9 Apr 1940

Germany attacked and occupied Denmark. The old and laid up torpedo boat Støren was taken by Germany.

February 1941

The Germans requested that the Danish government surrender twelve Danish torpedoboats to the German Navy. The Danish government acceded, but in the end Germany took only the six fairly-new torpedoboats: Dragen, Hvalen, Laxen, Glenten, Høgen and Ørnen. The torpedoboats were handed over - unarmed - to the Germans in April 1941.

As payment for these boats, the Germans agreed to supply the Royal Dockyard in Copenhagen with materials to the construct six new torpedoboats. The Danish Navy suspected that the new boats would be taken over by Germany upon completion. Construction progressed very slowly, and was halted after 29 Aug 1943.

29 Aug 1943

Operation Safari. German forces moved to disarm the Danish Army and seize the Danish Navy. At 0400, the Germans attacked the Danish Naval Base at the Royal Dockyard (Holmen) in Copenhagen. Danish ships could not escape because German cannon around the harbor covered the only exit, and the signal was given to scuttle the entire fleet. The signal was also received by some of the few vessels stationed outside Copenhagen. Due to luck on the Danish side and bad planning on the German side, the Danish were able to scuttle most of their ships, and a few units at sea made it to Sweden.

Of the fifty-two vessels in the Danish Navy on the 29 Aug 1943, two were at Greenland, thirty-two were scuttled, four reached Sweden, and fourteen were taken undamaged by the Germans. The Germans later raised most of the ships scuttled at Copenhagen; fifteen of these were put into some kind of service by the German Navy.

• ”Flådens oprør” af Per Wessel Tolvig (red.)
• ”Flaadens skibe den 29. august 1943, og deres senere skæbne”. Af R. Steen Steensen. (Artikel i Tidsskrift for Søvæsenet, 1953)
• Flaadens skibe 1950, by R. Steen Steensen

Copyright Søren Nørby, Stud. mag.
The Royal Danish Naval Museum