Hvalen incident

The German ship fired a light bomb towards Hvalen while it was still within Swedish territorial waters.^[3] The light bomb was met with confusion by the crew of Hvalen who thought that it was some sort of signal to the other auxiliary cruisers and therefore simply slowed down to avoid it.^[1] However, the ship continued its bombardment.^[2][4][5] Captain Zander made numerous attempts to show the cruiser that they weren't a threat but to no avail.^[1] Seeing no other option, Zander ordered Flag Officer Sellin, who was the one with the most experience serving on Hvalen, out on deck to make the Swedish flag more visible so that the attack ship would be aware that it was firing upon a neutral vessel.^[1][3]

While Sellin was working with the flag out on deck, the splatter from a projectile hit Sellin in the back, critically injuring him. By the time the eighth projectile had been fired, the German gunner Kreuger noted that the ship's cannon was no longer functional.^[1][3] The auxiliary cruiser thus decided to ram into Hvalen when bombardment was proved to no longer an option. However, while on their way to ram Hvalen, the Germans eventually spotted the Swedish flag when they had come within a couple of hundred meters of the submarine.^[1] Realizing their mistake, the German captain signaled a request to come on board Hvalen which Captain Zander declined the offer choosing to instead immediately return to Ystad while the German ship continued eastward.^[1][3]

Sellin would later be pronounced dead at the local hospital at Ystad.^[2][5] The Swedish government strongly protested against the border violation and the damages that Germany had inflicted upon Hvalen. Germany sincerely apologized for the incident and was to in any way make up for the damages inflicted on the Swedish Navy.^[1]

In 1933 the German gunner Kreuger and the Swedish under lieutenant Hamilton would go out to dinner where they would discuss the events of that day.^[1]