Fjell Festning: A Brief Overview 3

 Above:  Turret "Felix" installed in Fjell Fortress.  Photo taken after the war.

 Above:  The same location today.  A cafe now stands where "Felix" once did.

The primary function of Fjell Festning during the second world war, was to close off Allied sea passage to the port of Bergen and nearby areas.  To this end a massive gun battery was installed, with 4 kilometers of surrounding fortifications and facilities to accommodate it.  Additional medium caliber naval artillery pieces were taken from ships and placed in open firing positions to the southeast.  High-tech (for the time) radar sites kept the fortress personnel aware of who was in the sky above, and a healthy variety of Flak, including heavy 105 mm guns, protected the fortress from the air.  While as it sits now Fjell Festning is the third largest fortress the Third Reich built,  if construction were allowed to continue on its scheduled course it would not have been completed until the mid 1950s.

  Above:  Battle cruiser Gneisenau.

  Above:  Some naval mines on display in a railway tunnel underneath the mountain.  From left to right are mines of American, British, and German manufacture.

The battle cruiser Gneisenau was launched December 8th, 1936.  After a successful career against the British navy (including the sinking of aircraft carrier HMS Glorious) she was almost totally destroyed by a British heavy air raid during the night of 26-27 February 1942.  After deliberation, the decision was ultimately made to disarm her and use those weapons as components in the Atlantic Wall.  The triple 283 mm guns that comprised turret "Felix", were taken from Gneisenau and placed on a concrete gun shaft, extending deep into Fjedla mountain.

 Above:  The original electrical firing system for turret "Felix" , taken directly from Gneisenau, and installed in the magazine displayed later below.

 Above:  Some rails and a leftover cart for ammunition and supply movement.

 When fired the 283 mm guns slide back into the turret as a recoil mechanism. When fired from a naval platform, such as Gneisenau, the recoil produced from the guns not only rocked the 38,100 long ton capital ship some number of degrees in the opposite direction being fired,  but the entire ship itself was displaced, or pushed about 10 meters in that same direction.  When the main battery was installed in its fixed position and fired for the first time, an earthquake rocked Fjedla mountain.  Windows were blown out.  Concrete was shaken from the ceiling, and the gun mount for "Felix" was damaged.  While strictly hearsay, an interesting story still sometimes circulates about the underground hospital caving in when this happened, killing a number of men.  The Germans had only so much experience in installing super heavy guns in fixed positions (unlike say the French), and did not foresee the problem of recoil.  After repairing the damage done, their solution was to decrease the number of powder charges used to expel the shell from the gun barrel.  While this did reduce the maximum range of the guns, they still retained more than satisfactory coverage of the region.  When the fortress proper was abandoned in 1968, "Felix" was sold for scrap for the total of 3000 crowns.

  Above:  An ammunition preparation/magazine room.  The yellow warheads are high explosive.  Just to the left of the shot is the electrical firing system displayed above.

  Above:  The same room above.  These are powder charges and shell casings.  Imagine  how long the cannon shell, warhead, and charges would be just before firing!

Turret "Felix" was issued a number of different ammunition types.  A naval armor piercing round which could tear a ship in two,  a similar anti-ship round, but equipped with a timed fuze so as to explode in the enemy ships bowels, and high explosive rounds with impact fuses.  These were for defeating any land born threat.  When preparing to fire, the main guns had to be lowered to 2 degrees in order for the shells to be loaded.  These shells were so heavy and dense, that each barrel of the turret had a lifespan of about 300 uses.  After this they would have to be replaced, an expensive and time consuming task.  About 6 powder charges were used to propel the shell after the incident with the first test firing.  I have heard references to "Felix" being used in an anti-aircraft capacity, perhaps in a similar way as the Japanese Yamato used "Sanshiki" rounds from its main guns, but I have not been able to confirm this.

  Above:  The original main entrance to the tunnel system and main gun.  You can see an embrasure set into the wall on the left for a defensive weapon.  Notice the cafe roof showing above the hill.  Just to the left of that roof is a pile of leftover armor slabs.

 Above:  A schematic for the mechanical loading system that once extended up through the gun shaft.

 

  Above:  Inside the gun shaft.  The door to the upper right leads to the magazine displayed above.  The door at bottom leads to the tunnel system.  Notice the small passage on the upper left.  This is designed for shells to pass through, and was part of the original loading system

The original main entrance is no longer used.  Instead visitors descend a flight of stairs from the cafe sitting on the old turret mount, and enter the tunnel system through the gun shaft.  The shaft itself is three or four stories deep.  At the second level from the bottom, an ammunition magazine connects to the shaft.  While ammunition was stored here, this was more of a preparation room for immediate use.  The electrical firing computer of "Felix" was located in this room as well.  The larger bulk magazine is located deeper in the mountain.  The munitions elevator is no longer here, but would have run up and down the length of the main gun shaft. 

  Above:  Tunnels under the mountain.

  Above:  More tunnels under the mountain.

  Above:  A very long tunnel!

 Above:  More tunnels.  Notice the light reflecting off the heavy moisture.

  Above:  Tunnels connecting to barracks.  Notice the gun rack on the left.  Men stationed underground would stack their arms here when not in use (K98 rifles).  The rifles could be quickly grabbed while on the way out of their rooms.

The tunnel system underground is quite extensive.  Most of this consists of long passageways with connecting intersections and rooms.  These tunnels also connect to Regelbau bunkers closer to the surface, including those type 633 bunkers with M-19 automatic mortars, and the armored cloche discussed in the my last post.  Some of the network is not in very good shape, and thus off limits to visitors, notably the subterranean infirmary and command bunker.  At its average, the network lies some 3000 meters below the solid rock of Fjedla Mountain.  This facility was very capable of withstanding heavy bombardment by British capital ships, but was not very water tight due to the geology of the mountain and there is much water seepage throughout the tunnels, even a few stalactites.  A drainage ditch covered by wooden planks runs down most of the longer passageways.

  Above:  The personal quarters of the fortress commander.  Notice the "fancy" lights hanging from the ceiling.  This room had its own sink.

   Above:  A sauna room for the men underground.

 Above:  A latrine.  There were never privacy walls.

 Above:  These industrial cookers fed hundreds of men.

 When Fortress Fjell was built, it had some rare luxuries for the region.  While made of cold and bare stone or concrete, it had running hot water.  Not even the nearby town of Bergen had such a thing at that time.  Also there was the addition of a sauna.  This was included for reasons of health though, and less so for recreation.  The sauna was seen as a way to help stave off sickness from the cold, damp, and foreign atmosphere.  The fortress commander had his own running water in his room, in the form of a sink (only cold water).  He also brought a couple of stylized ceiling light covers from a city in Germany to be installed.

  Above:  Machinery for providing power to the base.

 Above:  Machinery involved in operating the main gun battery.

 Above:  The most photographed image in the whole tunnel network.  This door leads to electrical equipment.

The facility was first run by the Heer (Army), then transferred responsibility to the Luftwaffe (Air Force), and finally ended service with the Kreigsmarine (Navy).  While in in the service of the Kreigsmarine it is interesting to note, that instead of the four cardinal directions.  The navy personnel referred to directions as on a ship, with the bow being north, the stern being south, the port being west, and of course starboard referring to east. The tunnel networks and gun crew personnel amounted to well over a hundred men, not including the men stationed in the surrounding four kilometers.  For security and espionage reasons, those in the tunnel networks were rarely allowed to go outside.  This coupled with the weather of Norway, (which many of those Germans found to be gloomy) supposedly amounted to a somewhat high suicide rate among the men stationed underground.

  Above:  A searchlight and its trailer, temporarily stored in the tunnel network.

 The fortress was never assaulted by the Allies.  Immediately after the war the Norwegian military took over the site, and it was kept in service until 1968.  NATO used a part of it as a radar post until about 7 years ago.  Since most of it was abandoned, the fortress sat open and exposed to the elements for decades.  It was not until 2009 that a cafe was opened on top of the exposed gun shaft, to protect the tunnels below, and allowing visitors to pay a fee for a tour.

  Above:  Standard issue German fortress telephone.  You turn the right crank before use.

  Above:  Part of the original alarm system.  This machine was rebuilt by the tour manager (who's hand and arm are visible).  Turning the crank sounds loud, rapid bells throughout the facility.  It still works, as I convinced him to demonstrate!

  Above:  A variety of weapons on display.  From left to right, descending down are a British Sten gun, an American "Thompson", an American "Grease Gun", something special (see below), a British Bren gun, a Soviet PPSh-41, and at the bottom a Soviet DP-27.

Above:  A variety of museum pieces including daggers, grenades and flare guns.

 Above:  Uniforms and weapons on display.  The long tubes in the center are actually range finding devices for artillery or Flak targeting.

Much of this facility has survived well over the years of neglect.  Some of the original machinery is being restored by museum personnel, and in a few places original paint and messages can be seen.  Gun racks still line the walls, and wires for telephones or alarm systems connect to the ceiling regularly.  A couple of barracks quarters have been transformed into viewing rooms for museum pieces, including MG-42 and MG-34 machine guns, anti-tank rockets and a variety of small arms, uniforms and nicknacks.  The main washroom even produces clean water still.   The place feels simply gigantic when you are there under the earth, and the architecture and engineering alone are worth experiencing!

* This interesting weapon fires .45 caliber pistol rounds, but from what appears to be a semiautomatic mechanism in a wooden stock.  It is certainly American made, but this is the first time I had been introduced to such a device.