On December 26, the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst is sunk by British warships in the Arctic after decoded German naval signals reveal that the Scharnhorst is on a mission to attack an Anglo-American convoy to Russia.
By: HISTORY.com Editors
1943
Britain surprises German attacker in the Arctic
Published: November 05, 2009
Last Updated: January 30, 2025
World War II History
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt committed American forces to the Allied cause in World War II.
Hitler’s navy had posed serious threats to convoys shipping supplies to the Soviet Union since the fall of 1941. American, British, and Soviet merchant ships had suffered devastating attacks in the Arctic, mostly by German U-boats. Operation Rainbow was the German plan to attack two Anglo-American convoys as they sailed between Bear Island and the North Cape en route to the Eastern front. But British code-breakers, including Alan Turing, once again provided the Allies with the sensitive strategic information they needed to anticipate and prevent disaster. The Scharnhorst, Germany’s 31,000-ton battle cruiser, which had already sunk the British cruiser Rawalpindi, was surprised by the British battleship Duke of York, which sank it in what became known as the Battle of North Cape.
Approximately 2,000 German sailors drowned and only 36 survived.
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Citation Information
- Article title
- Britain surprises German attacker in the Arctic
- Author
- HISTORY.com Editors
- Website Name
- History
- Date Accessed
- April 16, 2025
- Publisher
- A&E Television Networks
- Last Updated
- January 30, 2025
- Original Published Date
- November 05, 2009
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