Admiral Lütjens continued north with the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and the ten destroyers of TF 1. He was in a precarious position. A force of eight British destroyers was based at the entrance to Vestfjord, between him and his target, and Admiral Whitworth was steaming towards him from the same area with one battle cruiser and one destroyer. Another battle cruiser, a cruiser, and four destroyers were coming up quickly from the south-southwest. The main force of the Home Fleet was further south.
The British Admiralty now intervened in tactical operations. It was beginning to have second thoughts about the accuracy of the report from the neutral diplomat in Copenhagen on April 6 that a German division, embarked on ten ships, was to land in Narvik during the night between 8 and 9 April. They had initially discounted the information as just another move in the war of nerves. In view of all reports coming in about German naval movements, the Admiralty staff were no longer as skeptical as they had been about the veracity of the April 6 report.
The first precautionary step by the British Admiralty was to release the eight destroyers from their guard duty in Vestfjord, where they were to have remained for 48 hours and to order them at 0945 hours to join Admiral Whitworth. It is claimed that Whitworth was not made aware of the orders to the destroyers until 1045 hours and he was given no reason for the Admiralty’s interference in fleet operations. While this may be true, it is strange that the order to the destroyers was not overheard by the radio operators on Renown and reported to the admiral. I believe the destroyers and Whitworth were notified at the same time and that the one-hour discrepancy in time is due to some authors working on Norwegian local time while others used Greenwich Mean Time. At 1115 hours, the Admiralty also passed on to Admiral Whitworth their newfound concerns that the Germans might actually be heading to Narvik.
Most British sources report that Whitworth received the Admiralty message ordering the destroyers to join him while he was still on a southbound track and that this is what caused him to head north.16 The official Norwegian naval history reports that Whitworth turned north because he realized he would arrive too late to assist Glowworm, and that he received the message from the Admiralty after he had already turned back north. However, Whitworth’s mission was not to assist Glowworm since she was presumed lost, but to intercept and destroy the force that Glowworm had engaged. It makes more sense, therefore, that Whitworth turned north after the Admiralty’s orders, in other words after 1115 GMT but probably closer to 1300 hours. Whitworth may have continued south after the Admiralty message at 1115 hours in the hope of intercepting any northbound German forces. At some point in the next two hours, he must have decided to turn around and link up with the destroyers from Vestfjord. The reduced visibility may have convinced him that he ran the risk of the Germans slipping past him and engaging the destroyers at the entrance to Vestfjord, which would have been a very unequal match.
Admiral Whitworth’s decision to turn north may have been fortunate. Had Renown and Greyhound continued on their southward track they may well have encountered Admiral Lütjens who was heading north towards the entrance to Vestfjord at 24 knots. On opposite tracks, the two forces may have been less than one hour apart (about 50 miles) when Whitworth turned north. An encounter between Renown with its lone destroyer and two German battleships and ten destroyers could have been catastrophic for the British fleet.
The Admiralty’s meddling in operational affairs had other unfortunate results. If the eight British destroyers had remained in the vicinity of the minefield as originally planned, they would probably have encountered the ten German destroyers loaded with troops, now separated from the battleships and almost out of fuel, on their way to Narvik. Whatever the outcome of such an encounter, it would have adversely affected TF 1’s mission.
It made good sense for the British to concentrate their forces in view of reports of heavy German surface units at sea. The location of that concentration and Admiral Whitworth’s decision after linking up with the destroyers had unfortunate results. The Admiralty now viewed Whitworth’s primary mission as preventing the Germans from reaching Narvik. It also appears that this view was transmitted to the admiral.
According to the Norwegian naval history, Admiral Whitworth linked up with the destroyers 20 nautical miles west of Skomvær Lighthouse at 1715 hours, two hours and 45 minutes before Admiral Lütjens detached the destroyers of TF 1 for their run up the Vestfjord to Narvik. The British literature is imprecise as to the location of the rendezvous point. Harvey and MacIntyre place it at or near the Skomvær Lighthouse, Moulton fails to mention the location, and Dickens writes that it was 23 miles south of the lighthouse. Whatever the exact location, the important point is that it was not the best place to intercept the Germans if they were heading for Narvik. The logical place to concentrate to prevent the Germans from reaching that city would have been at the entrance to Vestfjord, northwest of the British minefield. This would also have brought the British ships into a position somewhat in lee of the Lofoten Islands and the later problems with the weather would have been diminished.
The gate to Narvik was left wide open when Whitworth took his ships, as soon as they were assembled, on a westerly course away from the Norwegian coast. What led the admiral to make this perplexing move in view of the information passed to him earlier that the Admiralty had concluded that the Germans might well be heading for Narvik?
It is true, as some defenders of Admiral Whitworth have pointed out, that his instructions were either lacking or vague. However, the most damaging enemy course of action would be
