Fraser was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet in May 1943 and appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1943 Birthday Honours. In the role of Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet, he commanded the Royal Navy force that destroyed the German battleship "Scharnhorst" at the Battle of the North Cape on 26 December 1943. Units of the Home Fleet regularly escorted convoys to Murmansk in the Soviet Union: Fraser was convinced that "Scharnhorst" would attempt an attack on Convoy JW 55B, and put to sea in his flagship to reach a position between the convoy and the German battleship's base in North Norway. "Scharnhorst" had her fighting ability destroyed by repeated hits from "Duke of York" and her speed reduced by a 14-inch shell hit to a boiler room, which deprived her of the ability to escape. She was then hit by an initial wave of four torpedoes and, after concentrated gunfire and further torpedo attacks, sank at 7.45 pm that night. Thus Fraser avenged the destruction of his old command, HMS "Glorious", by "Scharnhorst" three years earlier. After the action Fraser and his fleet returned to Murmansk for re-fueling.