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Bezig met laden... North Cape 1943: The Sinking of the Scharnhorst (Campaign)door Angus Konstam
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 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.  Shrike58 | Dec 2, 2023 |  geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
Onderdeel van de reeks(en)Osprey Campaign (356)
A beautifully illustrated study of the Battle of North Cape in 1943, a dramatic clash of British and German battleships in the North Sea which resulted in the sinking of the German battleshipScharnhorst. The German battleshipScharnhorsthad 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, theScharnhorstwas redeployed to Norway. There, working in concert with other German warships such as the battleshipTirpitz,she posed a major threat to the Arctic convoys-the Allied sea lifeline to Russia. Over the next six months, she made two forays into the Barents Sea, but saw no action, save for the shelling of Spitzbergen. However, her presence, alongsideTirpitz, forced the British to tie down ships in Arctic waters. WhenTirpitzwas put out of action, and Hitler demanded naval support for the war in Russia, the crew of theScharnhorsthad to act. In late December 1943, she put to sea, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral Bey. Her target was an Allied convoy, JW55B, which was passing through the Barents Sea on its way to Murmansk. Unknown to Bey, Admiral Fraser, commanding the British Home Fleet, was using the convoy as bait to draw theScharnhorstinto battle. What followed was a two-day running battle fought in rough seas and near-perpetual darkness, ending with the destruction of theScharnhorst and all but 36 of her crew. The loss ofScharnhorstended any serious German naval threat to the Arctic convoy lifeline. In this illustrated study, Angus Konstam, one of Britain's premier naval historians, offers a fascinating new insight into this key engagement, combining expert analysis with his unique knack for storytelling to offer a fascinating new perspective on the battle which sank theScharnhorst. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)359.32520943Social sciences Public Administration, Military Science Navy; Naval Science Organization of military forcesLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde: (4)
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As for the fight itself, the short version is radar - don't leave home without it. In a fight fought mostly in darkness in a howling gale, the gunnery of the "Scharnhorst" was severely limited due to electronic inferiority, though she wound up dying very hard; Konstam tersely describes the action as an "execution." This is particularly since only 36 men survived; Admiral Erich Bey and the other 2000-odd crewmen going to the deep.
The thought that comes to mind is that this action is a last reflection of the institutional cultures the British and German naval forces came out of the Great War with. The British being fixated on aggressive action when the opportunity presented itself, a result of the botched hunt for the "Goeben" and the disappointment of Jutland. The Germans trying to maintain a fleet in being, while at the same time keeping themselves relevant, and living down the mutiny of the surface fleet in 1918. From this battle on, the British are looking for ways to make themselves useful to an American naval hierarchy who really doesn't want them, and the German naval command is trying to salvage a useful submarine force, while offering assistance to the German war effort in the Baltic. (