HNoMS Norge, wreck diving in Narvik havn

HNoMS Norge was a coastal defence ship of the Eidsvold class in the Royal Norwegian Navy. Built by Armstrong Whitworth at Newcastle on Tyne and launched on 31th of March, 1900, she was torpedoed and sunk by German destroyers in Narvik harbour on 9 April 1940.
Built as part of the general rearmament in the time leading up to the events in 1905, Norge remained, along with her sister-ship Eidsvold, the backbone of the Royal Norwegian Navy for just over 40 years. Norge and Eidsvold were the largest vessels in the Royal Norwegian Navy, displacing 4,233 tons and crewed by 270 men.
On the morning of 9 April 1940, a German force of ten destroyers, carrying troops of a mountain division, entered Ofotfjord under cover of fog and heavy snow. The Germans contacted the captain of Eidsvold, demanding that he surrender, and when this was turned down, the battle-ready German destroyers torpedoed Eidsvold before she could fire her guns.
Aboard Norge, deeper inside the fjord, the explosions were heard, but nothing could be seen until two German destroyers suddenly appeared out of the darkness. Captain Per Askim of Norge gave orders to open fire. Four rounds were fired from the 21 cm guns (one from the fore gun and three from the aft) as well as seven or eight rounds from the starboard 15 cm guns, directed against the German destroyer Bernd von Arnim. The range has been estimated as 800 metres (870 yd). Due to the difficult weather conditions, it was hard to use the optical sights for the guns, which resulted in the first salvo falling short of the target and the others going over the target.
The German destroyers waited until they were alongside the pier before returning fire. Bernd von Arnim opened fire with her 12.7 cm (5-inch) guns, as well as with machine guns, but the weather gave the Germans problems as well. The destroyer also fired torpedoes—in all three salvoes of two torpedoes each. The first two salvoes missed, but the last struck Norge midships, and she sank in less than one minute, her propellers still turning. Ninety of the crew were rescued from the freezing water, but 101 perished in the battle which had lasted less than 20 minutes. (Source: wikipedia.com)

The wreck of the HNoMS Norge is located in the harbor of Narvik, Norway, where it was sunk by German destroyers on April 9, 1940. Victim of the German invasion of Norway as 101 men of her crew, she is considered both a war grave and a cultural heritage site. It is required a special permission to dive on her, because not only she's a war grave and a culturan Heritage site, but also she's on the route of ships entering the Port of Narvik.
The wreck lies on her starboard side, at a maximim depth of 30 meters. We explored from bow to stern, watching the deepest part of Norge, with her masts, deck parts and elements, funnels and her main turrets lying on the seabed, and then, flying above the port side, to the bow again and from there to the surface. To me, a dive of my heart. This wreck represent the courage, the strenght and the sense of freedom of those brave sailors, who fought and died trying to stop their enemy and protecting their homes.
About the dive, 115 minutes of runtime, of wich 62 minutes at about 29 meters. Twin set plus an S80 for the bottom gas, and an S40 with O2 for deco stop. Water was 10°, low to no current, quite foggy viz, little better at the deepest depths.

A huge thank you to Marcin and Malgosia Moleda from Underwater Narvik, for all their support!

Drawing of the wreck from Der Wrackzeichner, thank you very much for your art!

Shooting settings:
Gopro Hero 7 black, color flat, WB native, ISO 100 min, 400 max, shutter auto, EV comp.0, FPS 60, resolution 4k, FOV wide
Editing video software:
DaVinci Resolve 20.3 build 10

Music:
Jeg har ei tulle med øyne blå (from Pettertor channel)
Eivør - Ein Klóta (from the album Enn)
because this is our only World.
Thank you Eivør for your beautiful music, it is so ispiring