Altmark Incident

Altmark Incident
Unknown author · Public domain · source
Partof	World War II
Date	16–17 February 1940
Place	Jøssingfjord, Norway
Result	British victory, POWs freed
Combatant1	United Kingdom
Combatant2	Nazi Germany
Commander1	Philip Vian
Commander2	Heinrich Dau
Units1	Royal Navy
Units2	Kriegsmarine
Strength1	HMS ''Cossack''
Strength2	SS ''Altmark''
Casualties1	None
Casualties2	8 killed, 10 wounded
Notes	299 Allied prisoners freed

Altmark Incident. The Altmark Incident was a significant naval skirmish of World War II that occurred in neutral Norwegian waters in February 1940. The Royal Navy destroyer HMS ''Cossack'', commanded by Captain Philip Vian, boarded the German auxiliary SS ''Altmark'' to liberate hundreds of Allied prisoners of war. The event tested the limits of neutrality and had profound implications for the subsequent Norwegian Campaign.

Background

During the early months of World War II, the German ''Admiral Graf Spee'' conducted commerce raiding in the South Atlantic, capturing numerous merchant seamen. These prisoners, nearly 300 from ships like the SS ''Africa Shell'' and HMS ''Huntsman'', were transferred to the supply ship Altmark. Following the Battle of the River Plate and the scuttling of the ''Graf Spee'' in December 1939, the Altmark attempted to return to Germany via the Arctic and the Norwegian Sea. The British Admiralty, aware of the prisoners from intelligence intercepts, ordered units of the Home Fleet, including the HMS ''Renown'' and cruisers like HMS ''Arethusa'', to intercept the vessel, suspecting it would violate international law regarding the transport of POWs through neutral waters.

The incident

On 16 February 1940, the Altmark was sighted by RAF aircraft and subsequently cornered by British destroyers in Jøssingfjord, a Norwegian fjord. Norwegian naval vessels, including the HNoMS ''Kjell'' and HNOMS ''Skarv'', intervened, asserting Norway's neutrality and insisting the ship had been inspected and was unarmed. Captain Vian, acting on direct orders from the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, ignored Norwegian protests. That evening, Cossack entered the fjord, evaded the HNOMS ''Garm'', and rammed alongside the Altmark. A boarding party, armed with bayonets and revolvers, engaged in a brief but fierce hand-to-hand struggle with the German crew, led by Captain Heinrich Dau. Eight German sailors were killed and ten wounded. The British party then located and freed 299 prisoners, who were cheeringly transferred to Cossack, which departed for Leith, Scotland.

Aftermath

The immediate aftermath saw the Altmark, lightly damaged, proceed to the port of Stavanger and eventually return to Hamburg. The freed prisoners, including citizens of the British Empire and other Allied nations, were celebrated upon their arrival in Britain. The Norwegian government issued a formal protest to the British Foreign Office, condemning the violation of its territorial waters as a breach of International law. However, the incident starkly revealed the ineffectiveness of Norwegian neutrality and exposed the nation's vulnerability. For Nazi Germany, the event provided a pretext to accelerate planning for Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Denmark and Norway, arguing that Norway could not or would not defend its neutrality against Allied infringement.

International reactions

International reactions were sharply divided. The United Kingdom and its allies hailed the action as a legitimate and humanitarian rescue, with widespread praise in publications like The Times. In Berlin, the German government denounced it as an act of piracy and a gross violation of Norwegian sovereignty, using it for propaganda purposes. The United States, still neutral, observed the incident closely; it influenced American perceptions of naval warfare and neutrality debates. The League of Nations, already weakened by events like the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, was largely sidelined. The reaction in Oslo was one of humiliation and anger, highlighting the Norwegian cabinet's internal divisions and its precarious position between the major belligerents.

Legacy

The legacy of the incident is multifaceted. It cemented the reputation of Philip Vian, who would later command at battles like Operation Pedestal and North Cape, and reinforced Winston Churchill's aggressive naval policy. It served as a critical catalyst for Operation Weserübung, with Adolf Hitler citing the breach of neutrality to justify the April 1940 invasion that began the Norwegian Campaign. The term "Jøssing" entered Norwegian parlance as a synonym for pro-Allied sympathy, later used pejoratively by the collaborationist Quisling regime. The incident remains a classic case study in international maritime law, concerning the rights of neutrals and the treatment of POWs, and is remembered as a bold, if controversial, early British morale victory during the Phoney War.

Category:World War II Category:Naval battles of World War II Category:1940 in Norway