The Battle of the North Cape was a naval battle of World War II, fought on December 26 1943 off North Cape at the north of Norway between the German Kriegsmarine and the British Royal Navy.
The German battlecruiser (or light battleship) Scharnhorst had gone to attack an arctic convoy heading to Russia. The Admiralty aided by Ultra intercepts anticipated the move and she was caught by the radar-equipped battleship Duke of York, the cruiser Jamaica and the destroyers Saumarez, Savage, Scorpion and Stord while HMS Belfast, Norfolk and Sheffield kept the Scharnhorst in play. Scharnhorst was finally sunk by Belfast and Jamaica with torpedos with the loss of all but 36 members of her crew, most perishing in the icy waters as the Duke of York had retreated to avoid submarine attack.
