Battle of The North Cape - Battle

Battle

The following day, in poor weather and heavy seas and with only minimal Luftwaffe reconnaissance to aid him, Rear Admiral Bey was unable to locate the convoy. Thinking he had overshot the enemy, he detached his destroyers and sent them southward to increase the search area. Admiral Fraser, preparing for a German attack, had diverted the returning empty convoy RA 55A northward, out of the area in which it was expected, and ordered JW 55B to reverse course, to allow him to close. He later ordered four of the destroyers with RA 55A; HMS Matchless, HMS Musketeer, Opportune and Virago, to detach and join him.

The now unescorted Scharnhorst encountered Burnett's Force 1 shortly after 09:00. At a distance of nearly 13,000 yd (12,000 m), the British cruisers opened fire and Scharnhorst responded with her own salvoes. While no hits were scored on the cruisers, the German battlecruiser was struck twice, with one shell destroying the radar controls and leaving Scharnhorst virtually blind in a mounting snowstorm. Without radar, gunners aboard the battlecruiser were forced to aim at the enemy's muzzle flashes. This was made more difficult because two of the British cruisers were using a new flashless propellant, leaving Norfolk the relatively easier target. Bey, believing he had engaged a battleship, turned south in an attempt to distance himself from the pursuers and perhaps draw them away from the convoy.

Once he had shaken off his pursuers, Bey turned northeast in an attempt to circle round them. Burnett, instead of giving chase in sea conditions that were limiting his cruisers' speed to 24 kn (28 mph; 44 km/h), positioned Force 1 so as to protect the convoy. It was a decision that he had some personal doubts about and which was criticised in some quarters but supported by Fraser, but to Burnett's relief, shortly after noon Scharnhorst approached the cruisers once more. As fire was again exchanged, Scharnhorst scored hits on Norfolk, disabling a turret and her radar. Following this exchange, Bey decided to return to port, while he ordered the destroyers to attack the convoy at a position reported by a U-Boat. The reported position was out of date and the destroyers missed the convoy.

Scharnhorst ran south for several hours. Burnett pursued, but both Sheffield and Norfolk suffered engine problems and dropped back, leaving Belfast dangerously exposed for a while. The lack of working radar aboard Scharnhorst prevented the Germans from taking advantage of the situation, allowing Belfast to reacquire the German ship on her radar set.

Meanwhile, the battleship Duke of York, with her four escorting destroyers already pressing ahead to try to get into torpedo launching positions, had been informed of Belfast's contact and they themselves soon picked up Scharnhorst on radar at 16:15 and were manoeuvring to bring a full broadside to bear. At 16:17 Scharnhorst was detected by Duke of Yorks' Type 273 radar at a range of 45,500 yards (41,500m) and by 16:32 Duke of York's Type 284 radar indicated that the range had closed to 29,700 yards (27,700m).

At 16:48, Belfast fired star shells to illuminate Scharnhorst. Scharnhorst, unprepared with her turrets trained fore and aft, was clearly visible from Duke of York. Duke of York opened fire at a range of 11,920 yd (10,900 m) and scored a hit on the first salvo disabling Scharnhorst's foremost turrets ("Anton" and "Bruno") while another salvo destroyed the ship's aeroplane hangar. Bey turned north, but was engaged by the cruisers Norfolk and Belfast, and turned east at a high speed of 31 kn (36 mph; 57 km/h).

Bey was able to put some more distance between Scharnhorst and the British ships to increase his prospects of success. Scharnhorst also put two 11 in (280 mm) shells through Duke of York's masts severing a vital radar cable, but these hits could not have been known to Bey, and his ship's fortunes took a dramatic turn for the worse at 18:20 when a shell fired by Duke of York at extreme range, pierced her armour belt and destroyed the No. 1 boiler room. Scharnhorst's speed dropped to only 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h), and though immediate repair work allowed it to regain to 22 kn (25 mph; 41 km/h), Scharnhorst was now vulnerable to the attacks of the destroyers. Five minutes later, Bey sent his final radio message to the German naval command: "We will fight on until the last shell is fired."

At 18:50, Scharnhorst turned to starboard to engage the destroyers Savage and Saumarez, but this allowed Scorpion and the Norwegian destroyer Stord to attack, scoring one hit on the starboard side. As Scharnhorst continued to turn to avoid the torpedoes, Savage and Saumarez scored three hits on her port side. Saumarez was hit several times by Scharnhorst's secondary armament and suffered eleven killed and eleven wounded.

Due to the torpedo hits, Scharnhorst's speed again fell to 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h), allowing Duke of York to rapidly close the range. With Scharnhorst illuminated by starshells "hanging over her like a chandelier", Duke of York and Jamaica resumed fire, at a range of only 10,400 yd (9,500 m). At 19:15, Belfast joined in from the north. The British vessels subjected the German ship to a deluge of shells, and the cruisers Jamaica and Belfast fired their remaining torpedoes at the slowing target. Scharnhorst's end came when the British destroyers Opportune, Virago, Musketeer and Matchless fired a further 19 torpedoes at her. Wracked with hits and unable to flee, Scharnhorst finally capsized and sank at 19:45 on 26 December, her propellers still turning, at an estimated position of 72°16′N 28°41′E / 72.267°N 28.683°E / 72.267; 28.683. She was later identified and filmed at 72°31′N 28°15′E / 72.517°N 28.25°E / 72.517; 28.25Coordinates: 72°31′N 28°15′E / 72.517°N 28.25°E / 72.517; 28.25. Of her total complement of 1,968, only 36 were pulled from the frigid waters, 30 by Scorpion and six by Matchless. Neither Rear Admiral Bey nor Captain Hintze were among those rescued, although both were reported seen in the water after the ship sank, nor were any other officers. Scorpion tried to rescue Bey but he foundered. Fraser ordered the force to proceed to Murmansk, making a signal to the Admiralty: "Scharnhorst sunk", to which the reply came: "Grand, well done".