under the command of alfred schulze-hinrichs, 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. "erich koellner" suffered storm damage en route and lost two men swept overboard. when the destroyers arrived at the ofotfjord, west of narvik, on the early morning of 9 april, the three ships of the 4th flotilla, under the command of commander erich bey, were ordered to land their troops in the herjangsfjord (a northern branch of the ofotfjord) in order to capture a norwegian army armory at elvegårdsmoen. the troops encountered little resistance, but off-loading them was slow because there was only a single wooden pier available. later in the day, "koellner" 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 giese".