The German invasion of Norway

[marcelo_malara]

I am in the process of reading the above title, by Gierr Haarr (Norwegian). I am by page 100 now, the Glowworm sinking. Very good book, very detailed, from the planning process to the sailing to the landing places and the combats, I recommend it. The only fault, one common to every naval book I have read: the charts are not detailed enough. It has many charts, one for every phase of the invasion, but some places named in the text are not to be found on them. For example, it names the "Leads", I presume it referes to some natural channel between the coast and a group of islands, does anyone know where they are?

Regards

[RF]

This is going to be difficult to answer without knowing the context of the phrase and some idea of location.

[Terje Langoy]

Hi Marcelo,

I immediately thought this to be a rather direct translation of a common nautical norwegian term - 'Seilings-led' - or 'Ledene' which may be translated simply as 'shipping lane(s)'. So forth leads may actually be found anywhere along the coast since all confined stretches of water (fjords and channels) where ships regularly pass each other is a potential lead. For instance the fjord of which the Bismarck transitted as she left mainland for the last time, Hjeltefjord, is a shipping lane with ships going to and from Bergen (north and southbound) and in such a sense you may call Hjeltefjord a lead.

I could of course be wrong, would not be the first time, but I've not yet heard of any area along the coast called 'The leads' But if you could name an adjacent island or similar then I might be able to offer some assistance.

[marcelo_malara]

Thanks Terje to come to my rescue!!!! I have made some research in the web, there seems to be a channel called "indreled" ("inner leads" or "leads") that goes from a little north of Bergen further North, almost to Trondheim it seems, formed between islands and the cost. Can it be?

[Terje Langoy]

That is absolutely correct, Marcelo... Impressive research by someone almost halfway around the globe!

The term Indre led would be applied to all inner coastal shipping lanes or alternative routes. Dependent upon your vessel (length, width, height and depth) you are sometimes presented with several alternatives, you may go on the outside - open seas - or on the inside through a maze of fjords and islands. However, if you choose the latter make sure your charts are correct and pay strict attention to coastal lights because you´ll be parked on dry land in no time if you don´t keep tabs on your position at night.

Back to your question, yes there is indeed an inner lane extending from Bergen up towards Trondheim. It is used primarily by coastal shipping (bulk, passenger and goods) while the international ´big boys´usually are confined to the outer lanes. The only open areas where the North Sea hit you head-on between Bergen and Trondheim would be Stadtlandet and Frohavet, just before the entrance lead to Trondheim ... that´s the ones I can think of right now.

[marcelo_malara]

Thanks Terje. According to the book it was commonly used by German freighters because it was out of the reach of the RN. Norwegian pilots had to be used.

[RNfanDan]

Thanks Terje. According to the book it was commonly used by German freighters because it was out of the reach of the RN. Norwegian pilots had to be used.

Unless my memory fails me, "The Leads" figured prominently in a book I had read when I was a student, about the infamous Altmark affair (the rescue of captured British merchant sailors taken prisoner by Graf Spee).

IIRC, Altmark's CO had made effective use of the Leads to avoid the Royal Navy, until outfoxed by Vian and his destroyers, who caught up with the vessel and freed the men in a dramatic action even a Hollywood movie would have had a hard time topping!

---DB---

[RF]

Yes indeed.

[Terje Langoy]

It is correct that German freighters used the inner leads, the iron ore traffic to Germany used this route. Throughout the war these ships were constantly targeted by both British and Norwegian air pilots as well as fast and small Norwegian crafts such as the torpedo boat. In these confined waters the fast and agile attack craft were vastly superior to ´the slower big guns´ something that our Navy reflect even to this day. Under command of Norwegian captains experienced along the coast they were almost impossible to deal with, especially at night. However, those vessels were frequently multi-tasking bringing agents and supplies in and out of occupied areas as well.

An unfortunate side effect of conducting war along the coastal shipping lanes was that there were just as many, often more, merchant vessels sailing under Norwegian command thus they could end up targeting the ´wrong´ foes if pre-acquired intelligence proved insufficient or false. The Germans did little to disturb regular ship traffic except for frequent patrols and occasional bordering to check cargo and manifests. But as the war closed to an end, with the Germans retreating southwards, there were one and two incidents where coastal ships were sunk without a ´legit´military motive to show for. One such example is the merchant Rigel which was sunk by allied aircrafts while southbound, filled with Russian POW´

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Rigel