Naval battle fought during the Second World War
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 the Second World War. A German squadron under "Vizeadmiral" Günther Lütjens consisting of the battleships and met and engaged a British squadron under Admiral Sir William Whitworth consisting of the battlecruiser and nine destroyers. After a short engagement, "Gneisenau" suffered moderate damage and the Germans withdrew.
Background.
"Kriegsmarine".
Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Norway, began on 9 April 1940. To prevent any disruption of the invasion by the British, the "Kriegsmarine" had 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 and ten 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.
The German force consisted of the two s, 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 British destroyers were outranged and the German firepower was greater. The German force also held a speed advantage over "Renown", having a top speed of to the of "Renown" but was slower than the destroyers, which could steam at . Lütjens held an advantage over "Renown", though the German force was significantly vulnerable to attack from the destroyers.
Royal Navy.
Whitworth's force consisted of the battlecruiser "Renown" and the nine remaining destroyers. , , , and were H-class destroyers, was an E-class destroyer and , and were of the . was of the G class. "Renown" had been 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) guns 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 had two guns each. "Greyhound" and the H-class destroyers were more capable ships, 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.
Prelude.
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 manoeuvre into the North Atlantic. As "Admiral Hipper" left, she met and engaged the British destroyer which had become separated from Whitworth's force. Though Lütjens—and the two German battleships—was nearby, their assistance was deemed unnecessary, and "Admiral Hipper" sank "Glowworm", though suffering some damage in return. Whitworth's main force then caught sight of "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" at 03:30 on 9 April and moved to engage the battleships.
Battle.
At 03:50, "Gneisenau" sighted "Renown" on its radar (but failed to identify her) and the German ships cleared for action. Due to poor weather, neither side was able to engage until 04:05, as heavy seas and poor visibility prevented the two squadrons from closing within range. "Renown" began the action by opening fire on "Gneisenau" with her 15-inch guns. The German warships replied at 04:11 with "Gneisenau" obtaining 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 and a third a little later. The hits damaged "Gneisenau" on the director tower forward range finders and aft turret putting it out of action, a port anti-aircraft gun was also hit. "Renown" then transferred fire to "Scharnhorst", which had moved to hide "Gneisenau" with smoke. Both German ships suffered damage from the heavy seas as they sought to avoid "Renown"'s fire and both suffered serious electrical problems in their turrets as a result, resulting in a reduced rate of fire. "Renown" suffered some damage to her starboard bulge from the rough seas and firing of her guns, limiting speed. The early salvos were sporadic and lasted until 05:00, when the engagement was broken off for 20 minutes due to waves breaking over "Renown"'s forward turrets as the German ships headed directly into the storm to escape. By this time "Renown"'s destroyer escort had fallen back due to the severe weather and "Scharnhorst" started to suffer radar problems at about 04:20.
At 05:20, the action resumed, with ineffectual fire coming from both sides. With both ships damaged by their speed through the storm, "Gneisenau" missing a turret and "Scharnhorst"'s radar out of action, as well as fearing a torpedo attack on "Gneisenau", the Germans increased their speed and disengaged at 06:15. The Germans mistook Whitworth's smaller vessels for much more powerful capital ships and as a result thought they were substantially outgunned. Damaged and 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. With her damaged bulge and the problems of firing forwards into a storm, "Renown" was forced to break off the search, instead moving to cut off the ships should they turn round. "Renown" fired 230 fifteen-inch and one thousand and sixty-five 4.5-inch rounds during the action, while "Scharnhorst" fired a hundred and eighty-two 11-inch rounds and "Gneisenau" fifty-four 11-inch rounds.
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, 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 rendezvoused with "Admiral Hipper" on 11 April near Trondheim. From there, they returned to Germany, reaching Wilhelmshaven on 12 April where the battle and weather damage to "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" was repaired.
Citations.
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