 The ship was allocated to Group 1 for the Norwegian portion of Operation Weserübung . The group 's task was to transport the 139th Mountain Infantry Regiment ( 139 . Gebirgsjäger Regiment ) and the headquarters of the 3rd Mountain Division ( 3 . Gebirgs @-@ Division ) to seize Narvik . The ships began loading troops on 6 April and sailed the next day . Giese fell behind the rest of Group 1 as the result of oil leaks , machinery breakdowns , and contaminated fuel oil . She fell further behind when Lieutenant Commander ( Korvettenkapitän ) Karl Smidt turned the ship about to recover a soldier who had been washed overboard by the high seas . Giese had little usable fuel left by this time and was forced to continue at a slower speed to conserve fuel . When the ship arrived at her destination on 9 April , she landed her troops in the Herjangsfjord ( a northern branch of the Ofotfjord ) to reinforce the other troops previously landed there in order to capture the Norwegian Army armory at Elvegårdsmoen . Later in the day , Erich Giese moved to Narvik harbor , but was not able to refuel before she was ordered to return to the Herjangsfjord well before dawn together with her sisters Wolfgang Zenker and Erich Koellner . 
