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Action off Lofoten

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Action off Lofoten
Part of theNorwegian Campaignof theSecond World War

The capital ships that fought during the action off Lofoten:Scharnhorst(top),HMSRenown(middle), andGneisenau(bottom).
Date9 April 1940
Location
offLofoten,Norway
Result British victory
Belligerents
Nazi GermanyKriegsmarine United KingdomRoyal Navy
Commanders and leaders
Nazi GermanyGünther Lütjens United KingdomSirWilliam Whitworth
Strength
2battleships 1battlecruiser
9destroyers
Casualties and losses
2 battleships damaged
6 killed		 1 battlecruiser slightly damaged
2 killed

Theaction off Lofotenwas anaval battlefought between the GermanKriegsmarineand theBritishRoyal Navyoff the southern coast of theLofoten Islands,Norwayduring theSecond World War.A GermansquadronunderVizeadmiralGünther Lütjensconsisting of thebattleshipsScharnhorstandGneisenaumet and engaged a British squadron underAdmiralSirWilliam Whitworthconsisting of thebattlecruiserHMSRenownand ninedestroyers.After a short engagement,Gneisenausuffered moderate damage and the Germans withdrew.

Background[edit]

Kriegsmarine[edit]

Operation Weserübung,the German invasion ofNorway,began on 9 April 1940. To prevent any disruption of the invasion by the British, theKriegsmarinehad dispatched a force under Vice Admiral Günther Lütjens to protect the troopconvoylanding atNarvik.The German squadron consisted of the battleshipsScharnhorstandGneisenau,theheavy cruiserAdmiral Hipperand 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 toneutralNorwegian waters by layingminesinOperation Wilfredand prevent any German naval movements into theAtlantic Ocean.[1]

The German force consisted of the twoScharnhorst-class battleships,each with a main battery of nine28.3 cm gunsand a secondary battery of twelve15 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 overRenown,having a top speed of 32knots(59 km/h; 37 mph) to the 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) ofRenownbut was slower than the destroyers, which could steam at 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).[2]Lütjens held an advantage overRenown,though the German force was significantly vulnerable to attack from the destroyers.[3]

Royal Navy[edit]

British and German naval movements off Norway between 7 and 9 April 1940.

Whitworth's force consisted of the battlecruiserRenownand the nine remaining destroyers.HMSHotspur,Hardy,Havock,andHunterwereH-class destroyers,HMSEskwas anE-class destroyerandHMSIvanhoe,IcarusandImpulsivewere of theI class.HMSGreyhoundwas of the G class.Renownhad been reconstructed between 1936 and 1939, with lighter machinery, increased armour and upgraded armament. She mounted a main battery of six 42-calibre15-inch gunswith 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 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns each.Greyhoundand the H-class destroyers were more capable ships, each armed with eighttorpedo tubesand four 4.7-inch guns. Of the H-class destroyers,Hardywas built as a destroyer leader and thus had an additional 4.7-inch gun.[2]

Prelude[edit]

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 Hipperand the German destroyers were dispatched to Narvik while the Germancapital shipsheaded north for a diversionary manoeuvre into the North Atlantic. AsAdmiral Hipperleft, she met and engaged the British destroyerHMSGlowwormwhich had become separated from Whitworth's force.[4]Though Lütjens—and the two German battleships—was nearby, their assistance was deemed unnecessary, andAdmiral HippersankGlowworm,though suffering some damage in return.[5]Whitworth's main force then caught sight ofScharnhorstandGneisenauat 03:30 on 9 April and moved to engage the battleships.[6]

Battle[edit]

At 03:50,GneisenausightedRenownon 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.[2]Renownbegan the action by opening fire onGneisenauwith her 15-inch guns. The German warships replied at 04:11 withGneisenauobtaining two hits onRenownwith 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,RenownstruckGneisenauwith two shells and a third a little later.[7]The hits damagedGneisenauon the director tower forward range finders and aft turret putting it out of action, a port anti-aircraft gun was also hit.Renownthen transferred fire toScharnhorst,which had moved to hideGneisenauwith smoke. Both German ships suffered damage from the heavy seas as they sought to avoidRenown's fire and both suffered serious electrical problems in their turrets as a result, resulting in a reduced rate of fire.[8]Renownsuffered some damage to her starboard bulge from the rough seas and firing of her guns, limiting speed.[9]The early salvos were sporadic and lasted until 05:00, when the engagement was broken off for 20 minutes due to waves breaking overRenown's forward turrets as the German ships headed directly into the storm to escape.[10][11]By this timeRenown's destroyer escort had fallen back due to the severe weather andScharnhorststarted to suffer radar problems at about 04:20.[12]

At 05:20, the action resumed, with ineffectual fire coming from both sides.[13]With both ships damaged by their speed through the storm,Gneisenaumissing a turret andScharnhorst's radar out of action, as well as fearing atorpedoattack onGneisenau,the Germans increased their speed and disengaged at 06:15.[14][15]The Germans mistook Whitworth's smaller vessels for much more powerful capital ships and as a result thought they were substantially outgunned.[16]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 theArctic Ocean.[17]With her damaged bulge and the problems of firing forwards into a storm,Renownwas forced to break off the search, instead moving to cut off the ships should they turn round.Renownfired 230 fifteen-inch and one thousand and sixty-five 4.5-inch rounds during the action, whileScharnhorstfired a hundred and eighty-two 11-inch rounds andGneisenaufifty-four 11-inch rounds.[18]

Aftermath[edit]

Despite the Royal Navy winning a minor tactical victory over theKriegsmarine,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 toNarvikafter destroying two Norwegiancoastal defence shipsin their path.[16]After their engagement withRenown,the German battleships rendezvoused withAdmiral Hipperon 11 April near Trondheim. From there, they returned to Germany, reaching Wilhelmshaven on 12 April where the battle and weather damage toScharnhorstandGneisenauwas repaired.[19][20]

See also[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^O'Hara 2004, p. 17.
  2. ^abcO'Hara 2004, p. 22.
  3. ^Lunde 2009, p. 112.
  4. ^Miller 1995, p. 59.
  5. ^Miller 1995, p. 60.
  6. ^Miller 1995, p. 62.
  7. ^Haarr, pp. 310–311.
  8. ^Haarr, pp. 312–313.
  9. ^Smith 2008, pp. 68–69.
  10. ^Garzke 1985, p. 135.
  11. ^Edwards 1995, p. 101
  12. ^"HMS Renown".Naval-history.net.
  13. ^Lienau, Peter (22 October 1999)."The Working Environment for German Warship design in WWI and WWII".Naval Weapons of the World.Retrieved19 December2015.
  14. ^Smith 2008, p. 70.
  15. ^"HMS Renown".Naval-history.net.
  16. ^abMiller 1995, p. 63.
  17. ^Garzke 1985, p. 137.
  18. ^Haarr, pp. 312–313.
  19. ^Garzke 1985, p. 137, 157
  20. ^Haarr, p. 316.

References[edit]

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