HDMS Niels Juel (1918)

HDMS Niels Juel was a coastal defense ship of the Royal Danish Navy from 1923 to 1943. She was scuttled by her crew after Luftwaffe attack during the German invasion of Denmark in 1943 and later refloated as the Nordland.

1923–1939
Originally the Niels Juel was intended to be an upgraded version of HDMS Peder Skram, a pre-World War I Herluf Trolle-class coastal defense ship. After initially being laid down in 1914 at the Danish Royal Naval Dock Yard, Copenhagen, construction was halted as the original armament orders from the German manufacturer Krupp were delayed by World War I. After changing the armament to Bofors-built guns  HDMS Niels Juel was launched on July 3, 1918. After sea trials in early 1923 she was commissioned to the Royal Danish Navy on May 23 and subsequently when on tour to Faeroe Islands, Bergen, Leith and Gothenburg and South America. She was adopted as the flag ship and went on royal tours in June 1926 (Faeroe Islands) and 1930 (Faeroe Islands and Iceland).

1943 World War II: Operation Safari
Following increasing Danish resistance to German rule and the institution of martial law on August 28, 1943, the German army moved to seize the Danish fleet in Copenhagen harbour, an action codenamed Operation Safari. Anticipating this move, Danish officers managed to scuttle the majority of the Danish fleet to prevent capture. The Niels Juel which had spent the summer on exercise in Isefjorden, attempted to break free to Swedish waters, during which she was engaged by German at sea and by air. Having been seriously damaged by aerial bombardment, including five wounded crew members (one of whom died later), the captain, Commander Westermann realised there was little hope of reaching neutral waters and beached the ship near Nykøbing Sjælland. The crew then tried to scuttle the ship. Initial attempts to blow up the ship failed, but the crew successfully flooded the parts of the ship including the magazine, as well as systematically destroying the equipment before evacuation and surrender.

1944−1952
In 1944, the ship was salvaged, renamed the Nordland and used by the German Navy as a training ship. On May 3, 1945, she was sunk during allied air raids in the Eckernførde inlet. The wreck was later salvaged and on March 19, 1952 was sold for scrap.