norwegians.

Source: http://members.aol.com/rkolmorgen/index.html (ofline)
Schwerer Kreuzer Blücher. Stapellauf, Kriegstagebuch, Werft, Operationsplan, Oslo-Fjord, Festung Oscarsborg, Unruhen in Oslo, Donald-Duck-Methode.

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more: Schwere Kreuzer Blücher.

Year 1940!

At 05:19 am on April 9, 1940, the 28 cm guns of the fortress fired two projectiles at the "Blücher". One shot hit the main anti-aircraft command post and killed II.AO Kplt. Pochhammer and several other sailors. The second shot hit the hangar, which immediately caught fire due to the aviation fuel stowed there. The "Blücher" returned fire. However, the probability of an impact was very low, as precise targets could not be detected due to the glare of the reflectors. However, the guns fired in the direction of the visually perceived muzzle flash and onto a Norwegian patrol ship, which in turn opened machine gun fire at the heavy cruiser. An exact target could not be discerned from the command posts. Soon after, however, the fire stopped again. The "Blücher" lay for all to see as if in an exhibition in the middle of the narrow passage. The Commanding Officer Heinrich Woldag immediately ordered "Full Speed" to get the ship out of the danger zone as quickly as possible.

From the diary of a young engineer officer: "Now we are reaching the narrowest and most dangerous place in the fjord," says the voice above the bridge. So we are not in Oslo yet ..........

Rrrrumms - there it goes, we hardly think about it, and again ..... Rrrrummms - - -

The light turns off. Everything is falling apart. The flames reach the room through the fan shafts ....... A pungent smoke penetrates the eyes ..... All the air is riddled with traces of asbestos. We want to put on gas masks so we can breathe better. But the asbestos particles have already settled inside the mask and it only makes things worse. Now there is no time to clean. The emergency lighting has come on. It cannot penetrate the thick columns of the boiler room. With my flashlight I try to check the gauges and immediately see the damage done. The men in the corners of the boiler room behind the boilers work in complete darkness and therefore cannot keep the steam pressure of their auxiliary machines, mainly turbo centrifugal pumps, at the required constant level.

Due to a defect caused by the Norwegian impacts, the ship's steering system failed and Captain Woldag had to keep the "Blücher" on course with the engines. Of course, this meant that the "Blücher" could not go as fast as was actually intended. The Norwegian coastal battery "Kopas", located to starboard at a distance of approximately 600 meters and equipped with 15 cm guns, fired 25 shots in rapid succession against the "Blücher", of which approximately 20 reached the central zone.

From the diary of a young engineer officer: Immediately after the first impact, the machine telegraph switched to "Full Power." The whole system starts. This means that many turbo auxiliary machines increase their speeds to accommodate the increased steam extraction from the boilers. The noise builds up to a steadily increasing hiss. Communication is lost. But my people also know what to do. A noncommissioned officer stands at the control station with a hand-held battery light, illuminating the endless rows of gauges to immediately inform me of any irregularities. I run from one man to another and check the individual machines that they have to operate. The worst situation is in the four outer corners of the room. They are just below the boiler fans that draw air from the upper deck and push it into the boiler room. Upstairs, however, there must be impacts and fires in the vicinity of our supply air ducts, because what the fans bring in is anything but fresh air. Thick waves of smoke and sometimes flames hit us.

Source: http://members.aol.com/rkolmorgen/index.html (ofline)
Schwerer Kreuzer Blücher. Stapellauf, Kriegstagebuch, Werft, Operationsplan, Oslo-Fjord, Festung Oscarsborg, Unruhen in Oslo, Donald-Duck-Methode.

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more: Schwere Kreuzer Blücher.

Year 1940!

These impacts intensified the fire aboard the heavy cruiser, which was increased by army high explosive ammunition. The fire could not be extinguished until the ship sank, despite the desperate efforts of the crew. The heavy cruiser "Lützow", which followed, like the "Emden" also opened fire on the Norwegian batteries. The "Blücher" escaped the fire of the Norwegian batteries at full speed (still about 15 knots were reached), since her guns could only fire towards the fjord. But due to the prevailing twilight, there was a risk of being stranded.

From the diary of a young engineer officer: We hear the impacts all the time, as if they came from afar. Sometimes it is only noticeable by the strong air pressure coming through the air ducts. Command from the machine control station: "Turn on the last boiler in the room too!"

A boiler in my room is still cold due to the low steam requirement for low speed. It turns on immediately. This has proven once again what the good German steel our complicated boilers are made of can handle when needed. In a fraction of the minimum time required, we brought the boiler to full operating pressure and opened the main shutoff valve. When I think about how the boiler was under pressure today, I wonder why I didn't turn gray.

The ship is now slowly tilting to port. The hallway tiles are difficult to walk on, they are slippery. If there is a stronger detonation, you slip, everything is confused. "Vapor danger"

A steam pipe on the grate in the room was broken by the vibrations. Steam comes out. However, it will only be an auxiliary line with a smaller cross section, the steam does not bother us more than the existing smoke, the view in the boiler room upwards is completely blocked. Also, I can't send a man upstairs anymore because it's unbearably hot a little higher up in the room. The impacts continue.

Telephone rings howl and try to drown each other. The phones themselves have failed, but the speaker relays have probably jammed so they're still beeping. It gradually gets on my nerves, these sometimes shrill, sometimes muffled, annoying squawks. Warning systems whistle in the middle; again, the pressure is too high in some pipe. - Safety valves fly screeching.

A messenger (command transmitter) from the chief engineer (Leitenden Ingenieur) "K. 3. Put out the fire except for a boiler for the bow turbo generators. All main engines have failed."

Source: http://members.aol.com/rkolmorgen/index.html (ofline)
Schwerer Kreuzer Blücher. Stapellauf, Kriegstagebuch, Werft, Operationsplan, Oslo-Fjord, Festung Oscarsborg, Unruhen in Oslo, Donald-Duck-Methode.

Cheers. Raúl M .

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Wasn't the captain of the Blucher being strongly reprimanded for the loss of his ship?

Edward L. Hsiao

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more: Schwere Kreuzer Blücher.

Year 1940!

Immediately afterwards, the "Blucher" was hit by two 45 cm "Whitehead" torpedoes from a Norwegian torpedo battery at Nord-Kaholmen. The heavy cruiser initially glided further through the strait towards Oslo. As the rudder system had failed and the ship was now out of range of Norwegian weapons, Captain Heinrich Woldag had the anchor dropped so that the ship would not hit the rocks. According to later statements, it was initially believed on board that the ship could be saved. So every effort was made to put out the fire and repair the damage. No one thought of abandoning the ship.

However, the ship's hull was ripped apart by torpedo explosions and all the engine rooms were flooded, so that an independent movement by own means was no longer possible. The fire on board spread and the ammunition from the weapons detonated. The Commander, Kapitän z.S. Woldag, ordered the fire fighting teams to put out the fire and asked the other ships in the group for help for his crew. However, the extinguishing work was hampered by the fact that the fire in the middle of the ship divided the cruiser in principle into two halves (namely, bow and stern) and that communication between bow and stern was not possible due to to the failure of internal transmission systems.

From the diary of a young engineer officer: A crash came clear to me. It already ended. How does it look up there now? The ship is listing more and more to port. It is difficult to move in the room, you have to hold on to something all the time. You can barely stand. I turn off all the boilers except one "off fire." Everything is turned off in accordance with the regulations in these boilers, as the crew members have been practicing for months. Suddenly there seems to be calm. You don't hear any more shots, no more detonations. In the room itself, with only one boiler running, everything has also become significantly quieter - it's scary.

On the port side, the water gradually rises over the floor tiles. I take people there and gather them on the upper side of the boiler room next to the last boiler. I'm sending a messenger to Chief Engineer L.I. who I can no longer contact by phone. He should report our situation and get more orders. The messenger finds the L.I. With great difficulty on the burning ship, he finds his way back to us at risk of death:

"Command: K. 3. Shut down! Get out of the boiler room! "

The latest generator, the latest electrical machines have now also failed.

"Leave the room! Support the firefighting work on the tweendeck!

The last boiler was left "fire off": everything is turned off according to regulations so that it is ready for the next ignition. Nobody thinks the ship is lost. I give the order to put on the life jackets. People are reluctant to do it, "it seems that we are afraid", they say.

"Leave the boiler room" I say - - -

It seems that nobody wants to be the first to go up the stairs. Finally they go up.

"We'll be back in a minute and get the steam back on."

"Do you think the ship is finished?"

"Crazy!"

Source: http://members.aol.com/rkolmorgen/index.html (ofline)
Schwerer Kreuzer Blücher. Stapellauf, Kriegstagebuch, Werft, Operationsplan, Oslo-Fjord, Festung Oscarsborg, Unruhen in Oslo, Donald-Duck-Methode.

Edward, the commander of the "Blücher", Captain Heinrich Woldag, only survived his ship for a short time. After he had been ordered to report to Berlin, he wanted to return to Oslo for the funeral of the dead seamen of the "Blücher", but his plane went missing. Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more: Schwere Kreuzer Blücher.

Year 1940!

From the diary of a young engineer officer: This is how people speak and this is how we all think. A quick look around the room, everything is fine, but the water has already risen alarmingly. We are now all on the pressure-tight staircase (staircase leading to the next deck). The boiler room bulkhead is sealed. The man who has reached the top under the hatch gives the blow signals so that the sailor stationed there can open the heavy porthole from above. Finally he rises heavily, we crawl out and cross the bulkhead to the middle deck (tweendeck). It looks wild here. Fire hoses crawl across the deck like red snakes in a herd. Everything is full of smoke.

"Oh my God - -!" They all say, and they are already helping with the firefighting work. The oxygen device is used to penetrate the burning compartments. increasingly unbearable.

I walk through a room where it vibrates wildly, the flames spread a dazzling glow. As soon as I get out there is a huge detonation behind me, I am still thrown by the air pressure. An ammunition bin below lit with a huge flame. The wounded are carried up as far as we can get them out.

Still trying to get to the port side. In the middle deck (deck above armored deck and 2 floors below upper deck) I can't get through, everything is burning here. Then: circling at the top. It may be possible to get to the other side of the battery platform. But even climbing to the next higher deck is difficult. Of course, all the hatches between the decks are locked and sealed. After a prolonged and violent call signal, a hatch finally opens. I climb up and find myself in the midst of a crowd of huddled infantry soldiers, some of whom are badly wounded with all their equipment, awaiting deployment. It must have been terrible for these people, and it still must be now, waiting here, helplessly, to see what happens to them. I don't think they would have even found each other on the upper deck. Passing through here is impossible. Everything forms a tangled mass that has slid towards the central bulkhead of the ship. Here it burns the same as below. No one, including me, knew if we were still over or already under the water. So I ordered an infantryman to open a porthole in the armored deck so that he could see the situation outside. Then a sergeant reports and calls: "Who is giving the order?" Nor could he suspect a superior in my boiler room suit. I explained everything to him, an armored cover was opened, we saw the glow outside, the shores in flames and that we are still high above the water on this side.

Somewhat calm, I go back down to the middle deck. Now it's completely empty here. Firefighting work has certainly been abandoned, it looks bleak. Where there is no fire, it is somehow destroyed in a different way. The overturned lockers block the way. The panels are bent, the doors can hardly be moved. I will try to pass. There is another staircase to the upper deck. - A pungent and impenetrable smoke hits me again in the next section. I will go through it, surely it will be better behind it. But in the next section it is worse. Handkerchief over the mouth and everything. I'm finally in the room where the ladder is. The flames illuminate the deserted deck. There are also some ammunition magazines underneath, hopefully none will detonate now.

I jump down the stairs and climb onto the battery deck. Soon my air will run out. Thank God I find my way to the next staircase that leads to the upper floor, as if I were sleeping feeling my way, I find the stairs and go back up one floor. Now there are two ways out. I try well. Bright flames hit me, I hear the serial detonation of ammunition stored in our lockers for landing, the dull detonation of hand grenades, and the click of pistol ammunition. I couldn't go any further here so I go back and try the other side. There I finally made it. I close my eyes, almost blinded, there is already light here. A glance at the clock, it is seven in the morning, so the fight has lasted almost two hours until now. It seems like a few minutes.

Unfortunately, the crew did not even have enough water to fight the fire because the conveyor system was not working. However, everything was tried on board to control the situation. When Captain Woldag realized that the ship was listing more and more and could no longer be salvaged, he gave the order to abandon the "Blücher". The commander of the heavy cruiser "Lützow" that followed, Captain Thiele, had already recognized that a violent conquest of the Dröbak-Enge was not possible and gave the signal to the following ships to withdraw immediately from the danger zone of the coastal batteries. The Commander of the Grouping, Admiral Kummetz, handed over the command of the other ships to the commander of the "Lützow", since he saw no possibility of changing from the "Blücher" to the "Lützow". Meanwhile, the "Blücher" men tried to save themselves. The shore was not far, but the water was close to freezing. The other German ships could not come to the rescue without risking sinking.

Source: http://members.aol.com/rkolmorgen/index.html (ofline)
Schwerer Kreuzer Blücher. Stapellauf, Kriegstagebuch, Werft, Operationsplan, Oslo-Fjord, Festung Oscarsborg, Unruhen in Oslo, Donald-Duck-Methode.

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more: Schwere Kreuzer Blücher.

Year 1940!

From the diary of a young engineer officer: I breathe deeply and gratefully in the good air, and only then do I see the damage done to the upper deck. Terrible. I am standing at the exit of the forecastle, in the forward third of the ship. A single sea of ​​flames rises aft. The hangar was there, the skeleton of our plane can be faintly seen in the smoke. One of the first projectiles entered here, just as it was about to go up.

The deck beams bend in the fire, the paint on the walls bubbles, boiling in the heat. My eyes hurt; I make my way to the forecastle, to the large open deck on which the two heavy turrets are located at the front. The entire forecastle is crowded with people: they all look towards a turret. Hangs crooked from the barbet, the tubes stick out helplessly, out of order. But there, in the turret, is our Commander, Kpt. z., S. Woldag, speaking with his crew.

I only hear the last sentences: "... The fate of the war has not been kind to our ship today ... Fate wants us to follow its example, like all the ships that before us had the same proud name" Blücher " defeated in a hard fight, but without lowering the flag, sunk with honor ... I have decided to abandon ship ... I give the official order to leave ship immediately ... Our proud ship, our splendid, our beloved "Blücher "a triple hooray.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! "

The first officer stands alongside the commanding officer and makes a triple call to the German leader, the people, and victory in this war. Traditional naval cheers echo over the now-quiet fjord. Only once in a while can you hear the ammo on the top deck explode, some splinters fly around. The only thing that breaks the morning calm is the crackle of the flames in the ship. The ship is sinking deeper and deeper. The port side is already submerged. The first one started swimming towards land, which is about 600 meters away. Now moving images are formed. Most of the infantry cannot swim.

In incomparable camaraderie, the sailors also hand over their life jackets to their sometimes olders comrades in the army, even imposing them where someone does not want to accept them. Everything passes in perfect calm. The soldiers still come from below fully equipped to the upper deck, they are completely lost.

"Is it better if I take off my boots?"

"What can I leave here?"

I yell, "Throw everything you have overboard, get naked, and then inside!"

With what parting look they part with their rifles, they really make you cry.

07:27 hours the "Blücher" turned over with a waving flag and sank over the bow. Those rescued, including many injured, gather in individual groups in the continental north of Dröbak (Halangstaden Peninsula) and on the Askenholmen Islands. Wood fires ignite quickly. Still some soldiers die on the ground. The following were found on the continent (almost all of them swam ashore from the forecastle): Rear Admiral Kummetz, Kampfgruppenführer 5, Major General Engelbrecht, Commander of the 163rd ID, Major General Suessmann, Air Force, Commander, First Officer, 22 officers, about 750 Men of the "Blücher" and about 200 members of the army (including Oberst Blomeyer, Commander of IR 307). According to the survivors, a serious explosion occurred underwater about 10 minutes after the sinking of the "Blücher"

Source: http://members.aol.com/rkolmorgen/index.html (ofline)
Schwerer Kreuzer Blücher. Stapellauf, Kriegstagebuch, Werft, Operationsplan, Oslo-Fjord, Festung Oscarsborg, Unruhen in Oslo, Donald-Duck-Methode.
https://dach.cleanwreck.org/?p=320

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more: Schwere Kreuzer Blücher.

Year 1940!

From the diary of a young engineer officer: Individual scenes:

A single cutter could be lowered into the water, all the others were on fire. All the injured, that is, those who could no longer swim, will be brought ashore here. -Now a captain is being transferred, with both legs destroyed, he is tied to a mattress. He can see that the boat is not even remotely sufficient for all the seriously injured. The captain unbuckles his seat belt and rolls overboard before anyone can stop him and swims ashore alone without being able to use his legs. He does it.

Several wounded lie on a raft. It is pushed out of the ship and travels without guidance or propulsion. Meanwhile, a permanent layer of heating fuel has formed around the ship and begins to burn. A colleague of mine, Oberfähnrich K., who was seriously injured on the raft, immediately recognized the danger. He can only see with difficulty. His face is a black scab, completely burned, his eyes hurt terribly. He can straighten up and take command of the raft. He forces everyone, some of them infantry soldiers with no knowledge of nautical, who can still move in some way, to row by hand. He commands him out loud. "more to port", "more starboard". In this way, they leave the fire zone and, after a great effort, reach the shore.

The ship is sliding more and more to port. Now she lies flat on her side, the burning superstructures plunging into the icy waters with a thump. Heating oil begins to burn with a large jet of flame. It's about time I left the ship. I am already completely undressed, in the bow on the side of the ship, which can sink at any moment. I took off my leather coat because I was afraid I would crawl under the water. I tied it up and secured it behind my back.

I slid down the side wall that once jutted out. At first, it gives me a terrible shock when I dive into the water. It's only 1 degree Celsius and I'm still very hot from the boiler room. I also gulp some water in shock, so I feel really bad. But that will disappear very soon, I will start swimming right now, because the only remedy against the killer cold is swimming. I swim a little around the boat so as not to get into the burning fuel oil, and next to me I see a soldier desperately struggling with death: he cannot swim. I can still grab him, so he clings to me. Now it is clear to me, either we go out or neither. I couldn't have gotten rid of him. After a short swim, he wakes up and complains about terrible things, then swallows water again and becomes restless. I am struggling, but the coast does not seem to be approaching. He whimpers again, he wants to quit. "Only fifty meters," I assure him, but there are at least another hundred. His fingers gradually stiffen, I can no longer hold him with one hand. I put his arms across the front of my shirt and at least I have both arms free now. Due to his kicks, it bothers me a lot when swimming.

I look back at my ship once more. The bow is gone. The ship is upright, people are still on deck. The stern goes far away, the propellers look up at the sky. Now the last people, some of them from great heights, fall into the water. Another is at the stern on the outermost part of the boat, which now protrudes very high. He raises his hand in German salute. At that moment someone yells "Hooray". The call spreads across the water. Many, many hundreds of men, all struggling with death, stop swimming, look again at the sinking ship and yell "Hooray hooray hooray!" Even my infantryman yells, he definitely doesn't have enough air.

With a sea of ​​flames surrounding the ship suddenly disappeared. The flames linger like a huge torch to indicate where a proud cruiser fought her last battle. How I got ashore now, I can't tell anymore. In any case, we got to the coast and other comrades took us from there.

Source: http://members.aol.com/rkolmorgen/index.html (ofline)
Schwerer Kreuzer Blücher. Stapellauf, Kriegstagebuch, Werft, Operationsplan, Oslo-Fjord, Festung Oscarsborg, Unruhen in Oslo, Donald-Duck-Methode.
http://www.forsvaretsmuseer.no/Forsvare ... her-synker


Cheers. Raúl M .

[Ro/Lt]

What happened to the memorial erected shortly after the sinking? I assume it as demolished after the war....