Battle of Drøbak Sound

Blücher was the second of five Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruisers of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine (lit. 'War Navy'), built after the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles. Named for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, the Prussian victor of the Battle of Waterloo, the ship was laid down in August 1936 and launched in June 1937. She was completed in September 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II. After completing a series of sea trials and training exercises, the ship was pronounced ready for service with the fleet on 5 April 1940. She was armed with a main battery of eight 20.3 cm (8.0 in) guns and, although nominally under the 10,000-long-ton (10,000 t) limit set by the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, actually displaced over 16,000 long tons (16,000 t). Immediately upon entering service, Blücher was assigned to the task force that supported the invasion of Norway in April 1940. Blücher served as the flagship of Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Oskar Kummetz, the commander of Group 5. The ship led the flotilla of warships into the Oslofjord on the night of 8 April, to seize Oslo, the capital of Norway. Two old 28 cm (11 in) coastal guns in the Oscarsborg Fortress engaged the ship at very close range, scoring two hits, as did several smaller guns in other batteries. Two torpedoes fired by a torpedo battery in the fortress struck the ship, causing serious damage. A major fire broke out aboard Blücher, which could not be contained. The fire spread to one of her anti-aircraft gun magazines, causing a large explosion, and then spread further to the ship's fuel bunkers. Blücher then capsized and sank with major loss of life. The wreck lies at the bottom of Oslofjord, and in 2016 was designated as a war memorial to protect it from looters. Several artifacts have been raised from the wreck, including one of her Arado 196 floatplanes, which was recovered during an operation to pump out leaking fuel oil from the ship in 1994.

Håøya is an island in Oslofjorden in Frogn municipality, Norway. Its area is 5.6 km², which makes it the largest island in Inner Oslo Fjord. It is located between Oscarsborg and Gråøya. Søndre Håøya is a nature reserve area. White-tailed eagles nest on the southeastern part of the island. They returned in 2008 after an absence of 126 years. Visitors are permitted to harvest mushrooms and berries under 'freedom to roam' but other plants and flowers are protected. Goats graze the island during the summer. The island has a mooring jetty, camping areas, swimming beaches, public toilets, cabins for rent, and historic bunkers and buildings. The island was part of the defense of Oslo, along with Oscarsborg Fortress.

Oscarsborg Fortress (Norwegian: Oscarsborg festning) is a coastal fortress in the Oslofjord, close to the small town of Drøbak in Viken County, Norway. The best known part is situated on two small islets. The main artillery batteries are on the island Håøya and smaller batteries on the mainland to the west and east in the Fjord and was military territory until 2003 when it was made a publicly available resort island. The fortress is best known for sinking the German heavy cruiser Blücher on 9 April 1940. In 2014, Oscarsborg Fortress was given protected status.

Fagerstrand is a village in the municipality of Nesodden, in the county of Akershus, in the country of Norway. It is south of Oslo on the peninsula of Nesodden. Fagerstrand has 1977 inhabitants (2006) making it the second largest village on Nesodden. "Fagerstrand" in English means "beautiful beach" or "fair beach". Fagerstrand is a small village with two grocery stores, two hair salons and one bar. There are two schools in Fagerstrand: Myklerud skole (elementary school) and Bakkeløkka ungdomsskole (junior high school). Fagerstrand is also the name of a reality show that was shot in Fagerstrand and aired on TV 2 during the first half of 2005. In the show, 12 couples built a house together. The couples voted each other out of the show until only two couples were left. Then the viewers would then decide who got the house valued at 3,000,000 NOK (ca. $500,000). Fagerstrand is also a very small area in the district of Høvik, which is a part of the municipal Bærum, across the fjord from Nesodden. This area sports a soccer field and a restaurant.

The Drøbak Sound (Norwegian: Drøbaksundet) is a sound at the Oslofjord narrows between Drøbak and Hurum. Outer Oslofjord, which is a term for the Oslofjord south of the Drøbak Sound until it meets the Skagerrak. Inner Oslofjord which is a term for the rest of the fjord, that starts in the Drøbak Sound northwards towards Oslo, where the fjord makes a turn and continues to the Bunne Fjord. The Drøbak Sound was previously guarded by Oscarsborg Fortress. During the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940, the German cruiser Blücher was sunk by the fortress. Oscarsborg Fortress has been converted into a museum and a hotel. There is a ferry from Drøbak. The subsea Oslofjord Tunnel at the Norwegian National Road 23 runs underneath the Sound and connects the east side and the west side of the fjord.

The Oslofjord Tunnel (Norwegian: Oslofjordtunnelen) is a subsea road tunnel which traverses the Oslofjord, connecting Hurum and Frogn in Norway. Carrying three lanes, the 7,306-meter (23,970 ft) long tunnel reaches a depth of 134 meters (440 ft) below mean sea level. The tunnel has a maximum gradient of seven percent. It acts as the main link connecting eastern and western Viken county, supplementing the Moss–Horten Ferry which runs further south. The tunnel is since 2018 a part of European route E134, until 2018 it was part of National Road 23. The crossing was originally served by the Drøbak–Storsand Ferry, which commenced in 1939. Plans for a fixed link were launched in 1963, originally based on two bridges which would connect to Håøya. Plans resurfaced in the early 1980s with the advent of subsea tunneling technology and the Oslo Airport location controversy, which proposed airports in Hurum, Ås and Hobøl. Even though Gardermoen was ultimately built as the airport, the tunnel had raised sufficient support to be built irrespectively. Parliament gave approval on 13 December 1996 and construction started on 14 April 1997. The tunnel was official opened on 29 June 2000 and was financed in part by a toll, collected by Bompengeselskapet Oslofjordtunnelen at a toll plaza in Frogn. In 2014, the manual toll station was replaced by an automatic station. Since 30 August 2016, it is free to pass through the tunnel. The tunnel was flooded in 2003 and 2008 and experienced a landslide in 2003. All of these incidents resulted in the tunnel being closed for weeks. There have been two major truck fires, one in 2006 and one in 2011. After the latter incident, the tunnel has been closed for heavy traffic exceeding 7.5 tonnes. In an effort to eliminate the problem, the Public Roads Administration has proposed building a second tube.

Drøbak is a town and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Viken county, Norway. The city is located along the Oslofjord, and has 13,409 inhabitants.

Heer is a village in Frogn, Akershus, Norway.

Frogn is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Follo traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Drøbak. Frogn was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The city of Drøbak was merged with Frogn on 1 January 1962. Frogn is located at the southern part of the peninsula between the main Oslofjord and Bunnefjorden. It borders Nesodden, Ås and Vestby.

Spro is a village in Nesodden municipality, Akershus, Norway. It is a former site of ice block extradition industry, and there are a number of man-made ponds created for this purpose. The village is located in southern Nesodden, between Fjellstrand in the north and Fagerstrand in the south. On the opposite of the Oslofjord is Nærsnes in Røyken.

Svestad is a village and a former oil and gas harbour in Akershus, Norway. Svestad is situated at the Oslofjorden side of the peninsula and municipality of Nesodden just south of Oslo.

Båtstø is a small village in Asker municipality in Akerhus county. The village is situated along the Oslofjord between Åros and Nærsnes in Røyken. The distance to Drammen is about 24 km and to Oslo about 38 km. The population of Båtstø was 228 as of January 2005.