Arch Bay

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Coordinates: 68 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  N , 17 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  E

Map: Nordland
marker
Arch Bay​
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North country

The Bogenbucht (Norwegian: Bogen ) is a bay about 8 km long and 6 km wide on the north side of the Ofotfjord about 15 km west of Narvik in the province of Nordland ( Norway ).

geography

The arched bay with the island of Skogøya (from the north). In the background the Ofotfjord, in the foreground the town of Bogen and the Strandvatnet

The bay is on the territory of the Evenes municipality . At its northern end is the village of Bogen i Ofoten , the administrative center of the municipality. There a narrow, short natural canal, the Strandelva, leads from the arched bay to the Strandvatnet lake north of the village . There are several islands in the bay, including Skogøya, which is quite large with 4 × 2 km . The European route 10 runs in its section from Narvik to the Lofoten along the north bank of the bay and through Bogen i Ofoten and then on to Harstad / Narvik Airport (Norw. "Harstad / Narvik lufthavn, Evenes").

Map of the Ofotfjord with the Arch Bay in the north, with the places where the German and British destroyers fell during the Battle of Narvik in April 1940

The village of Liland , once the administrative seat of the municipality of Ofoten, is located at the southwest end of the arched bay opposite the island of Skogøya at the exit of the Øysund into the Ofotfjord.

Second World War: Navy base

The battleship Tirpitz , the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and two destroyers in front of Bogen in August 1942

After the German occupation of Norway in World War II , the German Navy operated an important naval base in Bow Bay until the surrender in May 1945 , with docks , quays and workshops that used both surface ships and submarines as a base for their attacks on Allied convoys in the North Sea served. Workshop ships like the Huascaran and the former catapult ship Friesenland and supply ships like the Nordmark were stationed in the bow bay. To protect against air attacks were u. a. four batteries of the Marine Flak Division 710, each with four Flak 88/36 stationed at the bay, as well as fog carrier groups on land and at sea to smoke in case of enemy attacks. As protection against torpedoes , combat swimmers and small submarines , net boxes were kept ready for the larger ships that were lying in the bow bay for repair or maintenance - among them the battleships Scharnhorst and Tirpitz and the heavy cruisers Lützow and Admiral Hipper .

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ The word arch is old Norse and means bukt = bay or bog = moor .
  2. ↑ The Tirpitrz was in the Bogenbucht from July 8th to October 23rd, 1942 and came there again on March 11th, 1943 for a short stay.

Web links

Commons : Bogen, Evenes  - Collection of images, videos and audio files