The
Battle of the Barents Sea took place on December 31, 1942 between
GermanNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
surface raiders and
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
ships escorting
convoyA convoy is a group of vehicles traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval convoys have been used for hundreds...
JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the USSR. The action took place in the
Barents SeaThe Barents Sea is a part of the Arctic Ocean located north of Norway and Russia. It is a rather deep shelf sea , bordered by the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea in the west, the island of Svalbard in the northwest, and the islands of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya in the northeast and...
north of
North CapeNorth Cape may refer to:*North Cape, Prince Edward Island*North Cape, New Zealand*North Cape, Norway, also known as Nordkapp*North Cape, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community...
, Norway.
Approach
Convoy JW 51B comprised fourteen merchant ships carrying war materials to the USSR — some 202 tanks, 2,046 other vehicles, 87 fighters, 33 bombers, 11,500 tons of fuel, 12,650 tons of aviation fuel and just over 54,000 tons of other supplies. They were protected by the
destroyerIn naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range but powerful attackers .Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels without the endurance...
s
HMS AchatesHMS Achates was an A-class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched on 4 October 1929 and commissioned on 27 March 1930...
,
OrwellHMS Orwell was an O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that entered service in 1942. She saw action at the Battle of the Barents Sea, and was involved in convoy escort duties during the Battle of North Cape. In 1952 she was converted to a Type 16 frigate and was broken-up in June 1965....
,
Oribi,
OnslowThree ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Onslow:* Onslow, an "M" class destroyer launched in 1916 and scrapped in 1921. She saw action at the Battle of Jutland, where her captain was John Tovey, who later became Admiral of the Fleet....
,
ObedientTwo destroyers of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Obedient:* The first, HMS Obedient , launched in 1916, was an M class destroyer that served in World War I, and was sold in 1921....
, and
ObdurateTwo ships of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Obdurate:, an Admiralty M class destroyer launched in 1916 and sold in 1921., an O class destroyer launched in 1942 and scrapped in 1964....
; the
Flower class corvetteThe Flower class corvette was a class of 267 corvettes used during World War II, specifically with the Allied navies as anti-submarine convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic...
s
Rhododendron and
Hyderabad; the
minesweeperA minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations...
HMS
Bramble; and two
trawlersA naval trawler is a boat built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes.-History:Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to...
Vizalma and
Northern Gem. The overall commander was
Robert St. Vincent SherbrookeRobert St. Vincent Sherbrooke VC CB DSO was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces...
, on board
Onslow. The convoy sailed in the dead of winter to preclude attacks by German aircraft that had decimated an earlier Arctic convoy,
PQ-17PQ17 was the code name for an Allied World War II convoy in the Arctic Ocean.In July 1942, the Arctic convoys suffered a significant defeat when Convoy PQ17 lost twenty-one of its thirty-four merchant ships during a series of heavy enemy daylight attacks which lasted a week. On 27 June 1942 the...
.
In addition to the convoy escort, two cruisers,
SheffieldHMS Sheffield was one of the Southampton sub class of the Town class cruisers of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She took part in actions against several major German warships. Unlike most Royal Navy ships of her time, her fittings were constructed from stainless steel instead of the...
and
JamaicaHMS Jamaica , a Crown Colony-class cruiser of the Royal Navy, was named after the island of Jamaica, which was a British possession when she was built...
, and two destroyers were independently stationed in the
Barents SeaThe Barents Sea is a part of the Arctic Ocean located north of Norway and Russia. It is a rather deep shelf sea , bordered by the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea in the west, the island of Svalbard in the northwest, and the islands of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya in the northeast and...
to provide distant cover for the convoy. These four ships, known as "Force R", were under the command of Rear-admiral Robert L. Burnett, on board
Sheffield.
The German forces included the
heavy cruiserThe heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
Admiral HipperThe German cruiser Admiral Hipper was the lead ship of the Admiral Hipper–class heavy cruisers which served with the Kriegsmarine of Germany during World War II....
; pocket battleship
LützowDeutschland , was the lead ship of her class that served in the German Kriegsmarine before and during World War II. The ship was originally classified as a Panzerschiff by Germany. The Kriegsmarine reclassified them as a heavy cruisers in February 1940...
; and
destroyerIn naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range but powerful attackers .Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels without the endurance...
s
Friedrich Eckholdt,
Richard Beitzen,
Theodor Riedel,
Z 29,
Z 30, and
Z 31. These ships were based at
Altafjordis a town and municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Alta....
in northern
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, and were under the overall command of Vice-admiral
Oskar KummetzOskar Kummetz was a Generaladmiral with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions in the Battle of Drøbak Sound.-Awards:...
, on board
Hipper.
Convoy JW 51B sailed from Loch Ewe on December 22, 1942 and met its escort off
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
on December 25. From there the ships sailed northeast, meeting heavy gales on December 28 and 29 December that caused the ships of the convoy to lose station. When the weather moderated five merchantmen, including the
Oribi and the
Vizalma, were missing and
Bramble was detached to search for them. Three of the straggling merchantmen rejoined the following day; the other ships proceeded independently towards Kola Inlet.
Meanwhile, on 30 December, the convoy was sighted by the German
submarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability...
U-354. When the report was received by the German Naval Staff, Kummetz was ordered to sail immediately with his force to intercept the convoy. Kummetz divided his force into two divisions led by
Hipper and
Lützow, respectively.
The battle
Because the battle took place in the middle of the
polar nightThe polar night occurs when the night lasts for more than 24 hours. This only occurs inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, when the sun stays above the horizon for a long time is called the polar day, or midnight sun....
and both the German and British forces were scattered and unsure of the positions of the rest of their own forces, much less the enemy's, the entire battle was a rather confused affair. During the battle it was not clear who was firing on whom or even how many ships were engaged.
At 08:20 on December 31,
Obdurate, stationed south of the convoy, spotted three German destroyers to the rear (west) of the convoy. Then
OnslowHMS Onslow was an O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy which entered service in 1941. She was outfitted as the flotilla leader of the O-class.-Service:...
spotted
Admiral HipperThe German cruiser Admiral Hipper was the lead ship of the Admiral Hipper–class heavy cruisers which served with the Kriegsmarine of Germany during World War II....
, also to the rear of the convoy, and steered to intercept with
OrwellHMS Orwell was an O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that entered service in 1942. She saw action at the Battle of the Barents Sea, and was involved in convoy escort duties during the Battle of North Cape. In 1952 she was converted to a Type 16 frigate and was broken-up in June 1965....
,
Obedient, and
Obdurate, while
AchatesHMS Achates was an A-class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched on 4 October 1929 and commissioned on 27 March 1930...
was ordered to stay with the convoy and make smoke. After some firing, the British ships turned to make a feigned
torpedoThe modern torpedo is a self-propelled explosive projectile weapon, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater toward a target, and designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target...
attack. Heavily outgunned, Sherbrooke knew that his torpedoes were his most formidable weapons and once launched, that threat would be gone. The ruse worked:
Hipper temporarily retired since Kummetz had been ordered not to risk his ships.
Admiral Hipper returned to make a second attack, hitting
Onslow and causing heavy damage, although
Onslow would ultimately survive the action. Sherbrooke was badly injured by a large steel splinter, and command passed to
Obedient.
Hipper then pulled north of the convoy, stumbled across
BrambleThe Halcyon class was a class of 21 oil-fired minesweepers built for the British Royal Navy between 1933 and 1939...
a Halcyon class minesweeper, which opened fire;
Hipper returned fire with her much heavier guns.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/92/a5350592.shtml The destroyer
Eckholdt was ordered to finish
Bramble off, while the
Admiral Hipper shifted target to
Obedient and
Achates to the south.
Achates was badly damaged, but she continued to lay down smoke until she eventually sank. Many of her crew were rescued by the trawler
Northern Gem. The Germans reported sinking a destroyer, but this was on the basis of the sinking the minesweeper
Bramble which they mistook for a destroyer - they never realized
Achates had been hit.
All this firing attracted the attention of Force R, which was still farther to the north.
SheffieldHMS Sheffield was one of the Southampton sub class of the Town class cruisers of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She took part in actions against several major German warships. Unlike most Royal Navy ships of her time, her fittings were constructed from stainless steel instead of the...
and
Jamaica approached unseen, and they opened fire on
Admiral Hipper at 11:30, causing some damage. Kummetz initially thought that the attack of the two cruisers was coming from another destroyer, but upon realizing his mistake, he ordered his ships to retreat to the west. In another case of mistaken identity,
Eckholdt and
Richard Beitzen mistook
Sheffield for
Admiral Hipper; after attempting to form up with the British ships, they were engaged, and
Eckholdt was sunk.
http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/articles/feature5.html
Meanwhile,
Lützow approached from the east and fired ineffectively at the convoy (which was still being hidden by smoke from the doomed
Achates). Heading northwest to join
Admiral Hipper,
Lützow also found
Sheffield and
Jamaica, which opened fire. Coincidentally, both sides decided to break off the action at the same time, each side fearing imminent
torpedoThe modern torpedo is a self-propelled explosive projectile weapon, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater toward a target, and designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target...
attacks upon their capital ships from the other's remaining destroyers. This was shortly after noon. Burnett with Force R continued to shadow the German ships at a distance until it was evident that they were retiring back to their base, while the ships of the convoy re-formed and continued towards Kola Inlet.
Aftermath
Despite this German attack on convoy JW 51B, all fourteen of its merchant ships reached their destinations in the USSR.
Even more critically for the outcome of the war,
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
was infuriated at what he perceived as the uselessness of the surface raiders, seeing that two heavy cruisers were driven off by mere destroyers. There were serious implications: this failure nearly made Hitler enforce a decision to scrap the surface fleet, and for the German Navy to concentrate on
U-boatU-boat is the anglicized version of the German word , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
warfare. Admiral
Erich RaederErich Johann Albert Raeder was a naval leader in Germany before and during World War II. Raeder attained the highest possible naval rank—that of Großadmiral —in 1939, becoming the first person to hold that rank since Alfred von Tirpitz...
, supreme commander of the
KriegsmarineThe Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945, during the Nazi regime, superseding the Reichsmarine, and the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht.-Command structure:Adolf Hitler was the commander-in-chief...
, offered his resignation - which Hitler accepted, apparently reluctantly. Raeder was replaced by Admiral
Karl DönitzKarl Dönitz was a German naval Commander who served in the Imperial German Navy during World War I, and during World War II commanded first the German submarine fleet, and then the entire German Navy .In the final days of the war, Dönitz was named by Adolf Hitler as his successor, and after the...
, the commander of the U-boat fleet.
On the British side, Captain
Robert St. Vincent SherbrookeRobert St. Vincent Sherbrooke VC CB DSO was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces...
was awarded the
Victoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration which is, or has been, awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals...
. He generously acknowledged that it had truthfully been awarded in honour of the whole crew of
OnslowHMS Onslow was an O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy which entered service in 1941. She was outfitted as the flotilla leader of the O-class.-Service:...
. In the action he had been badly wounded, and had lost the sight in one eye. However, he returned to active duty, and retired from the navy in the 1950s, with the rank of
Rear AdmiralRear Admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a Commodore and Captain, and below that of a Vice Admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "Admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "Flag officers" and/or "Flag ranks"...
.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?GRid=13763579&page=gr
At the memorial for
Bramble, Captain Harvey Crombie stated of the crew: "They had braved difficulties and perils probably unparalleled in the annals of the British Navy, and calls upon their courage and endurance were constant, but they never failed. They would not have us think sadly at this time, but rather that we should praise God that they had remained steadfast to duty to the end."
http://www.halcyon-class.co.uk/Bramble/bramble1942.htm
The battle was the subject of the book
73 North by
Dudley PopeDudley Bernard Egerton Pope was a British writer of both nautical fiction and history, most notable for his Lord Ramage series of historical novels....
.
External links