Kara Sea
On 19 August, the German fleet rounded Cape Zhelaniya and entered the Kara Sea which was fairly free from ice during the short summer. The next day, the Arado Ar 196 seaplane on board Admiral Scheer flew to Kravkova Island in the Mona Islands and spotted three groups of Soviet ships there, with icebreakers Lenin and Krasin among them. Fog and ice floes, however, prevented the German warships from approaching. When they arrived at the Mona Islands, the Russian ships were gone. Then, Admiral Scheer turned northeast and sped towards the Nordenskiöld Archipelago.
Despite this initial setback, on 24 August, U-601 sank the Soviet steamer Kuybyshev (2,332 BRT). On the 25th, Admiral Scheer fell upon the Russian icebreaker Sibiryakov (under the command of Captain Kacharava) right off the northwest coast of Russky Island at the northern end of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago. After putting up resistance, Sibiryakov was sunk in an unequal battle. Looking for Soviet convoys to destroy, Admiral Scheer headed back to the Mona Islands, but not finding any ships there, it sailed again to the Nordenskiöld Archipelago, trying to straddle the two convoy routes coming from the Vilkitsky Strait. Since it was not able to find any more Soviet ships, Admiral Scheer decided to head southeast towards Dikson Island in order to attack the Soviet military installations there. With its powerful guns, it caused random destruction ashore at Dikson and badly damaged the ships Dezhnev and Revolutsioner which lay anchored in the harbour. Finally, on 30 August, Admiral Scheer returned to Narvik.
On 8 September, U-251 surfaced close to Uyedineniya Island and destroyed a Soviet weather station with gunfire.
Read more about this topic: Operation Wunderland