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Operation Judgement, Kilbotn was an operation carried out at the end of World War II by the Home Fleet of the Royal Navy in North Norway on 4 May 1945, when 44 aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm attacked a U-boat base south of the town and port of Harstad. The attack was directed at vessels in the natural harbour at Kilbotn. It lasted seven minutes and left two ships and a U-boat sunk. No Norwegians in the village of Kilbotn were injured during or after the attack. Operation Judgement was the last air raid of World War II in Europe. Much of the history of Operation Judgement has been written in Norwegian, and this is a brief summary. From 1939 to 1945 the German war effort made extensive use of the U-boat as a strategic weapon. From bases in Northern Norway U-boats sailed against the Allied convoys making for Russian ports in the Arctic Ocean. In autumn 1944, when German forces retreated from the extreme north, the U-boat base at Hammerfest was moved south to Kilbotn.〔Harald Isachsen (2009), ''Operation Judgement: Angrepet på < The base consisted of the 5000-ton depot-ship ''Black Watch'', a former North-Sea passenger ferry,〔(''Black Watch'' ). Warsailors.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-27.〕 supported by a Norwegian cruiser converted by the Germans into a flak-ship, two barges fitted with anti-aircraft guns, and numerous gun emplacements on the land round the harbour. Several other ships were employed in ferrying supplies and ammunition to the base at Kilbotn, including the 950-ton Norwegian cargo ship ''Senja''. The attack destroyed ''Black Watch'' and ''Senja'' and also , which had been moored alongside ''Black Watch''. Two British aircraft with four aircrew were lost, and an estimated 150 German personnel also lost their lives. == The attack == The attack was carried out by the First Cruiser Squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Rhoderick McGrigor, second-in-command of the Home Fleet, in his flagship ''Norfolk''. The force included the cruiser ''Diadem'', three escort carriers, and eight destroyers and other vessels. In the carriers three Naval Air Squadrons were embarked: 846 Squadron in ''Trumpeter'' contributed eight Avenger torpedo-bombers and four Wildcat fighters to the attack, 853 Squadron in ''Queen'' contributed eight Avengers and four Wildcats, while 882 Squadron in ''Searcher'' contributed twenty Wildcats. The force sailed from Scapa Flow on 1 May.〔(CinCHF War Diary 1945 ). Naval-history.net. Retrieved on 2011-05-27.〕 The force was aware of the strength of the defences at Kilbotn and of the presence of a German fighter base at Bardufoss, to the east. Four Wildcats were assigned to provide top-cover against the arrival of enemy aircraft, while the majority of the other Wildcats were to arrive at Kilbotn at the start of the operation, to attack the gun emplacements on land and in the harbour. Eight of the Wildcats were in addition each armed with a single 250-lb bomb to attack the flak-ship ''Thetis'', formerly ''Harald Haarfagre''. The Avengers would then arrive, each armed with four 500-lb bombs, and carry out their glide-bombing 〔(Glide bombing ). Eugeneleeslover.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-27.〕 runs in quick succession, 846 Squadron attacking ''Black Watch'' and 853 ''Senja''. Bombs were launched from a height of after a glide from .〔(Glide bombing ). Eugeneleeslover.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-27.〕 The Germans' early-warning systems in the islands – radar, gun emplacements and spotters – could not have failed to observe and identify the aircraft passing over, but by great good luck for the attackers the headquarters staff at Harstad failed to circulate a warning. As a result, the airborne force, under the command of Lt. Cdr. C.L.F. Webb RN, arriving from the west over Kilbotn at 17.00 on a sunny afternoon, achieved almost complete surprise. In the initial attack a Wildcat of 882 Squadron was hit and entered the water with the loss of the pilot. In the next minutes as the attack developed several aircraft received flak damage but the attack went according to plan. One Avenger of 846 Squadron made a forced landing which the three-man crew did not survive.〔Harald Isachsen (2009), ''Operation Judgement: Angrepet på < In Kilbotn village, from the main target ''Black Watch'', one bomb fell near some houses after a fault in the launching mechanism of one of the Avengers. With its time-delayed fuse it exploded after entering soft ground, which absorbed most of the splinters. Two houses suffered windows blown out and some damaged woodwork. The remaining 42 aircraft returned to the carriers. On board U-711 the harbour crew of eight including the captain, Hans-Günther Lange, survived by moving the boat away from the vessels under attack. It was damaged and sank some hours later but those eight were picked up. Lange was interviewed in 2008 at the age of 92 for a book published in Norway which also contains information from Norwegian and British eyewitnesses.〔Harald Isachsen (2009), ''Operation Judgement: Angrepet på < 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Judgement (1945)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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