Kilbotn is a village in

Harstad Municipality Harstad (; ) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the Harstad (town), town of Harstad, which is the most populous town in Central Håloga ...

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The village is located about south of the center of the town of Harstad, along the Vågsfjorden on the east side of

Hinnøya Hinnøya ( Norwegian; ) is the fourth-largest island in Norway, and the largest outside the Svalbard archipelago. The lies just off the western coast of Northern Norway. The island sits on the border of Nordland and Troms counties. The western ...

island. The villages of

Fauskevåg Fauskevåg is a village in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is located on the island of Hinnøya, along the Vågsfjorden, about south of the town of Harstad. The population (2001) of Fauskevåg is 341. The village has an elem ...

and Sørvika are just a few kilometres to the south of Kilbotn. The population (2001) of the village is 332, but since 2002 it has been considered a part of the

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

urban area.

History

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

used Kilbotn as a

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

base. On 4 May 1945, the last air raid of World War II in Europe took place when the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

attacked the Kilbotn anchorage with 44 aircraft from three offshore aircraft carriers in Operation Judgement. The harbour contained the submarine

depot ship A depot ship is an auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly limited space for maintenance equipment and crew dining, berthing an ...

''Black Watch'' with the moored alongside. The wreck of ''Black Watch'' lies in Kilbotn harbour close to the wreck of ''U-711''.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040727/http://www.kilbotn.com/ {{authority control Villages in Troms Populated places of Arctic Norway Harstad