The Guns of Oscarsborg Fortress

I took these pictures during a visit at the Oscarsborg Fortress, which is situated on a small island in the narrowest strait of the Oslofjord. Any enemy fleet on it's way to the capital of Norway had to pass Oscarsborg Fortress, not an easy task as the German fleet discovered in April 1940.

Oscarsborg Fortress has been open for the public only for a few years now, and is really worth a visit. It is large, even by international standards, and the area is beautiful and filled with interesting objects.

There were a lot of guns placed around the fortress. Many of them completely unknown to me, so I would appreciate if anyone could ID them for me.

 

The main battery was the first taste the Germans got of the fortress, and if I remember correctly they scored a couple of hits on the German fleet. These guns were made in Germany, to no comfort for the German fleet I'm sure, probably by Krupp, but I'm unsure about the calibre.

 

Now to some of the guns I'm unsure about.

 

A few more pics.

 

I've been there! Pity you didn't catch the 105 mm FlaK, it's situated a little away from the main battery.

 

I ran out of film. I did get a few other guns though, but i thought they were too old to be relevant here. And of course quite a few photos of the scenery and my family.

 

i snooped around the interwebs, and according to the official Oscarsborg Museum homepage, the guns Moses, Aron and Josva (Joshua) (named like that after Moses' barrel fell into the water during unloading) are 28 cm guns.

there is a fourth gun as well, a 30.5 cm one called Methusalem since it's so old (from 1879)


great pictures, by the way!

 

Thanks!

Yes, there are four guns in the main battery, and one of them looked slightly different when I come to think of it. I think it's the left one in the photo above showing two of the guns.

German guns with Jewish names, and they gave the Germans a good taste of their own steel.