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Battle of North Cape
The Battle of the North Cape was a naval engagement between Allied and German forces off the northern tip of Norway that took place on 26 December 1943 and resulted in the sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst. The battle was part of the larger Arctic Campaign in which German submarines, surface vessels, and aircraft attempted to interdict Allied supply convoys crossing the Arctic Circle en route to far-north Russian ports like Murmansk and Archangelsk.
Most Allied convoy losses resulted from German U-boat attacks, but German surface raiders also took a significant toll. In addition to patrolling the North Atlantic and providing naval support of German operations in Denmark and Norway, Scharnhorst had been conducting raids on Allied convoys since shortly after the outbreak of the war in 1939. Sometimes operating alone and sometimes in tandem with other German capital warships such as Gneisenau or Tirpitz, Scharnhorst was responsible for sinking or damaging numerous Allied naval and merchant marine vessels.
Early in 1943, Scharnhorst was specifically tasked with the interdiction of Russia-bound convoys in Arctic waters. The British devised a plan to destroy Scharnhorst by using one of those convoys as bait to lure her into battle against a superior naval force. On 22 December 1943, Scharnhorst received a report from German reconnaissance aircraft that a 20-ship convoy (Convoy JW-55B, consisting mostly of British vessels), escorted by some cruisers and destroyers, had been spotted moving northeast through the Norwegian Sea about 460 miles west of Tromso.
On the morning of 25 December, a U-boat confirmed the convoy’s course and speed, and reported that it was approaching Norway’s North Cape. Early that evening, Scharnhorst sailed from port with a screening force of five destroyers and headed out to intercept the convoy, planning to attack it mid-morning of 26 December. Six U-boats were also tracking the convoy.
The British had been monitoring radio communications between Scharnhorst and German Fleet Command and so were aware of Scharnhorst’s movement and intentions. The battleship HMS Duke of York, cruiser HMS Jamaica, and four more destroyers were moved into the area and positioned to the rear of Scharnhorst’s expected line of approach to the convoy in order to cut off the battleship’s potential avenue of retreat. Scharnhorst’s commander did not know that his attack plan had been discovered and that a net was being set to close around his ship.
Shortly before 09:00 on 26 December, Scharnhorst was spotted on HMS Belfast’s radar. British ships closed with Scharnhorst and less than an hour later, before she could attack the convoy, HMS Belfast and HMS Norfolk opened fire on her, resulting in severe damage to the German battleship’s radar. Partially blinded by that damage, Scharnhorst disengaged and retreated to the south. In mid-afternoon, her commander decided to return to port and ordered his screening destroyers to do likewise. But steaming southwest later that afternoon, Scharnhorst encountered the waiting Duke of York, which opened fire on her along with HMS Jamaica. Presently, other British cruisers and destroyers arrived on the scene and joined the attack. Throughout the next few hours, Scharnhorst was heavily shelled and repeatedly torpedoed by Allied naval units. Finally, at about 19:45 on 26 December, she sank beneath the waves, taking more than 1,900 of her crew with her. There were only 36 survivors.
Allied ships directly participating in the attack on Scharnhorst included:
- HMS Duke of York
- HMS Belfast
- HMS Norfolk
- HMS Jamaica
- HMS Sheffield
- HMS Scorpion
- HMS Savage
- HMS Saumarez
- HMS Opportune
- HMS Virago
- HMS Musketeer
- HMS Matchless
- HNoMS Stord (a British-built destroyer transferred to the Norwegian Navy in August 1943)
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Those known to have fought in Battle of North Cape during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Ford Harold Edward . Sub-Lt.
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Sub-Lt. Harold Edward Ford HMS Duke of York My father, Harold Ford, served on Arctic convoys. He was on HMS Duke of York when she and other naval units sank the German battleship Scharnhorst on Boxing Day 26th of December 1943 during the Battle of the North Cape.
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