![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Bundesarchiv_DVM_10_Bild-23-63-09%2C_Kreuzer_%22Bl%C3%BCcher%22.jpg)
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](https://bassoutpost.com/Smileys/default/mrgreen.gif)
Ok, German battleships (the Blücher was a heavy cruiser, but no matter, those sucked too) were never much to
sink write home about. We should have built them dual purpose battleship/submarine right from the start.
You Norsemen/your Birger Eriksen
"Either I will be decorated, or I will be court-martialed. Fire!"
— Birger Kristian Eriksen, as he gave orders to fire at the German heavy cruiser Blücher.
"It's not really hard to fire guns, but it's immensely hard to make the decision to fire."
— Post-war statement with regards to his decision to open fire.
"Der skal for fanden skytes med skarpt!" (Damn right we're firing live ammunition.)
— Supposedly said as he gave orders to fire.
sure took her to the cleaners in 1940 ... And to add insult to injury (she had cost us more than 80 million
Reichsmark, that was a lot of money back then!), you even sunk her (within two hours after the first hit, ouch!) on her maiden combat voyage ...
![Embarrassed :-[](https://bassoutpost.com/Smileys/default/embarrassed.gif)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/BildeB3.jpg/440px-BildeB3.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/German_soldiers_and_Bl%C3%BCcher_sinking.jpg/440px-German_soldiers_and_Bl%C3%BCcher_sinking.jpg)
But then you had good German equipment to do it, Krupp guns, albeit half a century old ones, but German furnace quality just lasts and lasts ...
![Cool 8)](https://bassoutpost.com/Smileys/default/cool.gif)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/28_cm_gun_at_Oscarsborg_Fortress.jpg/440px-28_cm_gun_at_Oscarsborg_Fortress.jpg)
Alas!, don't mess with Vikings ...
![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/58/63/72/586372033f3acdb4f87068fbf9019d2b.jpg)
PS: Birger not only left a lasting (and deserved) impression in his home country, but also with the enemy, some grudging respect there:
"In Oscarborg, Birger and his men kept fighting well until the tenth of April, a day after the sinking of the Blücher and the loss of Oslo. Taken prisoner by the German troops, Birger was quickly released and kept a low profile during the rest of the war and was mostly involved in municipal work in various places. After the war he was awarded the French War Cross and Legion of Honour as well as the highest decoration of his homeland, the Norwegian War Cross."