The German battleship Scharnhorst had a reputation for being a lucky ship. Early in the war she fought off a British battlecruiser and sunk a carrier, before carrying out two successful forays into the Atlantic. In the spring of 1943, the Scharnhorst was redeployed to Norway. There, working in concert with other German warships such as the battleship Tirpitz, she posed a major threat to the Arctic convoys – the Allied sea lifeline to Russia. Her presence, alongside Tirpitz, forced the British to tie down ships in Arctic waters. When Tirpitz was put out of action, and Hitler demanded naval support for the war in Russia, the crew of the Scharnhorst under Rear-Admiral Bey, had to act. In late December 1943, she put to sea, her target an Allied convoy passing through the Barents Sea on its way to Murmansk. Unknown to Bey, the British were using the convoy as bait to draw the Scharnhorst into battle. What followed was a two-day running battle fought in rough seas and near-perpetual darkness, ending with the destruction of the Scharnhorst and all but 36 of her crew, ending any serious German naval threat to the Arctic convoy lifeline. In this illustrated study, leading naval historian Angus Konstam offers a fascinating new insight into this key engagement. He combines expert analysis with his unique knack for storytelling to offer a fascinating new perspective on the battle which sank the Scharnhorst.

An epic account of how the Royal Navy tracked down, cornered, and sank one of the most fearsome German warships of the Second World War. Ideal for readers of Craig L. Symonds, Max Hastings and Doug Stanton. The Scharnhorst was a state of the art capital ship of Nazi Germany's navy. Launched in 1936 she had terrorized Allied shipping since the beginning of the war, famously destroying the aircraft destroyer HMS Glorious in June 1940. Since then she had made numerous sorties into the Atlantic to raid British merchant fleets and had evaded destruction in the Channel Dash of 1942 in order to interrupt convoys to the Soviet Union. The danger posed by the Scharnhorst to the Arctic convoys was monumental. Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, commander-in-chief of the Home Fleet, devised a plan to lure their enemy from its Norwegian base and pound it with shells from the battleship HMS Duke of York and supporting cruisers and destroyers. John Winton's comprehensively researched book, drawing on British and German eyewitness accounts, uncovers how the threat of the Scharnhorst was eventually brought to an end at the Battle of the North Cape in the freezing conditions of the Barents Sea.

“The hunting down and sinking of the magnificent German battle cruiser Scharnhorst was one of the epic actions of World War II . . . stirring” (Work Boat). On December 25, 1943, the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst slipped out of Altenfjord in Norway to attack Arctic convoy JW55B which was carrying vital war supplies to the Soviet Union. But British naval intelligence knew of the Scharnhorst’s mission before she sailed, and the vulnerable convoy was protected by a large Royal Naval force including the battleship Duke of York. In effect the Scharnhorst was sailing into a trap. One of the most compelling naval dramas of the Second World War had begun. “Angus Konstam’s gripping account tells the story of this crucial but under-studied naval battle, and explains why the hopes of the German Kreigsmarine went down with their last great ship; only 37 of the German battle cruiser’s 1700 crew were saved.” —The Nautical Magazine “Angus Konstam has written the definitive masterpiece of the Battle of North Cape.” —Naval Historical Foundation “An excellent read and strongly recommended . . . thoughtful and totally engrossing. . . . If you are interested in the Royal Navy in the Second World War, the Arctic convoy campaign or capital ship actions, The Battle of the North Cape is well worth its cover price.” —The Naval Review

Military Maritime History.

Transcribed from a hand-typed manuscript, this is a poignant eye-witness account of the Battle of North Cape, as witnessed by a young signal-boy aboard the British warship HMS Belfast. This crucial battle to protect the vital convoys from Britain to Russia, was fought out in the Arctic seas north of Norway's North Cape, in the midst of winter, in some of the worst weather conditions anywhere in the world. It resulted in a crushing defeat for Nazi Germany when their battleship the Scharnhorst came under fire from several British and Norwegian ships and was sunk with the loss of 1,932 men. There were many heroes that day, and the events herein were experienced by a young lad named Harry C. Hall. This is his account, written in verse and incredibly moving to the very end.