 The strategic importance of control of Norway and the adjacent Norwegian and Barents seas was recognized by Anglo-American naval planners as early as the First World War.The invasion and Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during World War II confirmed the importance of the region, as Germany was able to establish bases for submarine and air operations against Allied convoys bound for the Soviet seaport of Murmansk.Following the Second World War, several former allied navies executed a number of individual and multinational exercises, including