Sabotage of SF Hydro: The Greatest Sabotage of the Second World War скачать в хорошем качестве

Sabotage of SF Hydro: The Greatest Sabotage of the Second World War

During the Second World War, Nazi Germany had ambitions of building an atomic bomb and using it against the Allies. To build an atomic bomb, Nazi Germany would first need to build a nuclear reactor which requires heavy water. Heavy water is water made up of hydrogen atoms that contain one proton and one neutron while regular water only has one proton. Heavy water is used to control nuclear reactions. During the war, the largest producer of heavy water was located in the Vemork hydroelectric power plant, Rjukan, Norway. This led Nazi Germany to invade Norway on April 9, 1940. By June 10, 1940, Norway would fall into the hands of Nazi Germany. *** As the years went by, the Allies increasingly feared that Nazi Germany would soon achieve their goal of building an atomic bomb. For this reason, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the Vemork hydroelectric power plant in Norway to be bombed and destroyed. After several air raids on the power plant, the Nazi powers decided that it would be safer if the heavy water was in Germany and not in Nazi-occupied Norway. On February 20, 1944, the Nazis planned to move a year’s production of heavy water from Vemork to Germany. The heavy water, placed inside barrels, was transported to Lake Tinn and placed onboard a ferry that would transport the barrels to Nazi Germany. Once in Germany, the barrels would be sent to the site of the nuclear reactor. The ferry that would be used for the transportation of the heavy water was SF Hydro. Approximately 40 barrels of heavy water were loaded onboard Hydro. On the morning of February 20, 1944, SF Hydro began its journey to Nazi Germany with the barrels of heavy water onboard. Little did Germany know that Hydro would never arrive at its destination. On February 20, 1944, at around 10:30 AM, an explosion occurred onboard Hydro, sending the ferry, its cargo and 18 of the 47 people onboard to the bottom of Lake Tinn. *** In February of 1944, Norwegian resistance fighters Knut Haukelid, Rolf Sørlie, Alf Larsen and Knut Lier-Hansen learned about the plan to ship heavy water to Nazi Germany and were ordered to stop this project at all costs. On the night of February 19, 1944, the four saboteurs boarded Hydro and placed a time bomb onboard. The bomb was set to detonate when the ship would be sailing in the deepest part of Lake Tinn so that the barrels of heavy water would be unretrievable. The saboteurs then left the ship to its fate. *** During the early 1990s, the wreck of Hydro was discovered over 400 meters below the surface of Lake Tinn. Surrounding the wreck were several barrels of heavy water. Following the discovery of the wreck, a few barrels were raised and examined. It was concluded that the barrels contained enough heavy water to have spelled disaster for the Allies had they reached Nazi Germany. *** The sinking of SF Hydro, which occurred exactly 80 years ago on this day, is mostly known for having been the greatest sabotage of the Second World War. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music used in this video: "Long Note Four" - Kevin MacLeod Video Chapters: 0:00 Sabotage of SF Hydro: February 20, 1944 0:30 Nazi Germany's Ambition 2:02 The Allies' Fears 5:11 The Greatest Sabotage of the Second World War 6:27 Wreck of SF Hydro #Sinking #Disaster #MaritimeDisaster #Sabotage #WW2 #HeavyWater