Sinking of the Scharnhorst

Scharnhorst sailed from Langfiord in Norway with five destroyers on the afternoon of Christmas Day to attack convoy JW55B which had been detected south-west of Bear Island. As the close covering force with the convoy were the British cruisers Belfast, Sheffield and Norfolk. Covering the convoy, something over 100 miles to the south-west, were the King George V battleship Duke of York (C-in-C Home Fleet, Adm Sir Bruce Fraser), the cruiser Jamaica and four destroyers.