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The Action off Lofoten was a naval battle fought between the German ''Kriegsmarine'' and the British Royal Navy off the southern coast of the Lofoten Islands, Norway during World War II. A German squadron under ''Vizeadmiral'' Günther Lütjens consisting of the battleships and met and engaged a British squadron under Admiral Sir William Whitworth consisting of the battlecruiser and 10 destroyers. After a short engagement, ''Gneisenau'' suffered moderate damage and the Germans withdrew. ==Background== The German invasion of Norway, Operation Weserübung, began on 9 April 1940. In order to prevent any disruption of the invasion by the British, the ''Kriegsmarine'' had previously dispatched a force under Vice Admiral Günther Lütjens to protect the troop convoy landing at Narvik. The German squadron consisted of the battleships ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'', the heavy cruiser , and 10 destroyers. With intelligence suggesting that the Germans were massing ships, the British sent out a squadron under Admiral Sir William Whitworth to deny German access to neutral Norwegian waters by laying mines in Operation Wilfred and prevent any German naval movements into the Atlantic Ocean.〔O'Hare 2004, p. 17.〕 Shortly after departing German waters on 7 April, Lütjens′ force was attacked by British bombers which did no damage to the squadron. On 8 April, ''Admiral Hipper'' and the German destroyers were dispatched to Narvik while the German capital ships headed north for a diversionary manoeuver into the North Atlantic. As ''Admiral Hipper'' left, she met and engaged the British destroyer which had become separated from Admiral Whitworth′s main force.〔Miller 1995, p. 59.〕 Though ''Vizeadmiral'' Lütjens—and the two German battleships—was nearby, their assistance was deemed unnecessary, and ''Admiral Hipper'' sank ''Glowworm'', though taking some damage in return.〔Miller 1995, p. 60.〕 Whitworth′s main force then caught sight of the ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' at 03:30 on 9 April and moved to engage the battleships.〔Miller 1995, p. 62.〕 Whitworth′s force consisted of the battlecruiser ''Renown'' and the nine remaining destroyers. , , , and were "H"-class destroyers while was an "E"-class destroyer and , , and were of the "I" classs. was of the "G" class.〔O'Hara 2004, p. 22.〕 ''Renown'' had been completely reconstructed between 1936 and 1939, with lighter machinery, increased armour and upgraded armament. She mounted a main battery of six 42-calibre 15-inch guns with improved shells and greater range and a dual-purpose secondary battery consisting of twenty 4.5 inch (QF 4.5 inch L/45) arranged in ten turrets [The four "I" and "E"-class destroyers had been rigged for mine laying and most of their normal armament had been removed; they only possessed two guns each. ''Greyhound'' and the "H"-class destroyers were more capable ships, with each armed with eight torpedo tubes and four 4.7-inch guns. Of the H-class destroyers, ''Hardy'' was built as a destroyer leader and thus had an additional 4.7-inch gun.〔O'Hare 2004, p. 22.〕 The German force consisted of the two ''Scharnhorst''-class battleships, each with a main battery of nine 28.3 cm guns and a secondary battery of twelve 15 cm guns. In a close range engagement, the British force was superior, but at a distance the guns on Whitworth′s destroyers were outranged and the German firepower was greater. The German force also held a speed advantage over ''Renown'', having a top speed of to the battlecruiser′s , but was slower than the destroyers, which could steam at .〔O'Hare 2004, p. 22.〕 Thus, Lütjens clearly held an advantage over ''Renown'', though the German force was significantly vulnerable to attack from Whitworth′s destroyers.〔Lunde 2009, p. 112.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Action off Lofoten」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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