Hansestadt Danzig (minelayer) – Korvettenkapitän Wilhelms Schroeder (icebreaker) Warship Group Eight supported in the waters of the Belt by 13. Patron-Flotilla – Kapitänleutnant Dr. Walther Fischer Objectives Middelfart and Belt Bridge Warship Group Nine – Kapitän zur See Helmut Leissner, F.d.V.O (cargo ship), flagship of F.d.V.O, Arkona (M115), Otto Braun (M129), Cressida, Silvia, R6, R7 (minesweepers) UJ 107 (ASW patrol craft) Passat, Monsun (Tugs) Objectives Esbjerg and Nordby Warship Group Ten – Kapitän zur See and Kommodore Friedrich Ruge F.d.M. West Königin Luise (F6) (patrol craft) 12. Minehunter Flotilla – Korvettenkapitän Karl Marguth KFK M1201, KFK M1202, KFK M1203, KFK M1204, KFK M1205, KFK M1206, KFK M1207, KFK M1208, M4, M20, M84, M102 (minesweepers) 2. Minesweeper Flotilla – Korvettenkapitän Gert von Kamptz R25, R26, R27, R28, R29, R30, R31, R32 (R boat minesweepers) Objective Thyborön 'Warship Group Eleven – Korvettenkapitän Walter Berger 4. Minehunter Flotilla – Korvettenkapitän Walter Berger M-61, M-89, M-110, M-111, M-134, M-136 (minesweepers) 3. Minesweeper Flotilla – Kapitänleutnant Hagen Küster R 33, R 34, R 35, R 36, R 37, R 38, R 39, R 40 (minesweepers) – Oberleutnant zur See Gustav Czycholl (R boat tender) Mine Sweeper Covering Group Laying minefields to the Skagerrak to protect the German resupply route to southern Norway. Schlesien (pre-dreadnought battleship) Minelaying Group – Kapitän zur See Kurt Böhmer: Roland – Korvettenkapitän Karl von Kutzleben (minelayer) – Kapitänleutnant Dr. Ing. Karl-Friedrich Brill (minelayer) Preussen – Korvettenkapitän Karl Freiherr von der Recke (minelayer) – Kapitänleutnant Kurt Foerster M6, M10, M11, M12 (minesweepers fitted to lay mines) U-Boat Force Force – Rear Admiral Karl Dönitz U-Boat Group One Patrol area: Narvik, Harstad, Vestfjord, Vågsfjord , , , (sunk 13 April), U-Boat Group Two Patrol area: Trondheim, Namsos, Romsdalsfjord , U-Boat Group Three Patrol area: Bergen, Ålesund, Shetland Islands , , , , U-Boat Group Four Patrol area: Stavanger (sunk c. 6 April), U-Boat Group Five Patrol area: East of the Shetland Islands, Vågsfjord, Trondheim , , , , (sunk 15 April), (sunk 6 April) U-Boat Group Six Patrol area: Pentland, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands (sunk 31 May), , , U-Boat Group Seven Never assembled U-Boat Group Eight Patrol area: Lindesnes, Egersund , , , U-Boat Group Nine Patrol area: Bergen, Shetland Islands , , Unassigned to a group Operating in the area of the Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, and Bergen , , , Norway Owing to the speed and surprise achieved by the