Battle of the North Cape

Battle of the North Cape
Part of World War II
Members of HMS Duke of York's gun crews at Scapa Flow after the Battle of North Cape. The personnel are wearing anti-flash gear.
Date 26 December 1943 Location Off North Cape, Norway Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Germany	United Kingdom  Norway
Commanders and leaders
Erich Bey †	Bruce Fraser
Strength
1 battleship	1 battleship 1 heavy cruiser 3 light cruisers 9 destroyers
Casualties and losses
1 battleship sunk 1,932 killed 36 captured	1 battleship slightly damaged 1 heavy cruiser damaged 1 destroyer damaged 11 killed 11 wounded

The Battle of the North Cape was a Second World War naval battle which occurred on 26 December 1943, as part of the Arctic Campaign. The German battleship Scharnhorst, on an operation to attack Arctic Convoys of war matériel from the Western Allies to the USSR, was brought to battle and sunk by Royal Navy (RN) forces—the battleship HMS Duke of York plus several cruisers and destroyers—off Norway's North Cape.

The battle was the last between big-gun capital ships in the war between Britain and Germany. The British victory confirmed the massive strategic advantage held by the British, at least in surface units. It was also the second-to-last engagement between battleships, the last being the Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944.

Operation Ostfront was an attempt by the German Kriegsmarine to intercept the expected Arctic convoys. In late December 1943, these would be the Russia-bound convoy JW 55B and the Home-bound convoy RA 55A.

On 22 December 1943, a Luftwaffe aircraft sighted JW 55B and commenced shadowing. Three days later, on 25 December, Scharnhorst (Captain Fritz Hintze) with the Narvik-class destroyers Z29, Z30, Z33, Z34 and Z38 left Norway's Altafjord under the overall command of Konteradmiral Erich Bey.

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