text: action off lofoten the action off lofoten was a naval battle fought between the german kriegsmarine and the british royal navy off the southern coast of the lofoten islands , norway during world war ii . a german squadron under vizeadmiral günther lütjens consisting of the battleships scharnhorst and gneisenau met and engaged a british squadron under admiral sir william whitworth consisting of the battlecruiser hms renown and 9 destroyers . after a short engagement , gneisenau suffered moderate damage and the germans withdrew . background the german invasion of norway , operation weserübung , began on 9 april 1940 . in order to prevent any disruption of the invasion by the british , the kriegsmarine had previously dispatched a force under vice admiral günther lütjens to protect the troop convoy landing at narvik . the german squadron consisted of the battleships scharnhorst and gneisenau , the heavy cruiser admiral hipper , and 10 destroyers . with intelligence suggesting that the germans were massing ships , the british sent out a squadron under admiral sir william whitworth to deny german access to neutral norwegian waters by laying mines in operation wilfred and prevent any german naval movements into the atlantic ocean . shortly after departing german waters on 7 april , lütjens ′ force was attacked by british bombers which did no damage to the squadron . on 8 april , admiral hipper and the german destroyers were dispatched to narvik while the german capital ships headed north for a diversionary manoeuver into the north atlantic . as admiral hipper left , she met and engaged the british destroyer hms glowworm which had become separated from admiral whitworth ′ s main force . though vizeadmiral lütjens — and the two german battleships — was nearby , their assistance was deemed unnecessary , and admiral hipper sank glowworm , though taking some damage in return . whitworth ′ s main force then caught sight of the scharnhorst and gneisenau at 03 : 30 on 9 april and moved to engage the battleships . whitworth ′ s force consisted of the battlecruiser renown and the nine remaining destroyers . hms hotspur , hardy , havock , and hunter were " h " -class destroyers while hms esk was an " e " -class destroyer and hms ivanhoe , icarus , and impulsive were of the " i " . hms greyhound was of the " g " class . renown had been completely reconstructed between 1936 and 1939 , with lighter machinery , increased armour and upgraded armament . she mounted a main battery of six 42 - calibre 15 - inch guns with improved shells and greater range and a dual - purpose secondary battery consisting of twenty 4 . 5 inch ( qf 4 . 5 inch l / 45 ) arranged in ten turrets [ the four " i " and " e " -class destroyers had been rigged for mine laying and most of their normal armament had been removed ; they only possessed two 4 . 7 - inch ( 120 mm ) guns each . greyhound and the " h " -class destroyers were more capable ships , with each armed with eight torpedo tubes and four 4 . 7 - inch guns . of the h - class destroyers , hardy was built as a destroyer leader and thus had an additional 4 . 7 - inch gun . the german force consisted of the two scharnhorst - class battleships , each with a main battery of nine 28 . 3 cm guns and a secondary battery of twelve 15 cm guns . in a close range engagement , the british force was superior , but at a distance the guns on whitworth ′ s destroyers were outranged and the german firepower was greater . the german force also held a speed advantage over renown , having a top speed of 32 knots ( 59 km / h ; 37 mph ) to the battlecruiser ′ s 30 knots ( 56 km / h ; 35 mph ) , but was slower than the destroyers , which could steam at 36 knots ( 67 km / h ; 41 mph ) . thus , lütjens clearly held an advantage over renown , though the german force was significantly vulnerable to attack from whitworth ′ s destroyers . battle at 04 : 30 , gneisenau sighted renown on its radar and the german ships cleared for action . due to poor weather conditions , neither side was able to engage the other until 05 : 05 , as heavy seas and poor visibility prevented the two squadrons from closing within range . renown began the action by attacking gneisenau with her 15 - inch guns . the german warships returned fire at 05 : 08 with gneisenau scoring two hits on renown with her 11 inch shells . both shells failed to explode , with the first hitting the british battlecruiser ′ s foremast and the second passing through the ship near the steering gear room . about the same time , renown struck gneisenau with two shells . these hits damaged the german battleship 's director tower , forward range finders , and aft turret . renown then moved her fire to scharnhorst . these early salvos were sporadic and lasted until 06 : 00 , when the engagement was broken off for 20 minutes due to waves breaking over renown ′ s forward turrets . at 06 : 20 , the action reignited , with ineffectual fire coming from both sides . fearing a torpedo attack on the damaged gneisenau , the germans increased their speed and disengaged at 07 : 17 . the german battleships retreated when renown ′ s escorts opened fire , despite the fact that the destroyers ′ guns did not have sufficient range to successfully engage lütjens ′ ships . the germans mistook whitworth ′ s smaller vessels for much more powerful capital ships and as a result thought they were heavily outgunned . determined to steer clear of what he thought was a superior force , lütjens managed to shake off the british squadron and end the action by sailing west into the arctic ocean . aftermath despite the royal navy winning a minor tactical victory over the kriegsmarine , the germans considered the engagement a strategic success due to the fact that whitworth ′ s force was delayed long enough to keep it from interfering with the landings at narvik . after the action had ended , whitworth ′ s force continued to search for the german capital ships . with the british squadron occupied , the german destroyer - transports managed to make their way through to narvik after destroying two norwegian coastal defence ships in their path . after their engagement with renown , the german battleships linked up with admiral hipper on the 11th near trondheim . from there , they returned to germany , reaching wilhelmshaven on 12 april where the damage to gneisenau was repaired .