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36-659: Gay Viking was a blockade runner of the British Merchant Navy . Originally under construction as a Motor Gun Boat , Gay Viking was one of eight vessels that were ordered by the Turkish Navy , but were requisitioned by the Royal Navy to serve with Coastal Forces during the Second World War . Originally intended to be HMMGB 506, the vessel was instead completed as a blockade runner for

72-484: A clandestine newspaper, Land og Folk ("Land and People"), based on the previous Communist Party newspaper, Arbejderbladet , which was distributed widely across the country. Circulation grew to 120,000 copies per day by the end of the occupation. At the beginning of 1943, the cells were centrally coordinated under BOPA ( Borgerlige Partisaner – Civil Partisans), which also began to plan acts of sabotage. As time went on, many other insurgent groups formed to oppose

108-769: A journalist from Berlingske Tidende , arranged to be transferred to Stockholm . From there he could more easily report to and communicate with the British. Following Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 the Germans banned the Danish Communist Party and had the Danish police arrest its members. Those members who either avoided arrest or later escaped thus went underground and created resistance cells . From October 1942, they published

144-618: A limited effect; as in Operation Frankton . From 1943 improved Allied air superiority over the Bay of Biscay rendered blockade running by surface ships effectively impossible. By some counts, during the war Germans sent 32 (surface) blockade runners to Japan, only 16 of them reaching their destination. Later in the war, most of the trade between Germany and Japan was by cargo submarine. Italian ships, interned in Spain after Italy entered

180-778: A major role in Confederate blockade running. British merchants had conducted significant amounts of trade with the South prior to the war, and were suffering from the Lancashire Cotton Famine . The British Empire also controlled many of the neutral ports in the Caribbean, most notably the Bahamas and Bermuda . In concert with Confederate interests, British investors ordered the construction of steamships that were longer, narrower and considerably faster than most of

216-549: The Allies , and stationing German troops in the country. The Danish government actively discouraged violent resistance because it feared a severe backlash from the Germans against the civilian population. Immediately after the occupation began, isolated attempts were made to set up resistance and intelligence activities. Intelligence officers from the Danish army, known as the "Princes," began channeling reports to London allies as early as April 13, 1940. Soon afterwards, Ebbe Munck ,

252-670: The Gay Viking were taken off and she subsequently sank. However she appears to have subsequently been re-floated and returned to service as a civilian vessel. She was sailed under a variety of names and eventually purchased for conversion as a pleasure craft for operation in The Bahamas , under the name Bahama Viking , although the vessel remained in Denmark as late as 1973. The vessel subsequently sank at wharf in Copenhagen, and

288-586: The German occupation of Denmark during World War II . Due to the initially lenient arrangements, in which the Nazi occupation authority allowed the democratic government to stay in power, the resistance movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale than in some other countries. Members of the Danish resistance movement were involved in underground activities, ranging from producing illegal publications to spying and sabotage . Major groups included

324-460: The democratically elected Danish government remained in power, Danish citizens had less motivation to fight the occupation than in countries where the Germans established puppet governments, such as Norway or France . The police also remained under Danish authority and led by Danes. Daily life in Denmark remained much the same as before the occupation. The Germans did make certain changes: imposing official censorship , prohibiting dealings with

360-517: The red ensign of the merchant marine . Third, their crews consisted of civilian sailors drawn from Hull trawlermen and officers from Ellerman Lines . The operation was organised and led by a civilian steel expert and former Arctic explorer, Sir George Binney , who was given the rank of Commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve to give him the required legal status in case he were captured. Their mission required

396-659: The Confederate states, though historians have estimated the supplies brought by blockade runners to the Confederacy lengthened the duration of the war by up to two years. By the end of the American Civil War, Union warships had captured more than 1,100 blockade runners and had destroyed or run aground another 355. Greek blockade runners supplied the Christians during the Cretan revolt (1866–1869) . Names of

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432-541: The Danish king and government chose not to flee the country and instead collaborated with the German authorities who allowed the Danish government to remain in power. The Germans had reasons to do so, especially as they wanted to showcase Denmark as a "model protectorate ", earning the nickname the Cream Front ( German : Sahnefront ), due to the relative ease of the occupation and copious amount of dairy products. As

468-525: The Merchant Navy and named Gay Viking . She operated out of Hull on two separate operations to the Scandinavian countries. She was one of the more successful of her group, but was lost in a collision while returning from one of these operations. Reports indicate that she may have been salvaged after this and gone on to sail for a considerable number of years as a civilian vessel. Gay Viking

504-482: The Navy had advanced their numbers to the new numbering scheme and they became No. 2004, 2005 and 2007 respectively. For some reason, Gay Viking apparently continued to sail under that name. Three of the vessels, Hopewell (No. 2004), Nonsuch (No. 2005) and Gay Viking were deployed on one Moonshine run in early 1945. While making the return voyage on 5 February 1945, Gay Viking and Hopewell collided. The seamen of

540-852: The North Sea blockade made it nearly impossible for surface ships to leave Germany for the then neutral United States and other locations. The blockade was run with cargo submarines, also called merchant submarines , Deutschland and Bremen , which reached the then neutral United States. The Marie successfully ran the British North Sea blockade and docked, heavily damaged, in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (now called Jakarta ) on May 13, 1916. In 1917 Germany tried unsuccessfully to supply their forces in Africa by sending Zeppelin LZ104 . On

576-402: The armament were removed, and the bridge moved aft, to make way for an internal cargo bay amidships. The need to conform to Sweden's neutrality meant that the Navy also had to implement a number of other measures. First, it gave the boats names: 504 became Hopewell , 505 became Nonsuch , 506 became Gay Viking , 507 became Gay Corsair and 508 became Master Standfast . Second, they sailed under

612-649: The army. French naval aid was vital. During the American Civil War , blockade running became a major enterprise for the Confederacy due to the Union blockade as part of the Anaconda Plan to cut off the Confederacy's overseas trade. Twelve major ports and approximately 3,500 miles of coastline along the Confederacy were patrolled by roughly 500 Union Navy ships. The United Kingdom played

648-1834: The blockade to Britain in Operation Rubble but later attempts failed. In modern times, tracking equipment such as radar, sonar, and reconnaissance satellites make evading a total blockade by a world power nearly impossible. Drug smugglers and groups like the Tamil Tigers are able to run blockades due to the partial nature of the blockade, or because the navy imposing the blockade is weak and under-equipped. Reminiscent of earlier German attempts, drug smugglers have used semi-submersibles ( narco-submarines ) in their smuggling operations. Danish resistance [REDACTED] Danish resistance groups [REDACTED] Leonhard Kaupisch [REDACTED] Werner Best [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Frits Clausen   † Schalburg Corps [REDACTED] Heer soldiers [REDACTED] Gestapo [REDACTED] Kriegsmarine [REDACTED] Waffen-SS Finland Iceland Norway Central Europe Germany Italy Spain ( Spanish Civil War ) Albania Austria Baltic states Belgium Bulgaria Burma Czechia Denmark France Germany Greece Italy Japan Jewish Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Poland Romania Slovakia Spain Soviet Union Yugoslavia Germany Italy Netherlands Portugal Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom United States The Danish resistance movements ( Danish : Den danske modstandsbevægelse ) were an underground insurgency to resist

684-587: The communist BOPA ( Danish : Borgerlige Partisaner , Civil Partisans) and Holger Danske , both based in Copenhagen . Some small resistance groups such as the Samsing Group and the Churchill Club also contributed to the sabotage effort. Resistance agents killed an estimated 400 Danish Nazis, informers and collaborators until 1944. After that date, they also killed some German nationals. In

720-576: The conventional steamers guarding the American coastline, thus enabling them to outmaneuver and outrun blockaders. Among the more notable was the CSS Advance that completed more than 20 successful runs through the Union blockade before being captured. These vessels brought badly needed supplies, especially firearms, and Confederate mail . The blockade played a major role in the Union's victory over

756-545: The only food reaching the city of Carthage . During the 14th century, while Queen Margaret I of Denmark 's forces were besieging Stockholm , the blockade runners who came to be known as the Victual Brotherhood engaged in war at sea and shipped provisions to keep the city supplied. Blockade runners in the American Revolution eluded the British naval blockades in order to supply resources to

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792-663: The outbreak of war, the Royal Navy imposed a naval blockade of Germany . The fall of France provided the German occupying forces with access to the French Atlantic coast and between 1940 and 1942, many blockade running trips succeeded in delivering cargoes of critical war supplies - especially crude rubber - through the port of Bordeaux; a trade that increased with the entry of Japan into the war in December 1941. Allied attempts to disrupt these operations initially had only

828-610: The patrolled areas. The five boats, including Gay Viking , were first deployed in September 1943. The plan was that having arrived at the Swedish port of Lysekil they would load their cargoes, before sailing back to the Humber . Each leg of the journey would take two days. The first attempt was planned for 23 September, but had to be postponed after problems developed with the boats' engines. It instead took place on 26 October, but

864-515: The postwar period, the Resistance was supported by politicians within Denmark and there was little effort to closely examine the killings. Studies in the late 20th and early 21st centuries revealed cases of improvised and contingent decision making about the targets, including morally ambiguous choices. Several important books and films have been produced on this topic. During the invasion of Denmark on April 9, 1940 and subsequent occupation ,

900-857: The regular fleet, and states having operated them include the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War , and Germany during the World Wars . There were numerous blockades and attempts at blockade running during the Peloponnesian War . With his fleet blockaded, Leon of Salamis dispatched blockade runners to seek reinforcements from Athens. During the Punic Wars , the Carthaginian Empire attempted to evade Roman navy blockades of its ports and strongholds. At one point, blockade runners brought in

936-760: The ships include: Arkadion (named after the Arkadi Monastery , sunk by the Ottoman sloop-of-war Izzedin in August 1867); Hydra ; Panhellenion ; and Enosis (Unification), which was detained in Syros by Hobart Pasha in December 1868, just about the time the rebellion collapsed. During World War I the Central Powers , most notably Germany, were blockaded by the Entente Powers . In particular

972-431: The vessels to pass between German-occupied territories in waters habitually patrolled by German aircraft and surface vessels. To minimise the risk of detection, the Navy timed the voyages to pass areas of greatest danger during the hours of darkness. This meant that the vessels could only make their journeys during the winter months when the duration of darkness was sufficient to give the ships the time they needed to traverse

1008-572: The vessels would have to reach Sweden by evading the German blockade of the Skagerrak . Once there, the vessels would load the ball bearings and return to Britain. British engineering plants needed the ball bearings, and other specialist equipment manufactured in Sweden and while some supplies were being flown in, the volumes were not sufficient to meet the demand. The Navy modified five of the boats from Camper and Nicholson to accommodate cargo: most of

1044-604: The war in June 1940, crossed the Bay of Biscay to Bordeaux and some of them, such as Fidelitas and Eugenio C , dashed through the English Channel bound for Germany and Norway. To transfer technology to Imperial Japan, on 25 March 1945 Nazi Germany dispatched a submarine, U-234 , to sail to Japan. Germany surrendered before it arrived. The Japanese submarine I-8 completed a similar mission. The German ship Ramses

1080-545: Was broken up for salvage in the 1990s. Blockade runner Blockade runners are often the fastest ships available, and come lightly armed and armored. Their operations are quite risky since blockading fleets would not hesitate to fire on them. However, the potential profits (economically or militarily) from a successful blockade run are tremendous, so blockade-runners typically had excellent crews. Although having modus operandi similar to that of smugglers , blockade-runners are often operated by state's navies as part of

1116-673: Was built by Camper and Nicholson as part of an order of eight Motor Gun Boats placed by the Turkish Navy. The outbreak of the Second World War led to the Royal Navy taking over the eight vessels giving them numbers (502–509). The Navy then completed 504, 505, 506, 507 and 508 as merchant vessels to take part in Operation Bridford. The objective of Operation Bridford was to bring back to Britain quantities of ball bearings manufactured by Sweden's SKF . To do this,

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1152-458: Was by an Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.75 Marsupiale , which flew in July 1942 , according to various sources, either from Zaporozhye to Baotou or from Rhodes Island to Rangoon . Later, German Junkers Ju 290 -A aircraft prepared for (or, according to some sources, completed) similar flights . During World War II, trade between Sweden (which remained neutral throughout the war) and Britain

1188-640: Was considered a success, but the trips were brought to an end with the return of the shorter nights in 1944. The voyages were resumed in September 1944 under the name of Operation Moonshine , and involved carrying supplies and munitions to elements of the Danish resistance . Many of these attempts had to be canceled due to poor weather, or recurring difficulties with the Paxman diesel engines. Hopewell , Nonsuch and Gay Corsair all dropped their civilian names and returned to their official designation in 1944. By 1945

1224-678: Was in China when the war started. On Nov. 23, 1942, she attempted to sail from Batavia (now Jakarta ), to Bordeaux with a cargo of rubber. The hope was that maintaining a sharp 24-hour lookout they could evade the Allied blockade. HMAS Adelaide (1918) caught and sank her. A small number of planes succeeded in flying between the Axis-controlled Europe and the Japanese-controlled parts of Asia. The first known flight

1260-554: Was plagued with mechanical problems and bad weather. Gay Viking was the only vessel to make a successful round trip, returning to Britain on 30 October carrying 40 tons of cargo. Further attempts were made, many of them successfully, despite the loss of Master Standfast to the Germans on 2 November, and Nonsuch being rendered inoperable by continuing engine problems that limited her to making only one successful round trip. Gay Viking eventually made three trips, despite damaging her port engine crankshaft on 17 March 1944. The operation

1296-508: Was severely curtailed by the German blockade of the Skagerrak straits between Norway and the northern tip of Denmark. In order to import vital materiel from Sweden, such as ball bearings for the British aircraft industry, five Motor Gun Boats , such as the Gay Viking , were converted into blockade runners, using winter darkness and high speed to penetrate the German maritime blockade. Larger Norwegian ships succeeded in escaping through

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