Frogn

When I first awoke, we were still in the Skagerrak, with no land visible outside of my window; by the time I had showered though we had entered Oslo Fjord - the shore rapidly approaching as the channel narrowed.

I dressed in anticipation of cold and headed up on deck; the water ahead was glassy smooth whilst astern our wake slowly spread until rebounded off the sides of the Fjord. All was quiet in the early light; I could make out another passenger ship in the dawn mist a long way astern, closer at hand were low forested slopes wreathed in patchy clouds like we get in the valleys of South wales. The first snow I had seen this trip lay in patches all the way down the shoreline.

I used GPS to check our position, and EIS to identify the ship in our wake; she was the Colour Magic, on the Keil-Oslo route. One of the main reasons I chose to travel this route was to see Drøbak Sound (site of a famous battle on the 9th April 1940 - 83 years ago almost to the day); satisfied that it would be some time before we reached Drøbak I headed below for breakfast.

This was my first occasion to visit the main restaurant, which featured huge windows right at the front of the ship. As is typically the case on Scandinavian vessels, there was lots of meat, fish, cheese and eggs on offer; I managed to satisfy myself with a leisurely breakfast of fresh fruit, delightful fresh baked bread with jam and, most importantly, a pot of coffee.

When I arrived back on deck, Oscarsborg fortress was just coming into view ahead. Through my binoculars I could just make out the large caliber guns pointed menacingly down the fjord. Those same 11inch guns, already obsolete in 1940, had crippled Blücher, one of the most modern cruisers of world war II with their salvo which commenced the battle Drøbak Sound. As we came alongside the island fortress I saw the command area and rangefinder for the equally ancient, but much more secret torpedo battery that had sealed Blücher’s fate - sending her to the bottom of the sound, with as many as a thousand of the ship’s company and embarked troops. Seeing in the flesh the menace those torpedo tubes (only finally retired in 1993) would pose to a large ship in this narrow passage with no possibility of maneuvering.

We zigged and zagged through the channel and soon Oslo itself was in view. Colour Magic had maintained a knot or two more speed than us, so she was close astern when we headed into dock.Read more