The Sailor
16-02-2008, 12:44
The Battle of the Barents Sea took place on December 31, 1942 between British ships escorting convoy JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the USSR, and German surface raiders. The action took place in the Barents Sea north of North Cape, Norway.
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 of aviation fuel and just over 54,000 tons of other supplies. They were protected by the destroyers HMS Achates, Orwell, Oribi, Onslow, Obedient, and Obdurate; the Flower class corvettes Rhododendron and Hyderabad; the minesweeper HMS Bramble; and two trawlers Vizalma and Northern Gem. The overall commander was Robert St. Vincent Sherbrooke, in Onslow.
In addition to the convoy escort, two cruisers, Sheffield and Jamaica, were independently stationed in the Barents Sea to provide distant cover for the convoy.
The German forces included the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper; pocket battleship Lützow; and destroyers Friedrich Eckholdt, Richard Beitzen, Theodor Riedel, Z 29, Z 30, and Z 31.
Convoy JW 51B sailed from Loch Ewe on December 22, 1942 and met its escort off Iceland 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 submarine U 354.
At 0820 on December 31, the Obdurate, stationed south of the convoy, spotted three of the German destroyers to the rear of the convoy. Then Onslow spotted Admiral Hipper, also to the rear of the convoy, and steered to intercept with Orwell, Obedient, and Obdurate, while Achates was ordered to stay with the convoy and make smoke. After some firing, the British ships turned in a feigned torpedo attack. Heavily outgunned, Sherbrooke knew that his torpedoes were his most formidable threat and once launched, that threat would be gone. The ruse worked: Hipper temporarily retired as Kummetz had been ordered not to risk his ships. The 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 splinter and command passed to Obedient.
Hipper then pulled north of the convoy, stumbled across Bramble, and opened fire. Destroyer Eckholdt was ordered to finish Bramble off, while Admiral Hipper shifted targets to Obedient and Achates to the south. Achates was badly damaged, but continued to lay smoke until it eventually sank; many of the crew would be rescued by the trawler Northern Gem.
This firing attracted the attention of Force R, still further to the north. Sheffield and Jamaica approached unseen and opened fire on Admiral Hipper at 1130, causing some damage. Kummetz initially thought the attack of the two cruisers was coming from another destroyer, but realizing his mistake, he ordered the ships in his division to retreat to the west. In another case of mistaken identity, Eckholdt mistook Sheffield for Admiral Hipper, and was quickly sunk.
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 torpedo attack on their capital ships from the other's remaining destroyers.
[edit] 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 Hitler 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-boat warfare. Admiral Raeder, supreme commander of the Kriegsmarine, offered his resignation which Hitler reluctantly accepted. Raeder was replaced by Admiral Dönitz.
On the British side, Captain Robert St. Vincent Sherbrooke was awarded the Victoria Cross. He freely acknowledged that it had been awarded in honour of the whole crew of the Onslow.
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 of aviation fuel and just over 54,000 tons of other supplies. They were protected by the destroyers HMS Achates, Orwell, Oribi, Onslow, Obedient, and Obdurate; the Flower class corvettes Rhododendron and Hyderabad; the minesweeper HMS Bramble; and two trawlers Vizalma and Northern Gem. The overall commander was Robert St. Vincent Sherbrooke, in Onslow.
In addition to the convoy escort, two cruisers, Sheffield and Jamaica, were independently stationed in the Barents Sea to provide distant cover for the convoy.
The German forces included the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper; pocket battleship Lützow; and destroyers Friedrich Eckholdt, Richard Beitzen, Theodor Riedel, Z 29, Z 30, and Z 31.
Convoy JW 51B sailed from Loch Ewe on December 22, 1942 and met its escort off Iceland 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 submarine U 354.
At 0820 on December 31, the Obdurate, stationed south of the convoy, spotted three of the German destroyers to the rear of the convoy. Then Onslow spotted Admiral Hipper, also to the rear of the convoy, and steered to intercept with Orwell, Obedient, and Obdurate, while Achates was ordered to stay with the convoy and make smoke. After some firing, the British ships turned in a feigned torpedo attack. Heavily outgunned, Sherbrooke knew that his torpedoes were his most formidable threat and once launched, that threat would be gone. The ruse worked: Hipper temporarily retired as Kummetz had been ordered not to risk his ships. The 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 splinter and command passed to Obedient.
Hipper then pulled north of the convoy, stumbled across Bramble, and opened fire. Destroyer Eckholdt was ordered to finish Bramble off, while Admiral Hipper shifted targets to Obedient and Achates to the south. Achates was badly damaged, but continued to lay smoke until it eventually sank; many of the crew would be rescued by the trawler Northern Gem.
This firing attracted the attention of Force R, still further to the north. Sheffield and Jamaica approached unseen and opened fire on Admiral Hipper at 1130, causing some damage. Kummetz initially thought the attack of the two cruisers was coming from another destroyer, but realizing his mistake, he ordered the ships in his division to retreat to the west. In another case of mistaken identity, Eckholdt mistook Sheffield for Admiral Hipper, and was quickly sunk.
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 torpedo attack on their capital ships from the other's remaining destroyers.
[edit] 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 Hitler 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-boat warfare. Admiral Raeder, supreme commander of the Kriegsmarine, offered his resignation which Hitler reluctantly accepted. Raeder was replaced by Admiral Dönitz.
On the British side, Captain Robert St. Vincent Sherbrooke was awarded the Victoria Cross. He freely acknowledged that it had been awarded in honour of the whole crew of the Onslow.