The Battle of North Cape, 1943: The Icy Death of Battleship Scharnhorst

[Music] it was a frigid December night in the Arctic sea aboard the Shan host the forecast of harsh weather had everyone on edge battling Fierce winds and towering waves the German battleship pressed on its crew risking detection with every radio transmission despite the severe conditions they sailed northward determined to intercept an Allied Convoy unbeknownst to the crew aboard shanor British intelligence had decrypted their Communications and Admiral Bruce Fraser's forces were converging as Dawn broke Shan host Advanced unaware that British Cruisers equipped with radar were positioning themselves between the German battleship and the Convoy the storm raged and the battle was about to begin this month my wife and I been redecorating our home the mg Globe has become the crown jewel of my study where I write and animate these documentaries for House of history from their distinctive Graphics to their advanced technology it only takes one look to realize M Globes are something special imagine a globe that gracefully rotates powered purely by ambient light with hidden magnets resulting in smooth battery-free movement no batteries no messy cords just pure magic each Globe features a highquality acrylic outer shell that stays still while an inner layer spins using Advanced magnets and solar cells for power with over 40 designs in three different sizes from intricate world maps to NASA outer space Graphics there's a mover Globe for every Explorer these Globes make the perfect gift for the person who has everything elevate your space and Spark curios visit the link in the description discover the collection and enjoy 10% off mover Globes with our exclusive code history 10 following Germany's Swift invasion of Norway in April 1940 the country's Naval bases played an important role especially after Germany's launch of operation Barbarosa the invasion of the Soviet Union the following year as the all initiated Arctic Supply convoys to support the Red Army Germany mobilized its powerful albeit modest surface Fleet to intercept and Destroy these convoys one of the most famous of these warships was the schlak Shi shanor a symbol of Nazi Germany's Naval Ambitions and Engineering prowess named after Prussian General ghard shanor it boasted impressive specifications exceeding 31 knots displacing nearly 40,000 000 tons fully loaded and accommodating over 19900 officers and Men armed with 9 11-in guns and robust armor it was designed as a Commerce Raider possessing considerable speed and endurance decisions made a decade earlier left shanor with inadequate 28 CM guns instead of the unavailable 38 CM there remains some debate over its classification as either a battleship or a battle cruiser as its potential as a naval asset was hindered by compromises including the lighter main battery shanor launched in 1936 participated in early War operations sinking HMS raal pindiy in 1939 in April 1940 she supported the invasions of narvik and Trondheim during operation vasar ruong engaging HMS Renown during operation in June 1940 shanor and her sister ship Gau sank HMS glorious and her escorts sustaining torpedo damage in early 1942 shanor executed operation Cerberus a daring Dash through the English Channel she faced damage from British bombings and mines requiring repairs that limited its operational capacity in February 1942 a British air strike against Keel Harbor permanently disabled gisen now leaving shanor as the primary operational vessel in early January 1943 Shan host returned to service after extensive repairs and trials she successfully sailed to Norway despite severe storms arriving on 14th of March most of Germany's surface Fleet had been knocked out by this point of the war with only the turits and shanor surviving as powerful Naval assets in that region together with battle ship turits shanor was utilized to disrupt Arctic convoys however the Allies were well aware of the danger these battleships posed to their convoys in September 1943 the British launched a raid using x-class submarines to attack German warships in Northern Norway turits was severely damaged during operation Source the damage was so severe she was disabled for 6 months this meant shanor was the only operational battleship in the north and Germany's best chance at disrupting Allied convoys in November 1943 conter Admiral Eric Bay was appointed as the commander of the Creeks marinees fourth Destroyer flotilla and assumed responsibility of squadrons raiding against Arctic convoys he soon realized the Allies had restarted their convoys to the Soviet Union and in December a Luft buffer reconnaissance aircraft reported a convoy based on this information the shanor the only available syrius warship began preparing for its duty to intercept these convoys a British Convoy protected by a robust escort was indeed sailing towards Russia meanwhile a westbound Convoy successfully evaded German detection the British admiralty prepared for potential German actions positioning Cruiser forces along the Route ready to support the convoys if a major surface engagement in ued Force 2 led by the battleship HMS Duke of York under Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser set sail from aurer in Iceland suspecting a potential sorty by the shanor he had to Traverse a much further distance than shanor to reach the Convoy and at its top speed his Flagship sailed at 28 knots 4 knots slower than shanor understanding his precarious situation he broke radio silence and contacted a cruiser Force further east commanded by vice admiral Joseph Bernett to rendevu German commanders deliberated but faced uncertainty on Christmas Day Admiral dunitz gave the green light to attack that evening Shan host and five destroyers led by rear Admiral Bay began operation ostfront maneuvering in Alford Ba's instructions were to exploit Tactical advantages and attack decisively however Bay was cautioned to disengage if faced with a superior enemy as the British Convoy made its perilous Journey towards Russia German Naval intelligence mistakenly believed that the powerful HMS Duke of York and its escorting destroyers had returned to Britain with the empty Convoy this assumption LED them to underestimate the threat posed by Admiral Fraser's Force which remained in the baren sea despite receiving ambiguous signals regarding a possible British covering Force as the Germans likely intercepted the radio message phraser sent to Bernett headquarters at Navy Group North deemed the information unreliable and did not pass it on to Admiral Bay who was at Sea leading the operation at 8:00 p.m. shanor received a forecast of harsh weather prompting baay to radio his superiors risking detection desite severe conditions the German Force continued battling rough seas and strong winds sailing North with his Force he dispatched his destroyers to the West in order to increase his chances of catching the Convoy meanwhile Admiral Fraser received confirmation of the German sorty through British intelligence decrypting German radio Transmissions severe weather conditions including gale force winds and limited visibility comp compounded the difficulties faced by both sides the German destroyers less capable in rough Seas than their British counterparts struggled to maintain course losing contact with ba who was virtually on his own sailing North as Dawn broke Shan host Advanced northward to intercept the Convoy while unbeknownst to him Admiral Bernett Cruisers and Admiral frasers Force One were converging on the German battleship from the West and East Burnett's Cruisers equipped with radar detected shanor and maneuvered to position themselves between the German battleship and the Convoy Bay's Force continued sailing in harsh weather struggling to locate the Convoy based on outdated reconnaissance at 7:30 a.m. Shan host went to action stations as baay figured the Convoy was close by in fact the Convoy was 100 km Northeast a ing detection soon after as shanor searched northward star shells from Bernett Cruisers Belfast Sheffield and Norfolk illuminated the area Bernett Cruisers armed with only 6-in guns were left to confront shanor alone until reinforcements arrived norfol positioned ahead fired six salvos hitting shanor twice and catching Bay by surprise the three Cruisers attacked from the north as Bernett had crossed shanor te to position his Cruiser Squadron between the Convoy and the Germans despite being unable to visually spot the light Cruisers due to their use of flashless cordite powder shanor returned fire without success she made smoke to prevent more hits as its crew assessed the damage berett Cruisers then maneuvered to position themselves between shanor and the Convoy she turned away to the southeast to disengage one of the hits damaged Shan host's radar antenna mechanics soon concluded it could not be prepared leaving the shanor virtually blind in an already dangerous sea sailing without radar gave British ships a tactical Advantage Shan host soon disappeared Beyond radar contact they then decided to change course and sail back North hoping to inter intercept the Convoy from the other direction Ba's decision to sail North forced Bernett into a difficult position as maintaining contact with the rapidly moving shanor was challenging with shanor nearing the Convoy's maximum range Bernett chose to converge with Fraser and the Convoy prioritizing its protection as shanor continued its Advance northeastward Admiral Bay having lost contact with his destroyers attempted to regroup them but to no avail the German destroyers too far separated from shanor were unable to catch up and never reunited with the flagship throughout the tense morning with daylight barely penetrating the Arctic Darkness shanor pressed onward in search of the Convoy meanwhile Bernett joined by the convoys escorting destroyers maintained a Vigilant watch ahead preparing to defend against any further threats from the German battleship despite potential misgivings Bay received orders urging him to prioritize striking a blow against the Convoy the Germans were close to the Cruisers range just before 12:30 all of Bennett's Cruisers Unleashed a Barrage at a range of roughly 9,000 M prompting shanor to retaliate targeting HMS norfol due to her visibility Shan's initial Salvo hit norfol directly one of her 8-in gun turrets was destroyed seven crewman were killed instantly and five seriously wounded the British Cruisers continued relentlessly bombarding shanor inflicting enormous damage a shell hit one of the battles ship's turrets reducing its Firepower as the British ships closed in Admiral Bay recognized the UN un tenable situation and ordered a retreat to the southeast the battle had lasted no more than 20 minutes thanks to his Superior speed ba was able to get out of range soon enough from a distance benet's Cruisers kept trailing the battleship amidst the respite Shan host's crew replenished their strength but B remained cautious on the bridge mechanical issues caused Burnett's Cruisers to fall behind with eventually only HMS Belfast effectively shadowing shanor ba was unaware of his pursuer being heavily outgunned Instead at roughly 12:40 p.m. he radioed and reported that he aborted the mission he planned to return to Port safely his Destroyer Squadron was much further north unable to find the Convoy the they too returned to Port where they would arrive unscathed as Darkness fell the Sha host was closing in on their Safe Port at the Alton F the mission had been a disaster but fortunately they survived relatively unscathed unbeknownst to them Fraser's Duke of York closed in on shanor her radar tracking the enemy's approach despite the urge to fire Fraser waited for the optimal moment ensuring shanor couldn't outrun his Battleship at 1650 Belfast suddenly fired star shells to illuminate its position then two enormous explosions rocked the German battleships deck at a range of 11 km Fraser had given the order to open fire ba was taken by surprise when Battleship Duke of York and Jamaica suddenly Unleashed their Firepower their precision causing Havoc Fraser had managed to rout his Force 2 Squadron and intercept the shanor just as it thought it was safe its broken cacked radar prevented the Germans from realizing they were sailing right into an ambush it was Duke of York's initial 14in Salvo which hit shor's forward turret and quarter deck within minutes most of the ship was covered in Smoke and its forward turret was disabled Jamaica's subsequent Salvo added to the onslaught igniting fires that spread after prompting emergency measures to prevent explosions shanor turned to the southeast in an attempt to evade the Ambush it was dark and the only way shanor was able to orient its guns was by aiming it towards the naval gun flashes in the distance Shan host's retaliatory shells shook Duke of York's Bridge spraying the crew with water as shanor attempted to outrun her attackers her shells sliced through Duke of York's masts without detonating one strike severed crucial radar wires jeopardizing Gunnery control still another Salvo by Duke of York hit two of Shan host's turrets sustaining nearly crippling damage shanor continued to the east attempting to evade her pursuers shanor was faster than all British ships and it appeared like ba would be able to evade them but one of the previously fired shells damaged the boiler more than Fraser knew and although she had the Brits at a speed Advantage this rapidly began dwindling before too long Shan host was cruising at 20 knots tops and her pursuers caught up among the first to reach the battleship were Fraser's destroyers battling the tempestuous Seas as shanos speed faltered they approached for a torpedo attack in a final assault Savage sarez Scorpion and Stor launched torpedos with some finding their Mark as shanor attempted to evade them in total 28 Torpedoes were launched of which at least four hit the vessel then Duke of York and Jamaica came within range again German Sailors from the crippled turrets carried the heavy 11in shells to the only working turret but the British ships launched A Renewed bombardment igniting massive fires and incapacitating Shan horse's remaining turret with her fate sealed Shan host's crew continued to fight on but her speed dwindled to a crawl for almost an hour All Ships launched their Torpedoes and guns against the crippled Battleship then as Belfast closed in for another strike a colossal explosion heralded the end of the German Battleship engulfing her in flames and smoke Shan host lay defeated as she capsized as a smoldering wreck in total Duke of York fired no less than 446 shells from her heavy guns and 700 from its secondary Armament the British Cruisers fired over 1,000 shells all together Allied ships including destroyers Belfast and Norfolk began conducting rescue operations in the freezing bar SE retrieving only 36 survivors amidst the bitter cold over 1900 men perished with the sunken vessel including Admiral Bay Admiral Fraser commended Burnett's leadership acknowledging the successful engagement and signaling a respite from further threats he also made specific mention to his crew that the Shan host and its crew fought valiantly and he hoped that if the roles were reversed his men would fight as tenaciously as the German Sailors they had just beaten with Shan's demise the Peril posed by German battleships to the Russian Convoy routes finally ended freeing up Allied resources for other Naval priorities the victory further tipped the scales in favor of the royal Navy in the ongoing battle against OTS marking a significant blow to the German surface Navy and cementing the allies dominance at Sea however within several months the mighty Battleship turits sistership of the bismar was finished in the dockyard for her repairs I created a three-part documentary detailing the entire service history of the tpet and the Allied raids launched against her if you're interested in that make sure to check that out after this video a huge thanks to M globes for making this video possible visit the Link in the description check out their great designs and help out the channel thank you very much for watching this video please leave a like it really helps out the channel if there is a topic battle or person you would like to know more about let me know your thoughts in a comment I would also like to thank all my patrons and channel members for their generous support if you enjoy House of history and you want to support my work consider joining me on patreon for just $1 per month you will already gain early Early Access to all my videos without any inv video advertisements don't forget to subscribe see you next time

Channel: House of History

Views: 108,107

Keywords: House of History, history documentary, history, documentary, animated history, world map history, history maps, animated history maps, Battle of North Cape, North Cape 1943, WWII Naval Battle, World War 2 Navy, Royal Navy vs Kriegsmarine, HMS Duke of York, German Battleship Scharnhorst, Arctic Convoys WWII, Northern Norway WWII, Naval History WWII, Atlantic Theater WWII, WWII Naval Strategy, Winter Warfare WWII, Historic Naval Battles, Naval Combat WWII

Id: ldzK0ws26A8

Length: 21min 6sec (1266 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 22 2024