The German Fleet at War, 1939-1945 by Vincent O'Hara

Author:Vincent O'Hara [O’Hara, Vincent P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781612513973
Publisher: Naval Institute Press

Action Off Syltefjord, 21 January 1943

TIME:

2123–2230

TYPE:

Interception

WEATHER:

Full moon, winds SW force 4 to 5 three to five miles

VISIBILITY:

SEA STATE:

Calm, sea state 1 to 2

SURPRISE:

Soviet

MISSION:

Soviets—interception based upon general intelligence; Germans—escort and transit

Even as Germany’s capital ships swung at anchor in the northern fjords, protected by torpedo nets, fog machines, and heavy antiaircraft batteries, her light forces were at sea every day engaged in the mundane tasks that are the foundation of sea power. Germany relied on shipping along the coastal waters of Norway’s deeply indented arctic shoreline to sustain its divisions struggling to advance on Murmansk and, after their drive stalled, for the exploitation of the area’s valuable nickel and iron ore resources. In the first six months of 1942 alone, 872 transports carrying 2,608,057 tons of supplies plied the route between Kirkenes and Narvik. The Soviets attacked this traffic with submarines, aircraft, and motor torpedo-boats; they used heavier units much more rarely, but their destroyers did conduct several surface sweeps and once they attacked a German convoy.

Destroyers were the largest units in the Soviet Northern Fleet up through 1944. The Soviet Union began the war with five modern and three old destroyers. They were supported by three larger torpedo boats, two minelayers, seven guardships, fifteen submarines, and fifteen subchasers/patrol boats.17 During 1942 a flotilla leader, Baku, and three destroyers (Razumnyi, Razyaryonnyi, and Revnostnyi) transferred from the Pacific Fleet (the voyage took exactly three months, 15 July to 14 October) raising the destroyer force stationed at Murmansk to eight modern units and one destroyer leader after one of the original ships, Sokrushitelny, foundered in the Barents Sea during a storm. The fleet commander, Admiral A. G. Golovko, defined the mission of these destroyers to be interdiction of enemy traffic by raids, laying offensive minefields, and day or night torpedo or gunfire attacks (but not protection of Allied convoys). The opportunity for two units of this force to carry out a mission came just three weeks after the German defeat in the Battle of the Barents Sea. On 19 January 1943 Soviet radio interception units learned of a German convoy sailing for Kirkenes. On 20 January Baku and Razumnyi under Captain First Class P. I. Koltchin stood out from Kola Inlet to search for this convoy, proceeding west at twenty knots four miles off the coast.

The German minelayer Skagerrak, accompanied by M322 and M303 had sailed from Hammerfest at 1700 hours on 20 January to lay an antisubmarine mine barrage off North Cape. After she successfully discharged her load of 130 mines, the submarine hunters UJ1104 and UJ1105 joined Skagerrak’s flotilla; together they continued east for Kirkenes to pick up a new load of mines. M322 led the formation followed by M303 with the minelayer six hundred fifty yards astern. UJ1105 was sixteen hundred yards to seaward of Skagerrak following UJ1104, a little closer to shore guarding against any threats that might appear out of the offing. They were sailing at eleven knots roughly one mile off the shore’s steep, snowy cliffs.

The Germans

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