[4][1][3] During the early years of the war, Denmark had been known as the model protectorate, earning the nickname the Cream Front (German: Sahnefront), due to the relative ease of the occupation and copious amount of dairy products.

[8] Vice Admiral Hans-Heinrich Wurmbach [de], the senior German naval officer in Denmark, was opposed to the plan.

[8] The situation in Denmark deteriorated over the summer; on 28 July a Danish worker bombed a German freighter at the Odense shipyard.

[9] The Germans resolved at a late stage to disarm the Danish Navy; Wurmbach was unable to inform his subordinates of the operation until 16 August.

[11] The objective of the operation was simultaneously to capture and disarm the entire Danish military, to prevent them from assisting a possible Allied invasion.

[18] Of the fifty-two vessels in the Danish Navy on 29 August, two were in Greenland, thirty-two were scuttled, four reached Sweden and fourteen were taken undamaged by the Germans.

[25] Vice Admiral Vedel continued his service as Director of the Ministry of the Navy in the permanent secretaries' administration until liberation in 1945.

The soldiers that escaped to Sweden created the Danish Brigade in Exile, where they trained until the end of the war and returned to fight during the liberation.

He praised the scuttling of the navy and the resignation of the government during Operation Safari, asserting that the actions elevated the Allies' opinions of Denmark.