The Battles of Narvik (Norway 80)

Work on a Narvik book was already underway, and fuller presentations would wait until the Norwegian and British actions could be illustrated properly.

Interwar neglect left the German destroyer arm with uneven officer experience, and an ambush that had worked against H-class destroyers was poorly suited to the later Tribal-class attack.

Four heavily armed Tribal-class destroyers were far harder to overwhelm than the H-class ships that the Germans had defeated earlier.

HMS Warspite's float-equipped Swordfish scouted ahead of the British force and exposed German positions before the ships rounded the fjord's bends.

Combat against the H-class force consumed much of the German destroyers' ammunition, and limited resupply left them badly depleted when the Tribals and HMS Warspite arrived.

Narvik mattered beyond the fjords because the Kriegsmarine's destroyer arm no longer operated with the same strength or confidence after the battle.

Counting the Norwegian action first, the three-battle sequence moves through a German victory over British H-class destroyers to the German force's destruction.

After losing her bow and A turret, HMS Eskimo kept B turret firing, launched torpedoes, and advanced stern-first with X and Y turrets covering the following destroyers.

HMS Cossack drove into a harbour to suppress German shore fire and kept engaging targets even after becoming grounded against another vessel.

After torpedo and gun hits knocked her out early, HMS Punjabi restored enough capability to re-enter the battle despite casualties and a perforated superstructure.

The third Battle of Narvik resembled a nonstop, close-range pub brawl more than an orderly naval engagement.