Blast of the Voorbode

April 20, 1944. Adolf Hitler’s birthday. Norway had just entered its fourth year under Nazi Germany’s occupation in World War II. On this day, a massive explosion erupting in Bergen city harbor was a far cry from any birthday celebration fireworks. The blast aboard a German supply boat inflicted widespread destruction and death.

The vessel, Voorbode, had been sailing on the North Sea en route from Oslo to Kirkenes, a small village in Norway’s extreme north, some 250 miles above the Arctic Circle and near the border with Russia. The boat had been a Dutch trawler that the Nazis seized in its invasion of The Netherlands and put it to military use. On board were 166½ tons of explosives destined to help shore up German northern defenses and protect them from any Russian attack.

But on the way, Voorbode’s steam-powered engine encountered mechanical problems, forcing the boat to limp into Bergen’s central harbor.

Ordinarily, the boat should not have been allowed to moor there. The Nazis did have regulations in place against allowing transports carrying such lethal cargo. But controls were lax. The Voorbode must not have been inspected or the right questions weren’t asked and answered. It was allowed to dock in Vågen, a harbor channel of the waterfront near Bergen’s historic wharf established by the old Hanseatic League in the 14th Century.

Photos © Bundesarchiv

The city had just awoken at 8:39 in the morning when the Voorbode caught fire and its cargo exploded, hurling remnants and debris far and wide and sending streams of water hundreds upon hundreds of feet in the air. A piece of the boat’s anchor landed near the top of Sandviksfjellet, the 1,300-foot mountain rising from just back of the harbor. The force of the blast leveled entire neighborhoods and reduced the wharf’s centuries-old wood structures to ruin.

In its wake, the explosion destroyed 131 homes and left another 117 so badly damaged they eventually had to be torn down. Some 158 people, nearly 100 of them Bergen citizens, were killed and another 4,800 injured. Most of those people were civilians. It left about 5,000 homeless.

The Germans initially attempted to play down the extent of the destruction and tragedy. Certainly, anything that uncovered its weak controls in allowing such a cargo to enter the harbor would be seen as a security weakness and major embarrassment. But the explosion did bring German Reichkommissar Josef Terboven and other high Nazi officials to Bergen to inspect the damage.

Since it occurred on Hitler’s birthday, the investigation by the Gestapo and others initially focused on sabotage. Norwegian resistance organization were highly active at the time. But authorities later ruled it out, concluding the blast was an accident caused by “self-ignition.”

The piece of anchor still rests on Sandviksfjellet. It was bolted in place in rock where it landed, and a small plaque, now with a patina finish, placed beside it.

Explosion of the cargo ship Voorbode in Bergen, April 20, 1944