The Sinking of Scharnhorst, The Battle of North Cape 1943 - Animated

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establishtitles.com forward slash the operations room to get your lordship now the Royal Navy Minesweeper HMS Galena is escorting Convoy JW 55b through the Arctic Circle on route to deliver critical wall supplies to the Soviet Union aboard cleaner are carrying out their duties in freezing temperatures when they hear aircraft engines a German ju-88 bomber is cited high above them the Convoy's leader rear Admiral Boucher radios the news to Admiral Bruce Fraser commander of the home Fleet future is nervous knowing that the reconnaissance aircraft has likely reported his Convoy's location to one of the Creek's Marine's most fearsome warships the modern battle cruiser scharnhorst Amber notes to Boucher this is exactly what Admiral Fraser wants the Convoy is serving as bait to lure Sean horse to its destruction Admiral Fraser sets his plan in motion and force 2 leaves scarper flow on the 23rd of December by the end of 1943 the war in the Arctic Circle has reached a Tipping Point in June of the previous year the mere threat of the battleship terpits encouraged the British admiralty to scatter Convoy pq-17 which ended in debacle for the merchant ships the Allies have diverted massive Naval resources to support the Lend Lease effort to the Soviet Union with the tappets undergoing repairs after multiple British Air Raids scharnhorst is now the only German capital ship operating in the far north aided by Ultra decrypts from Bletchley Park freighter will know exactly when Sean horse will leave to intercept the Convoy and can choose the Battleground accordingly a cruiser Squadron known as false one under the command of rear Admiral Robert Burnett will escort the Convoy from a distance and be the first to engage scharnhorst meanwhile Fraser will approach with the much stronger Force too and destroy the enemy with the guns of his Flagship the King George V class Battleship HMS Duke of York with the sizing of jw55b commander of the scharnhorse battle group rear Admiral Eric Bay and the commander of the kriegs Marine Grand Admiral Carl Donuts are debating their next move luftwaffe reports indicate the British Convoy is slow and extremely vulnerable but a massive winter Gale is expected to sweep the area on Christmas Day severely limiting visibility and threatening bass Destroyer Force Bay is reluctant to restron horse in such a perilous sortie where the Arctic sun will only rise for a couple of hours per day on the other hand Grant Admiral dernitz is facing political pressure from the fuhrer for The Creeks Marine to contribute more to the war effort he is eager to prove the usefulness of the Navy and orders Bay to stand by to launch operation osfront an all-out effort against the Convoy another full day passes as the Convoy rounds the northernmost point of Norway early in the morning on Christmas Day the German submarine u-601 spots the merchantment and relays their position a simple message from dernitz is forwarded to rear Admiral Bay ostron 2512 Bay immediately orders his battle group to prepare for departure after the German Sailors dump their Christmas decorations into the Alton field the modern battle cruiser with five destroyers set sail the German battle group is immediately set upon by the winter storm battering the Arctic sea Bay sends a message to Admiral dernitz saying conditions are very unfavorable significant results cannot be expected therefore proposed cancellation Dennis replies important enemy Convoy carrying supplies and Munitions to the Russians further imperils the heroic struggle of our army on the Eastern Front we must help on Duke of York Admiral Fraser is handed a top secret Ultra signal reading emergency Shawn horse probably sailed rear Admiral Burnett's Cruisers are ordered to place themselves between the likely position of the German battle group and the Convoy they are to tie down the enemy until Force 2 arrives at 7am on the 26th rear Admiral Bay deploys his force in scouting formation with the Destroyers taking the leads 10 nautical miles ahead of the scharnhorst as a result the battle cruiser loses visual contact with the Destroyers as the snowstorm intensifies orders must now be passed by radio rather than signal as the German warships continue to search for the Convoy over the next hour Bay's frustration builds when they fail to spot the enemy at 8 20 am he orders sron horse to turn north but fails to alert his destroyers to this course change the battle cruiser is now completely alone at 8 34 am Force One's Flagship HMS Belfast picks up a single unidentified radar contact and rear Admiral Burnett orders his three Cruisers Belfast Norfolk and Sheffield into a staggered line at 9 21 am a lookout on Belfast spots a massive dark shape through the blizzard and signals the bridge enemy in sight the Germans are completely unaware they are sailing directly into an ambush five minutes later at 9 26 am Belfast fires a single star shell which illuminates the winter sky and bathes the scharnhorst in light the Battle of North Cape begins with the target visible HMS Norfolk immediately opens fire with their 8-inch guns while the Germans are temporarily stunned by the artificial sunlight however Norfolk Salvo falls short and the captain of the scharnhorst reacts quickly he orders his ship to flank speed and Laser smoke screen while turning South to evade the British guns during the turn his battle Cruiser's 11-inch main batteries fire in succession scharnhorst and the British Cruisers trade salvos as the dark sky is brightened by the flash of heavy guns none of the German shells strike their target but only two of the British salvos hit Shawn horse and no damage is caused below the water line the battle cruiser is better armored and outguns the ships of force one but German Naval Doctrine is to avoid large surface engagements Bay orders shun horse to disengage and turn north to approach the Convoy from a different angle by 9 45 am the German ship is out of range and Burnett orders his Force to break off the first Skirmish of the battle is inconclusive despite being caught by surprise the scharnhorsters reacted quickly and is still hunting for Convoy jw-55b nevertheless one of norfolk's salvos has scored a lasting result an 8-inch shell has destroyed Charn horse's forward radar controls rendering the battle cruiser virtually blind in the mounting blizzard the German gun crews are now forced to watch for muzzle flashes a task made more difficult by new Flash less propellant used on many Royal Navy warships rear Admiral Bay continues to move north hoping the Arctic sun will rise long enough for him to engage and Destroy any merchantment he encounters at the same time the larger Royal Navy Force 2 is discovered by a German reconnaissance Patrol which radiates its location back to base Fraser is concerned that this might compel Sean horse to run for home ruining his plan to bring the ships to battle however this message is not passed on to rear Admiral Bay for another three and a half hours rear Admiral Burnett once again moves his Cruisers in between Sean Horst and the Convoy when at 1204 PM Belfast reacquires the German battle cruiser on radar Admiral Fraser is relieved by the news and closes on the position with Force 2. when the enemy warship is within 11 000 yards of Force One Belfast fires off another star shell followed by a salvo of six and eight inch shells The Barrage straddles the battlecruiser whose crew is surprised yet again this time the sixth Destroyer division is positioned directly ahead of the scharnhorst Burnett orders Fisher to launch a surprise torpedo attack but the signal never makes it to the Destroyers and the opportunity is lost a jewel breaks out between Burnett's ships and scharnhorst which once again turns away to use its Superior speed to escape the Trap sharn horse takes multiple hits but again the British shells fail to penetrate the battle Cruiser's armored belt this time the German warship zeroes in on Norfolk one 11-inch shell damages her ex- turret and knocks it out of action while another explodes outside the secondary damage control center which causes the engine room to fill with smoke and fumes undeterred the engine room crew simply Dons their gas masks and carry on with their work sharn horse once again turns to the southwest and steams away from the British at 28 knots enough is enough and rear Admiral Bay officially cancels operation ostfront at 2 30 PM ordering his ship and the Destroyers back to Norway yet one of the battle Cruisers radio men informs the captain that he has intercepted Royal Navy radio signals behind scharnhorst Sheffield and Norfolk have been experiencing engine problems and must stop but Belfast is shadowing the battle cruiser and sending constant updates on Bay's position to the Royal Navy battleship HMS Duke of York at 4 17 PM Duke of York acquires the scharnhorst on radar the undetected Force 2 steadily closes the distance over the next half hour the lack of surface radar on charnhorst means Duke of York closes to within 12 000 yards of the German ship without being noticed at 4 48 PM Fraser orders Belfast to fire a star shell this time however it is HMS Duke of York's massive 14-inch shells which will follow the bursts of artificial sunlight the first Salvo is extremely accurate one shell punches through the armor of Sean Hall's forward turret killing most of the gun crew and jamming the gun turret a fire breaks out which threatens to detonate her stored shells but the captain orders the magazine flooded to prevent this the third cell though strikes the off superstructure and destroys the seaplane Hangar starting a large fire that can be seen from the British warships with the light Cruiser HMS Jamaica also joining the battle Bay orders a hard turn to Port intending to run away to the north again to his horror Bay discovers that Burnett's formation has joined forces with Fraser and is bearing down on the scharn horse from that direction HMS Norfolk and Sheffield have been repaired and along with Fisher's sixth Destroyer division have cut off that Escape Route force one opens fire straddling the embattled German warship at 505 PM another 14 inch shell explodes within the ventilation system of turret Bruno knocking it out of action Jean horse returns fire with her remaining guns whilst Bay orders a slight turn to starboard his only hope is to escape to the east scharnhorst is running for the third time and again uses her Superior speed to put distance between her and the British ships the range steadily increases as Admiral Fraser orders his destroyers to chase down the wounded but still dangerous enemy despite extensive damage Sean horse engines are intact and she will soon be out of range one German Salvo straddles Duke of York and damages her radar set hampering her gunnery for the next hour Duke of York and scharnhorst trade fire at extreme ranges certain that the enemy is about to slip through his grasp yet again a defeated Admiral Fraser signals Burnett I see little hope of catching scharnhorst just minutes before the German battleship is about to slip out of British radar range HMS Duke of York fires one final Salvo at 6 20 pm miraculously a shell penetrates the armored belt and explodes within the starboard Machinery space steam pressure from the boilers drops significantly and the ship's speed Falls from 30 knots to 22. without surface radar Sean Hall's remaining guns fire blindly into the snowstorm while the Destroyers close for a torpedo attack at a range of 2 100 yards the Destroyer HMS Scorpion and the exiled Norwegian Destroyer stalled launch a spread of eight torpedoes on the port side The destroyer's Savage and salmares close in to launch their own Torpedoes when salmares is struck by an 11-inch shell on the gun director Tower but it does not explode both destroyers fire a spread of 12 Torpedoes a minute after Scorpion and stored the Destroyer Force peels off in either direction to avoid the battleship's guns most of the Torpedoes Miss but one from stored strikes scharnhorst on the starboard side while three explode on the port the simultaneous impacts of four Torpedoes causes significant damage and the battleship's speed drops to just 10 knots with the heavy guns of Force 1 and 2 approaching Captain hintzer radio's Naval command at 7 20 PM stating we shall fight to the last shell Long Live Germany long live the fuhrer at the same time HMS Duke of York and Jamaica are back in range an open fire scoring several hits despite the onslaught Jean horse continues to resist her Bruno turret has been hastily repaired and fires alongside her Caesar turret the battleship even attempts a doomed torpedo attack but damage to the launchers means only one can be fired which fails to hit any Royal Navy ship is pounded by the intense bombardment Fraser orders Commander fishes destroyers to deliver the final blow HMS musketeer Virago and opportune launch their spreads from just 1 000 yards away of the 11 Torpedoes launch Five hits scharnhorst this is the final blow and she slowly begins to capsize at 7 40 PM Captain hintzer gives the order to abandon ship and shakes hands with Admiral Bay on the bridge before the two men jump into the freezing sea never to be seen again five minutes later the battleship slips below the surface while British ships move in to rescue survivors many survive the initial sinking but the extreme cold temperature takes its toll of the almost 2 000 crewmen aboard scharnhorst only 36 are pulled alive from the Arctic sea the Battle of North Cape marks one of the final engagements in history between battleships and the last anti-convoy sortie of the Creek's Marine surface Force Convoy JW 55b successfully unloads its War materiel and the Allies gain a decisive advantage in the far north from this point forward the majority of Germany's Naval effort will be dedicated to improving the U-Boat Fleet while the few remaining surface Raiders will spend the rest of their days in Harbor almost a year later terpits will be sunk by the RAF finally ending the threat to the Arctic convoys

Channel: The Operations Room

Views: 1,021,627

Keywords: bismarck, battleship, ww2, hms hood, battle of the atlantic, royal navy, Kriegsmarine, swordfish, history, time-lapse, animated, time lapse, bismark, warship, second world war, war, documentary, scharnhorst, hms belfast, hms duke of york

Id: kyQdU80chvA

Length: 16min 43sec (1003 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 02 2022