"When one considers that right up to the end of the war....there was virtually no increase in our heavy-water stocks in Germany, and that.... there were in fact only two and a half tons of heavy water available, it will be seen that it was the elimination of German heavy-water production in Norway that was the main factor in our failure to achieve a self-sustaining atomic reactor before the war ended."
-Kurt Diebner, German Scientist
Blood and Water: Sabotaging Hitler's Bomb by Dan Kurzman
Germany's lack of Heavy Water hinders the program
In 1940 Germany increased production of heavy water at the Norsk-Hydro plant in Vemork, Norway, prompting the Allies to disrupt production.
"Whichever nation can put fission bombs... in use will have a successful destructive agent which may determine the final outcome of this war. It seems obvious that since there can be no production of development along this line without heavy water, that the designation of Vemork as a bombing objective from the air, or crippling of the plant by sabotage, should sincerely be considered." |
operation freshman
In 1942, a failed attempt was made to disable the plant.
"On November 20, at approximately three o'clock in the morning, a tow-plane with a glider in tow crashed near Egersund. The cause of the crash is, as yet, unknown. As far as we have been able to determine, the entire crew on board the tow-plane died, among them a negro. There were seventeen men on board the glider, very likely agents. Three of them had died, six were seriously injured. All of the men on board the glider had large sums of money in Norwegian currency. Unfortunately, The Wehrmacht executed the survivors, which makes further clarification impossible." |
operation gunnerside
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Sabotage of the Vermork heavy water plant.
The Battle for Heavy Water, 1948 In 1943, eight Norwegian saboteurs successfully disabled the Vemork heavy water plant.
"On the night of 27th-28th February 1943, about 1:15 a.m., an installation of importance to the war economy was destroyed at the Vemork factory near Rjukan by the detonation of explosive charges. The attack was carried out by three armed men wearing grey-green uniforms. They gained entrance to the factory by cutting a chain in the gate, and passed by German sentries and Norwegian watchmen undetected. From the effects they left behind, it can be assumed that they came from Britain." |
Bombing raid
The Vemork plant was soon operating again. On November 16, 1943, the Allies sent bombers to destroy the plant permanently.
"Scores of American bombers were flying across Norway in broad daylight as if no German anti-aircraft defenses existed. They began to circle over us and then proceeded in an Easterly direction towards Rjukan." "I was tossed here and there by the air pressure, while glass panes, dust and everything else blew around the ears. I attempted to reach shelter, but groped for the door on account of atmospheric pressure from one explosion after another." |
Sinking the Hydro
Sinking of the Hydro
The Battle for Heavy Water, 1948 |
Original telegrams between the S.O.E. in London and the Norwegian Resistance concerning the sinking of the Hydro. "www.pbs.org"
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In 1944, the Germans closed Vemork and transported the remaining heavy water across Lake Tinnsjå on the ferry Hydro. The Norwegian resistance sunk the ferry and its heavy water.
"At around 1:30 I was on the bridge and I heard an explosion. It definitely sounded like a bomb. The ship went over on to the port side and after a few minutes it was lying flat on its side. I walked along the ship's side as if it was a floor and after taking my coat off - I forgot to take my boots off - I jumped into the water and swam about fifteen feet away. I turned around and watched her go down. The stern was very high and the propeller was still going around when she went down."
-Erling Sorensen, Captain of the Hydro
Operation Freshman
Germany's final attempt at Haigerloch
In March 1945, Heisenberg made Germany's last attempt at building a nuclear reactor in a cave in the town of Haigerloch. It failed because 750kgs of additional heavy water was needed.
"It was a chance that at the end when the cylinder was filled fully, then perhaps we could have criticality. But in fact it was not so. We were still in a situation of sub-criticality, but not so far away from criticality. We had about 75%."
- Professor Erich Bagge
BBC Horizon: Hitler's Bomb, 1992
The German team, however, needed to use heavy water, D2O. Ordinary water contains heavy water at a rate of about 1 part in 10,000. The two can be separated by repeated electrolysis, which requires large amounts of electric power in close proximity to a water source. The Germans had this at a hydroelectric plant in occupied Norway, and they set up a separation facility there. The British alerted the Norwegian underground that heavy water was useful for the war, without telling them why. Courageous Norwegians sabotaged production as best they could. As a result the Germans had only about half the heavy water they needed by the end of the war.
-Hans Bethe
"The German Uranium Program": Physics Today, 2000
The destruction of the heavy water plant in Norway stopped Germany's supply of heavy water. This was the final blow to the German nuclear program which stopped them from having a nuclear reactor that could produce plutonium for a bomb.