Led by nine Norwegian commandos trained in Britain, this mission is the centerpiece of the "Heroes" legend. The team skied across the treacherous Hardangervidda plateau in brutal winter conditions, scaled a 600-foot gorge, and infiltrated the plant to blow up the electrolysis chambers.

Realizing the catastrophic potential of a Nazi nuclear weapon, Allied forces launched several high-stakes operations to destroy the plant and its supply lines:

The bravery of these men is credited with significantly delaying—or even preventing—Germany's ability to produce an atomic weapon. Their exploits have been immortalized in several major works:

When the Germans attempted to ship the remaining heavy water stocks to Germany, Norwegian resistance fighters placed a time bomb on the ferry SF Hydro , sinking it in the deep waters of Lake Tinnsjø. Legacy and Media

In the early 1940s, the German nuclear energy project was focused on developing a nuclear reactor and, ultimately, an atomic bomb. To do this, they required (deuterium oxide) as a neutron moderator. At the time, the only industrial-scale producer of heavy water in the world was the Vemork hydroelectric plant in Telemark, Norway.