Q&A ยท 1:30:55-1:31:52

How more Norwegian destroyers could alter Narvik

Additional Wickes- or Clemson-class destroyers would give Norway numbers and positional control against the German flotilla at Narvik.

Question

Would more Wickes- and Clemson-class destroyers have helped Norway in 1939-40?

Short answer

Yes; at Narvik they could screen coastal-defence ships, constrain German positioning, and buy valuable time through numbers.

Notes

Even old Wickes- or Clemson-class destroyers could complicate German operations at Narvik. They could screen Norway's coastal-defence ships and deny the German flotilla easy firing positions. Their value would lie less in individual superiority than in forcing German destroyers to divide attention and fight through another defensive line. Extra hulls and better positional control would buy time for the Norwegian force even if the added ships were individually outclassed.