Operation Titus I

'Titus I' was a German naval minelaying operation by the light cruiser Nürnberg (13 January 1945).

After an uneventful period in Norwegian waters, on 27 April 1943 Nürnberg departed Narvik for German waters via Trondheim and, after arriving in Kiel on 3 May, was then taken in hand for her machinery to be overhauled. After this the work had been completed at a time late in May, the light cruiser was assigned to the naval training squadron in the Baltic Sea. The inevitable frequency of crew changes now kept the ship at a very low state of readiness, and though she remained in this duty through 1944, she saw no action. She was not assigned to the shore bombardment units that supported the retreating German land forces on the Eastern Front, unlike most of the training squadron’s other ships.

At the start of 1945, Nürnberg was assigned to minelaying duty in the Skaggerak from the based at Oslo in occupied Norway, and from here completed only one minelaying operation, as 'Titus I', on 13 January. The other naval units assigned to the operation included two destroyers, two torpedo boats, and a minelayer; Nürnberg herself carried 130 mines. Severe fuel shortages prevented any further operations.

On 24 January, Nürnberg made a short passage to the south to reach Copenhagen in German-occupied Denmark, where she remained until the end of the war as she had only 270 tons of synthetic fuel in her bunkers. On 5 May 1945, she received the ceasefire order, and on 22 May, two British ships (the heavy cruiser Devonshire and light anti-aircraft cruiser Dido arrived to assume control of Nürnberg.