Seegefecht vor den Lofoten
Vorlage:Infobox Military Conflict
The Action off Lofoten was a naval battle fought between the German Kriegsmarine and the Royal Navy off the southern coast of the Lofoten Islands, Norway during World War Two. A German squadron under Vice Admiral 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 ten 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 German 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 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.[1]
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.[2] Though Vice Admiral Lütjens with the two German battleships was nearby, their assistance was deemed unnecessary and Admiral Hipper sank the Glowworm, though taking some damage in return.[3] Whitworth's main force then caught sight of the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at 03:30 on 9 April and moved to engage the battleships.[4]
Whitworth's force consisted of the battlecruiser Renown and the nine destroyers remaining after the loss of the Glowworm. HMS Hotspur, HMS Hardy, HMS Havock, and HMS Hunter were H class destroyers while HMS Esk was an E class destroyer and HMS Ivanhoe, HMS Icarus, and HMS Impulsive were I class destroyers. The destroyer HMS Greyhound was of the G class.[5] Renown mounted a main battery of six 42-calibre 15-inch guns and a secondary battery consisting of seventeen 4-inch guns. 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 (12cm) inch guns each. HMS 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, the Hardy was built as a destroyer leader and thus had an additional 4.7 inch gun.[6]
The German force consisted of the two Scharnhorst class battleships, each with a main battery of nine 28 cm guns and twelve 15 cm guns as a secondary battery. In a close range engagement the British force was superior, but at a distance the guns on Whitworth's destroyers were out ranged and the German fire power was greater. The German force also held a speed advantage over Renown, having a top speed of Vorlage:Convert to the battlecruiser's Vorlage:Convert, but was slower than the destroyers which could steam at Vorlage:Convert.[7] Thus Lutjens clearly held an advantage over Renown, though the German force was significantly vulnerable to attack from Whitworth's destroyers.[8]
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 when Renown attacked Gneisenau with its 15 inch guns. The German warships returned fire at 05:08 with Gneisenau scoring two hits on Renown with its 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 the Renown struck the Gneisenau with two shells. These hits damaged the German battleship's director tower, forward range finders, and aft turret. Renown then moved its fire to the Scharnhorst. These early salvos were sporadic and lasted until 06:00 when the engagement was broken off for twenty minutes.[9]
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.[10] The German battleships retreated when the Renowns escorts opened fire despite the fact that the destroyers' guns did not have sufficent range to successfully engage Lutjen's ships. The Germans mistook Whitworth's smaller vessels for much more powerful captial ships and as a result thought they were heavily out gunned.[11] Determined to flee 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.[12]
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 defense ships in their path.[13] 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.[14]
Citations
References
- William H. Garzke: Battleships: Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II. United States Naval Institute, Annapolis 1995, ISBN 0-87021-101-3 (google.com).
- Henrik O. Lunde: Hitler's Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940. Casemate, Havertown, PA 2009, ISBN 978-1-935149-33-0 (google.com).
- Nathan Miller: War at Sea: A Naval History of World War II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1995, ISBN 0-19-511038-2 (google.com).
- Vincent O'Hara: The German Fleet at War, 1939–1945. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2004, ISBN 1-59114-651-8 (google.com).
- ↑ O'Hare 2004, p. 17.
- ↑ Miller 1995, p. 59.
- ↑ Miller 1995, p. 60.
- ↑ Miller 1995, p. 62.
- ↑ O'Hara 2004, p. 22.
- ↑ O'Hare 2004, p. 22.
- ↑ O'Hare 2004, p. 22.
- ↑ Lunde 2009, p. 112.
- ↑ Garzke 1985, p. 135.
- ↑ Garzke 1985, p. 135.
- ↑ Miller 1995, p. 63.
- ↑ Garzke 1985, p. 137.
- ↑ Miller 1995, p. 63.
- ↑ Garzke 1985, p. 137.