military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (04/11/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Thursday, 11 April, 1940 Major-General Laake, C-in-C of the Norwegian army, resigns, and is replaced by General Otto Ruge. The panzerschiff Luetzow is torpedoed by HMS Spearfish south of Oslo, and receives severe damage to her rudder and propellers. She is taken under tow to Kiel harbor. All leave for Belgian and French soldiers is cancelled, as a German drive on the west is feared. Sweden orders all ships in her merchant marine to head for the nearest neutral harbors. US Navy officials claim that the war in Europe has shown that the battleship is still the dominant force in naval warfare, citing that despite Germany's large air and submarine forces, the Royal Navy still maintains its blockade. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@cbnews.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "... and when the smoke of battle clears away most of the aircraft are destroyed and you have left your capital ships in control of the sea." - Rear Admiral S.M. Robinson, Chief of the US Navy Construction Bureau