Photo taken from Prinz Eugen in Norwegian fjord.
Posted on 05/17/2011 4:52:41 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
They may not have had radar or it may not have been turned on or the observers may not have been alert. It is my understanding that the radar in Hawaii observing the incoming Japanese planes was an experimental model.
Photo taken from Prinz Eugen in Norwegian fjord.
Strange, but not surprising, how many lawyers were involved.
As to Nebe never commanding the Gestapo, I’ll take your word for it.
And that doesn’t include Werner Best, Schellenburg, Dr. Six and a bunch of others. The SD was loaded with them.
That must be shortly after their arrival. Before she sailed, BISMARCK had all the camo stripes painted over, with the result that the ship was a dark gray color.
During her period of sea trials and testing, apparently the Bismarck was back and forth between Hamburg and the Baltic via the Kiel Canal.
http://www.kbismarck.com/testi.html
Nebe will be executed for involvement in the plot to kill Hitler in July, 1944. He was the only Einsatzgruppe commander who volunteered for the job [without knowing what it entailed] before they were formed.
Ohlendorf was assigned because Himmler had it out for him. Ohlendorf was in charge of AMT III of the SD, SD Inland. It was kind of like the Gallup poll of Nazi Germany, and he refused to sugarcoat the reports for the Nazi leadership, despite Himmler’s admonitions to do so. Himmler had already kicked him out of the SS once, for being too Nazi [Ohlendorf was big on the Fuehrerprinzip, but only as applied to Hitler], and sarcatically referred him as “our Parcifal”.
If I remember correctly, Nebe was the President of INTERPOL, not the head of the ss. That was Heydrich, I believe.
Heydrich was the head of INTERPOL [1939-1940]. He was also head of RSHA, Chief of the SS SD, [eventually] Reichsprotektor of Bohemia-Moravia, and a reserve Major in the Luftwaffe, who flew fighter missions in Norway and the USSR [where he was shot down].
Nebe, who had headed the Berlin Criminal police, and at one time the Vice unit [he may have helped staff “Salon Kitty”] was the commander of all German Criminal Police, and from 1941-1942, Commander of Einsatzgruppe ‘B’.
The head of the SS was Reichsfuehrer SS Herinrich Himmler [from 1929-1945].
You brought up the name of Reinhard Heydrich.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhard_Heydrich
As a youngster, I well remember an episode of “GE True” about his killing and the story of Lidice, Poland.
http://ctva.biz/US/Anthology/GeneralElectricTrue.htm
I wonder where one can get copies of that TV series? I never missed it!
Lidice was in Czechoslavakia, not Poland.
http://www.robertsvideos.com/browse.php3
A lot of the episodes were based on articles of “TRUE” magazine, IIRC. I have a fair collections of old issues.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_%28magazine%29
During battle practice the imaginary enemy battleship at which they flred the huge shells was always named after the famous British battle cruiser the Hood, the biggest ship in the British navy. Time and again the imaginary Hood was sunk. As the days passed, and drill followed drill, the men on the Bismarck had come to hate that name with a passion.
Two days later, (the 21st) the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen entered the protected fjords near Bergen, Norway.
They had already come a long way and, as far as they knew, no enemy eyes had spotted them. The stop was not scheduled, but Admiral Lutjens had decided to take the opportunity to refuel Prinz Eugen, which had smaller fuel tanks than the Bismarck.
While refueling was taking place, crews painted out the black and white camouflage markings on the side of her hull with dull gray so that the ships would blend into the misty North Atlantic seascape.
Artillery, eh? I guess he decided airborne wasn't for him. One can hardly blame him for seeking a more down-to-earth line of work.
One of the great mysteries of the Rhine Exercise is why Lutjens left Gotenhafen without topping off his fuel bunkers, and then did the same thing in Bergen Fjord.
BISMARCK left Norway at least 900 tons of oil short. Coupled with the hit from the PRINCE OF WALES in her fuel bunkers, BISMARCK was forced to cut her top speed to 27 knots, to conserve fuel. That allowed the Brits to get in range. At her mormal top speed of over 30 knots, she could have made the Luftwaffe’s air umbrella before they got anywhere near her. There was no British battleship in the pursuit capable of catching her. And, except for the much slower RODNEY, none had the firepower to stand up to her.
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