apr 9, 1940 - First Battle of Narvik

Description:

On April 9, Germany attacked all 6 of Norway's ports, but Narvik was the most important to the Germans because of its iron ore supply. The First Battle of Narvik was mostly a naval battle fought between the British and the Germans. The captain, Bernard Warburton-Lee, arrived at Narvik with five destroyers and led a surprise attack on Germany. Warburton-Lee was mortally wounded and lost his life, but he managed to damage five German destroyers and the only German ship to reach Narvik was sunk. This was the end of the first battle, but the Second Battle of Narvik began on April 13, three days after the major part of the First Battle. The British returned with more destroyers, and though the Germans had also reinforced their fleet, they ended up being low on fuel and ammunition, giving the British an advantage. It was a British victory with no reported losses of the second British fleet.