the german destroyers reached the ofotfjord on the morning of 9 april and commodore friedrich bonte took his flagship "wilhelm heidkamp", "bernd von arnim" and "georg thiele" down the fjord to narvik. a heavy snowstorm allowed "von arnim" and "thiele" to enter the harbor without challenge and tie up at a pier. the mountain troops immediately began disembarking, but the ship was spotted by the coast defense ship a few minutes later. the latter ship immediately opened fire and was able to fire approximately 13 shells at range before "von arnim" was able to fire seven torpedoes. only two struck the norwegian ship, but they detonated one or more of the ship's magazines and she immediately capsized and sank. none of the norwegian shells hit either of the two german destroyers due to the darkness and falling snow, despite the short range. "von arnim" lowered boats to rescue the surviving norwegian sailors and was able to pick up 96 men together with boats from the merchantmen in harbor.