Action off Lofoten 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 battleship s and met and engaged a British squadron under Admiral Sir William Whitworth consisting of the battlecruiser and 10 destroyer s . 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 mine s in Operation Wilfred and prevent any German naval movements into the Atlantic Ocean . 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 ship s 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 . 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 . Whitworth ′ s main force then caught sight of the " Scharnhorst " and " Gneisenau " at 03 : 30 on 9 April and moved to engage the battleships . Whitworth ′ s force consisted of the battlecruiser " Renown " and the nine remaining destroyers . , , , and were " H " - class destroyer s while was an " E " - class destroyer and , , and were of the " I " class s . was of the " G " class . " 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 tube s 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 . 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 gun s . 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 . Thus , Lütjens clearly held an advantage over " Renown " , though the German force was significantly vulnerable to attack from Whitworth ′ s destroyers . Battle . At 04 : 30 , " Gneisenau " sighted " Renown " on its radar and the German ships cleared for action . Due to poor weather conditions , neither side was able to engage the other until 05 : 05 , as heavy seas and poor visibility prevented the two squadrons from closing within range . " Renown " began the action by attacking " Gneisenau " with her 15 - inch guns . The German warships returned fire at 05 : 08 with " Gneisenau " scoring two hits on " Renown " with her 11 inch shells . Both shells failed to explode , with the first hitting the British battlecruiser ′ s foremast and the second passing through the ship near the steering gear room . About the same time , " Renown " struck " Gneisenau " with two shells . These hits damaged the German battleship ' s director tower , forward range finders , and aft turret . " Renown " then moved her fire to " Scharnhorst " . These early salvos were sporadic and lasted until 06 : 00 , when the engagement was broken off for 20 minutes due to waves breaking over " Renown " ′ s forward turrets . At 06 : 20 , the action reignited , with ineffectual fire coming from both sides . Fearing a torpedo attack on the damaged " Gneisenau " , the Germans increased their speed and disengaged at 07 : 17 . The German battleships retreated when " Renown " ′ s escorts opened fire , despite the fact that the destroyers ′ guns did not have sufficient range to successfully engage Lütjens ′ ships . The Germans mistook Whitworth ′ s smaller vessels for much more powerful capital ships and as a result thought they were heavily outgunned . Determined to steer clear of what he thought was a superior force , Lütjens managed to shake off the British squadron and end the action by sailing west into the Arctic Ocean . Aftermath . Despite the Royal Navy winning a minor tactical victory over the " Kriegsmarine " , the Germans considered the engagement a strategic success due to the fact that Whitworth ′ s force was delayed long enough to keep it from interfering with the landings at Narvik . After the action had ended , Whitworth ′ s force continued to search for the German capital ships . With the British squadron occupied , the German destroyer - transports managed to make their way through to Narvik after destroying two Norwegian coastal defence ship s in their path . After their engagement with " Renown " , the German battleships linked up with " Admiral Hipper " on the 11th near Trondheim . From there , they returned to Germany , reaching Wilhelmshaven on 12 April where the damage to " Gneisenau " was repaired .