HMS Gorgon(HNoMS Nidaros) takes part in the First Battle of Narvik

The opening reframes the first fight at Narvik around the Norwegian coastal-defence ships Eidsvold and Norge and the orders that kept them apart.

Norway refuses the former HMS Gorgon after wartime conversion, citing the dry-dock burden created by her enormous anti-torpedo bulges.

Keeping Nidaros in service creates an extra ladder of commands and promotions, so the ship's 1940 captain cannot simply be borrowed from the historical roster.

Carl Gustav Fleischer's removal from command of the Free Norwegian forces shows political caution sidelining an officer regarded as too militant toward Germany.

A comparison with Eidsvold shows how Nidaros would add heavier guns, newer technology, thick armor, and major torpedo protection to Norway's coastal fleet.

Accepting Nidaros could have been followed by a new pair of coastal-defence ships as rapid technological change made the Eidsvold class increasingly dated.

After British relining, Gorgon's guns fire a 420-pound shell at a quoted 2,900 feet per second, backed by heavy armor and enormous anti-torpedo bulges.

A second heavy ship beside Eidsvold would make it harder for a German destroyer to prepare a point-blank torpedo attack unnoticed.

The opposing commanders, troop-laden destroyers, and restricted fjord waters explain why every German ship loss would carry an unusually high operational cost.

The older Tordenskjold class had become training ships and was declared unfit for war, leaving Eidsvold and Norge as Norway's strongest combat vessels.

Bonte's destroyers enter a fjord far removed from their North Sea and Baltic maneuver training, a weakness later exposed by British close-quarters tactics.

A Norwegian force of roughly 200 soldiers trying to leave Narvik is defeated after German troops seize Bjørnfjell station near the Swedish border.

Askim's lighthouse-service work and international committees on signals, coastal marking, and radio beacons add civilian maritime-systems expertise to his naval command.

Norwegian crews trained urgently after years of neglect, while Germany risked scarce destroyers to secure Atlantic access through Norway.

Norwegian and French bases widen the U-boat threat, while denying either coastline lets Allied planners route convoys farther from German operating areas.

Poor visibility, deceptive negotiations, and a point-blank torpedo spread destroy Eidsvold before her crew can bring its guns fully into action.

Norge opens fire on German destroyers in darkness but poor sights, neglected equipment, and torpedoes end the remaining naval resistance.

The scenario places Nidaros alongside Eidsvold near the fjord entrance while Norge remains inside Narvik, creating three mutually supporting heavy ships.

Accepting Gorgon might have opened a wider surplus-ship purchase, including Abercrombie-class monitors with 14-inch guns, but the video deliberately excludes them.

Nidaros might absorb the first torpedo spread and answer at point-blank range, turning a quick ambush into a costly close-quarters fight.

While Eidsvold negotiates, Nidaros can train her guns and strike Wilhelm Heidkamp with 9.2-inch shells at less than a kilometer.

Eidsvold and Nidaros reach Norge before German landings settle the battle, forcing troop-laden destroyers to fight three supporting armored ships.

Destroyer losses could reduce the German landing to only hundreds of troops while Norwegian ships provide fire support, making an immediate surrender much harder to justify.

The projected result is a German victory bought with most of the destroyer force and many mountain troops, allowing faster Allied intervention at Narvik.