Wrecks of the Battle of Narvik: a WW2 wreck dive series

The history in 60 seconds

Why Narvik’s harbour is full of wrecks

Narvik mattered because of iron ore. Swedish ore came down by rail from the mines around Kiruna and was shipped out of this ice-free port, so when Germany invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, ten German destroyers slipped into the fjord behind a blizzard. The Norwegian coastal defence ships Eidsvold and Norge were sunk within minutes.

The next morning, 10 April, five British destroyers came up the fjord and attacked the anchorage, torpedoing warships and merchant ships alike. On 13 April, the Second Naval Battle of Narvik finished what was left of the German destroyer force.

Eighty-six years later, those ships are some of the most atmospheric wreck dives in Europe: cargo holds you can swim through, torpedo damage you can measure against a diver, and steel covered in anemones.