The Capture of Arendal occurred on 9 April 1940 and saw the German torpedo boat Greif land a force of bicycle troops and seize an invasion beachhead at the Norwegian port town of Arendal. The main aim of the landing, part of the German invasion of Norway, was to sever the undersea telegraph cable between Arendal and the United Kingdom. While the initial German occupation of Arendal took place without serious incident, panic broke out the following day and led to many civilians abandoning the town, following unfounded rumours of an incoming British bomber raid.