HNoMS B-5 was part of the Norwegian naval forces at
Kristiansand which consisted of her along with her sister ships in the 2nd Submarine Division
HNoMS B-2 and
HNoMS B-4. The 3rd
Torpedo boat Division consisting of the old torpedo boats
HNoMS Jo,
HNoMS Grib,
HNoMS Lom,
HNoMS Ravn and
HNoMS Ørn, along with the 2nd Torpedo boat Division consisting of the old torpedo boats
HNoMS Skarv,
HNoMS Teist and the modern torpedo boat
HNoMS Kjell. The 10th Auxiliary Division consisting of the auxiliary patrol vessels
HNoMS Kvik,
HNoMS Blink and
HNoMS Lyn as well as the 11th Auxiliary Division made up of the
auxiliary patrol vessels HNoMS William Barents,
HNoMS Firern,
HNoMS Lyngdal,
HNoMS Hval IV,
HNoMS Hval VI and
HNoMS Hval VII. The
Sleipner-class destroyers
HNoMS Odin and
HNoMS Gyller were also present in the harbor at the time. The commanding officer at
Kristiansand was
Kommandør Severin Edward Wigers. On the morning of 9 April 1940, German troops invaded
Denmark and
Norway under the code name
Operation Weserübung. A German invasion force named
landing force number four consisting of the German light cruiser
Karlsruhe (which served as a
troop transport for 1,000 soldiers), an E-boat tender along with six other
E-boats and four large torpedo boats including
Luchs,
Greif and
Seeadler, which had left
Bremerhaven,
Germany on April 8, were tasked to capture
Kristiansand. The invasion force could only attempt to enter the harbor in the morning of April 9 because there had been a heavy fog obscuring the city the previous day which would have made the passage into the
fjord and therefore the harbor too dangerous. When the invasion force led by the German light cruiser
Karlsruhe finally entered the
fjord at 5 am, they immediately came under heavy fire from the Norwegian coastal guns stationed at
Odderøya Fortress. The sound of the first attack alarmed the
Sleipner-class destroyers
HNoMS Odin and
HNoMS Gyller both of which sprang into action with
HNoMS Odin steaming out into the Toppdalsfjord to open up fire against the newly attacking Luftwaffe bombers (which were targeting the fortress and the civilian neighborhoods of the city) with her Oerlikon 20 mm cannon and two 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine guns while
HNoMS Gyller joined in on the defense against the Luftwaffe attack with her single Bofors 40 mm gun and two Colt 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine guns. Both ships managed to evade the bombs dropped from the German aircraft but weren't able to shoot down any planes, only damaging a couple.
Karlsruhe however hadn't just sat idly by either as when the barrage against her was launched from the
Odderøya Fortress, she turned in the fjord in order to bring her full broadside into the action. At about 07.30 am a twin-engined aircraft attacked the interned
German submarine U-21 which was docked in Kristiansand harbor after having been seized by Norwegian warships for neutrality violations on 27 March 1940 after it had run aground on the Oddene shallows near
Mandal.
HNoMS Odin opened fire at the aircraft which was suspected to be part of the previous
Luftwaffe attack. However it was quickly discovered that the aircraft was instead a
RAF Lockheed Hudson reconnaissance aircraft,
HNoMS Odin immediately ceased fire after it had luckily yet succeeded in hitting the aircraft. Meanwhile, the German invasion force had been in an artillery duel with the
Odderøya Fortress for nearly two hours with the Norwegians being able to repel two of their breakthroughs attempts until a heavy fog covered the harbor just like the day before, forcing both sides to cease fire. During the
ceasefire, the Norwegian commander received message in Norwegian code ordering him not to fire at any British or French forces in response to the previous incident with
HNoMS Odin. It also stated that
French destroyers were coming to the aid of the stricken Norwegian force at
Kristiansand. These orders were relayed to the Norwegian forces at 10 am while
HNoMS Gyller, after having received an orientation on the situation from the commander of the
Odderøya Fortress, steamed out to the harbor entrance and swung out her torpedo tubes in order to greet any incoming intruders with a single ticket to the bottom of the fjord. However, when the order of the Norwegian commander was received, confusion spread through the ranks of the defenders as when the fog cleared, there was uncertainty over which flags were flown by the intruding warships. The defenders at the
Odderøya Fortress even confused one of the
signal flags for the French flag which meant that the guns from the fortress went silent, not risking firing at their
allies again. The Norwegian defenders ended up letting the German force enter the harbor unopposed on their third attempt and land their troops in
Kristiansand at 10.30 am.
HNoMS Gyller had in the meantime returned to the harbor and was docked at Tollbodbrygga wharf in order to refill her water tanks for an upcoming battle, instead she was captured there by German forces without a fight.
Kristiansand surrendered at 5 pm that same day along with all defending Norwegian forces. All vessels of the Norwegian naval force stationed in
Kristiansand surrendered on 11 April 1940 at
Marvika naval station including
HNoMS Odin and
HNoMS B-5 which had been captured by a German
E-boat two days earlier without seeing action at the defense of
Kristiansand. ==
Kriegsmarine Career and End ==