By late 1942, the snow squall had taken its toll on both sides, and combined with the
smoke deployed by the British vessels to conceal a convoy of 15 merchant ships carrying fighters,
bombers, tanks, and several resources, the battlefield had turned into a series
of minor skirmishes with little to no visibility. If the convoy managed to deliver the goods to the
Soviet port of Murmansk, there was a possibility the Soviet Union could survive the encirclement
of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad. Still, German Vice Admiral Oskar Kummetz
was trying his best to lure away the enemy ships so that his second ambush force could
attack from the south and lay waste to the rest of the convoy bound for the Soviet Union.
As the second group of German destroyers finally arrived at the scene, it was only a matter of
time before more British escorts appeared. The Germans had to act fast and sink the
merchant ships before the hellish Arctic ambiance ruined their ambush operation…
Running Out Of Time
On December 22, 1942, Allied convoy JW-51B left from Loch Ewe, Scotland, bound for the Soviet
port of Murmansk. The convoy was carrying vital supplies for the Soviet war effort.
The Red Army was currently fighting the Axis forces across the vast frontier of
the Soviet Union, and it was in dire need of food, ammunition, weapons, clothes, and
transports to keep the hostile invaders at bay. Still, time was running out for the Soviet forces,
and its numerically superior armed forces would not be able to resist for much longer.
The emblematic cities that bore the names of the Soviet heroes of the October Revolution,
Leningrad, and Stalingrad, were under siege, and Stalin could
not afford to lose them to the Wehrmacht. Convoy JW-51B comprised 15 transport ships
that were carrying more than 80 fighters, 30 bombers, 200 armored vehicles -most of
which were tanks-, over 24,000 tons of fuel, and 55,000 tons of all sorts of supplies.
However, making it safely through the Arctic was no easy endeavor, as German submarines operating
in wolfpacks made it difficult for convoys to survive the harsh and perilous journey.
More importantly, other German surface vessels were constantly hunting for easy prey,
and although the Kriegsmarine had turned more cautious after the
loss of the Bismarck battleship, the surface fleet still posed a threat.
Royal Navy Escort
Expecting not to suffer another loss as devastating as the attack on convoy
PQ17 early in the year, the British Royal Navy assembled a formidable escort for convoy JW51B.
The escort party was led by Captain Robert Sherbrooke and comprised six destroyers,
two light cruisers, two corvettes, two trawlers, and one minesweeper.
The accompanying destroyers were HMS Achates, Oribi, Orwell, Obedient, Obdurate,
and the flagship Onslow. They were joined by the Flower-class corvettes HMS Rhododendron
and Hyderabad, the trawlers Vizalma and Northern Germ, and the minesweeper HMS Bramble.
Besides having the British warships, convoy JW51B would benefit from the polar night, as it had
sailed during the winter. This would help conceal the vessels, but also worked against the British.
Still, the journey to the Soviet Union had a rough start.
The convoy was hit by a significant storm on December 28, almost a week into the voyage.
Furious winds scattered the ships, losing themselves in the
dark seas and breaking the formation. Nightfall and snow squalls resulted in
little to no visibility, further complicating regrouping. But thanks to the radar and the
efforts of the minesweeper Bramble as she went after the stragglers, the convoy took form again.
By the time the convoy linked up, Captain Roberto Sherbrooke had realized the storm
had pushed them further south and closer to the Germans stationed at Altenfjord.
The captain was also advised by the Admiralty that an unusual level of German radioactivity
across the Norwegian coast was detected. Fearing an upcoming attack, Sherbrooke ordered
the escort ships to stay frosty and remain alert for anything unusual showing up on the horizon.
The captain was right, and as the convoy made its way through the night, it was spotted by lone
U-boat hunter number 354. The fate of the Soviet Union now solely depended on what happened next.
Operation Rainbow On December 30, 1942,
U-354 radioed the Kriegsmarine about having spotted the Allied convoy.
As such, the German Navy began preparations for Operation Regenbogen almost immediately.
The plan called for a one-of-a-kind ambush in which every available German capital ship in
Norway would be dispatched to attack the Allied convoy bound for the Soviet Union.
Vice Admiral Oskar Kummetz assembled the forces at Altafjord and departed as soon as he could.
They comprised the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper,
the pocket battleship Lützow with its powerful 11-inch guns, and an escort of six destroyers,
Friedrich Eckholdt, Richard Beitzen, Theodor Riedel, Z29, Z30, and Z31.
The strategy envisioned by Kummetz was ambitious. The German ships would jointly depart from
Northern Norway and then separate into two equal groups to ambush the British convoy.
Admiral Hipper’s group would first attack from the north to attract the Royal Navy escort ships and
draw them out. This would leave the merchant ships vulnerable to an attack from the south,
in which the Lützow group would swiftly destroy the unarmed vessels.
The Allied convoy would be left defenseless and with no way out.
If successful, the operation would compensate for Admiral Raeder’s recent reverses at sea,
especially after the loss of the Bismarck battleship and several pivotal German ships.
Still, the plan was bold and could go wrong in many ways, significantly worrying the
Fuhrer. Adolf Hitler was simply unwilling to put Admiral Hipper and Lützow at risk.
As such, before departing from the base, Kummetz received a message stating:
(QUOTE) “Procedure on meeting the enemy: avoid a superior force,
otherwise destroy according to tactical situation.”
Making Contact
At approximately 8:30am on New Year's Eve, the lookouts from the Royal Navy corvette Hyderabad
spotted two unidentified vessels on the horizon. Visibility was still low, with constant snowfall,
and they could not be properly identified. The crew assumed they probably were friendly
Soviet ships approaching to escort them. About ten minutes later, the destroyer
Obdurate saw a third destroyer join the other two, and at around 9:30am,
Obdurate steamed straight towards the ships after they failed to identify themselves.
In the middle of the snowfall, Obdurate flashed a challenge with her lamp to confirm
if the vessels were, in fact, Soviet. The response was not the one expected.
The stillness of the night was interrupted by the flash of gunfire.
The three German destroyers, Friedrich Eckholdt, Richard Beitzen and Z-29 had opened fire.
Captain Sherbrooke’s escort immediately went into battle mode and began laying down a smoke screen
to conceal the movements of the merchant ships. Meanwhile, the British destroyers began exchanging
fire with their 4.7-inch guns against their three German counterparts. Soon, Admiral Hipper appeared
on the horizon and steamed straight into the fray with her four 8-inch twin-gun turrets.
The flagship Onslow almost collided with Hipper due to poor visibility from the
smoke and the snow. Still, Sherbrooke moved forward and went into combat fearlessly.
After severely damaging one of the British destroyers, Kummetz centered Hipper’s guns
on HMS Onslow. The British ships were overwhelmed, and they pulled back and
made mock torpedo runs to force Hipper to keep her distance. The trick worked, and Kummetz and
his crew fired blindly under the snow and smoke. Admiral Hipper then managed to land several hits
on Achates, with one of them hitting the ship’s bridge and putting down most of the command crew.
Still, the survivors kept laying the smokescreen until the ship capsized.
Meanwhile, as the battle raged on, the trawler Sea
Gem managed to rescue 81 crew members to protect the precious merchant ships.
An Unfortunate Hunt
During Admiral Hipper’s second run, she hit HMS Onslow four
times. Shrapnel made its way to the bridge and left Captain Sherbrooke badly injured.
Still, the ship and her captain kept fighting. But just as HMS Orwell was about to confront
the pocket battleship, the cruisers Sheffield and Jamaica joined the fight to even the odds.
The destroyers were part of Force R,
a fleet positioned nearby to support the convoy in case it was attacked.
At that moment, Kummetz knew the clock was ticking.
The Lützow group eventually arrived to join the fight, and a brief skirmish followed. However,
the Germans failed to identify their targets. Destroyer Friedrich Eckoldt put the minesweeper
Bramble out of commission in less than ten minutes, but the British also sent
Eckoldt to the depths of the ocean. Both ships went down with all their crews.
Kummetz knew there was a high probability that he would be surrounded by incoming ships,
and called to withdraw after Hipper was hit multiple times by the British destroyers.
Aftermath
Ultimately, none of the British merchant ships were damaged, and they effectively made it to
the Soviet Union to deliver their cargoes. Meanwhile, Hitler was enraged by the failure
and blamed Admiral Raeder, ordering him to scrap all of the Kriegsmarine’s 13 capital ships.
Raeder opted to resign instead of following the order,
which led to the appointment of Admiral Karl Dönitz as the new head of the German Navy.
As a direct result of the failed ambush, Germany would not commit another capital ship for the
rest of World War 2, and the naval strategy focused on the U-boat fleet from then on.
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