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.

Approach

Convoy JW 51B comprised fourteen merchant ships carrying war materials to the USSR; destroyers Achates, Orwell, Oribi, Onslow, Obedient, and Obdurate; corvettes Rhododendron and Hyderabad; minesweeper Bramble; and two trawlers Vizalma and Northern Gem. The convoy was under the overall command of 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 cover for the convoy. These two ships, known as "Force R", were under the command of Rear-admiral Robert L. Burnett, in Sheffield.

The German forces included heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper; pocket battleship Lützow; and destroyers Friedrich Eckholdt, Richard Beitzen, Theodor Riedel, Z 29, Z 30, and Z 31. These ships were based at Altenfiord in northern Norway, and were under the overall command of Vice-admiral Oskar Kummetz in Hipper.

Convoy JW 51B sailed from Scapa Flow 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 scatter. When the weather moderated, five merchantman, Oribi, and 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. When the report was received by the German Naval Staff, Kummetz was ordered to sail immediately with his force to intercept the convoy. Kummetz divided his force into two divisions led by Hipper and Lützow, respectively.

The Battle

Because the battle took place during the darkest time of the year and both the German and British forces were scattered and unsure of the positions of the rest of their own forces as well as the enemy's, the entire battle was a rather confused affair. During the battle it was not clear who was firing on whom or even how many ships were engaged.

At 0820 on December 31, the Obdurate, stationed south of the convoy, spotted three of the German destroyers to the rear (west) 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 confused firing, Hipper temporarily retired; the Germans were afraid the destroyers were making a torpedo attack, and Kummetz had been ordered not to risk his ships. Then Admiral Hipper made a second attack, hitting Onslow. Sherbrooke was badly injured by a splinter and gave command to Obedient.

Hipper then pulled north of the convoy, bumbled into 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 and eventually sunk.

This firing attracted the attention of Force R, still further to the north. Sheffield and Jamaica opened fire on Admiral Hipper at 1130. 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 hidden by smoke from the sinking 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. This was shortly after noon. Burnett with Force R continued to shadow the German ships at a distance until it was evident that they were retiring back to their base, while the ships of the convoy re-formed and continued towards Kola Inlet.

Aftermath

The German attack on convoy JW 51B was a complete strategic failure since all fourteen of the merchant ships reached their destinations in the USSR. Even more critically for the outcome of the war, Adolf Hitler was so infuriated at what he perceived as the uselessness of the surface raiders that he ordered the entire German surface fleet to be decommissioned and scrapped, and for the German Navy to concentrate exclusively on U-boat warfare.