Action of 28 January 1945 The Action of 28 January 1945 was an inconclusive naval battle of the Second World War fought between two British Royal Navy light cruiser s and three " Kriegsmarine " ( German navy ) destroyer s near Bergen , Norway . The battle was both the last of many actions between British and German warships off Norway during the war , and the second last surface engagement to fought by the " Kriegsmarine " . It resulted in heavy damage to one of the German destroyers and light damage to another destroyer and both British cruisers . Shortly after midnight on the night of 27 / 28 January , as the three destroyers of the German 4th Destroyer Flotilla were sailing from northern Norway to the Baltic Sea , they were intercepted by the British cruisers and . In the resulting engagement , the destroyers " Z31 " and " Z34 " were damaged by gunfire but the German flotilla outran the slower British ships and escaped . All the German warships eventually reached the Baltic , though " Z31 " was delayed until repairs were completed in Norway . Background . The " Kriegsmarine " s 4th Destroyer Flotilla comprised the " Narvik " - class destroyer s " Z31 " , " Z34 " , and " Z38 " . By January 1945 , these ships had been stationed in northern Norwegian waters for three and a half years , but had only occasionally put to sea during 1944 . Due to Germany ' s deteriorating position , the flotilla was directed in January to leave Norwegian waters and return to the Baltic . The three destroyers departed Tromsø on the 25th of the month . The Royal Navy ' s Home Fleet conducted a number of attacks on German shipping travelling off the coast of Norway during January 1945 . These included successful attacks by motor torpedo boats on three escorted ships between 6 and 8 January and the interception of a convoy by the heavy cruiser and light cruiser near Egersund on the night of 11 / 12 January . On 27 January , the escort carrier s , and departed the Home Fleet ' s main base at Scapa Flow to conduct a raid against shipping near Vaago which was designated Operation Winded . The carriers were escorted by the heavy cruiser and six destroyers . The British were alerted to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla ' s movement by Ultra signals intelligence . The commander of the Home Fleet , Admiral Henry Moore , was informed that the destroyers had sailed on 27 January , shortly after the three carriers and their escort had put to sea . He believed that the German ships were likely to use a route between the coastal islands and the shore , as was common for the " Kriegsmarine " . If this route was used , it would be preferable for strike aircraft of No . 18 Group RAF to attack the destroyers as Norway ' s inshore waters were protected by naval mine s and coastal batteries . Alternatively , the German ships could make a high - speed night passage outside of the coastal islands . In case an offshore route was used , Moore ordered Vice Admiral Frederick Dalrymple - Hamilton , the commander of the 10th Cruiser Squadron , to sail with the cruisers " Diadem " and " Mauritius " and patrol off Bergen . The Home Fleet did not have any destroyers available to accompany Dalrymple - Hamilton ' s force , though Moore considered but decided against cancelling the carrier operation in order to make some of these ships available . Battle . Contrary to British expectations , the commander of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla , Captain H . F . von Wangenheim , chose to take the faster route outside of the coastal islands . On the evening of 27 January , the destroyers were spotted and attacked by British aircraft whilst west of Sognefjord , but continued their voyage . Contact was made between the two naval forces at 00 : 48 am on 28 January . At this time , the 4th Destroyer Flotilla was proceeding south and was located about southwest of the Utvær lighthouse and northwest of Bergen . The sea was calm and visibility was excellent due to a full moon . The British and German forces spotted each another simultaneously ; at the time the cruisers were about west of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla . Upon sighting the destroyers , the British ships fired star shell s to illuminate the area and turned to the south on a course parallel to that of the German ships . " Z31 " suffered extensive damage early in the battle . She was struck by seven shells , which caused her to catch fire , damaged the hydrophone compartment and torpedo transmitting stations and destroyed her forward gun turret . " Z31 " s speed was not affected , but casualties were heavy , with 55 sailors killed and another 24 wounded . After " Z31 " was damaged , Commander Karl Hetz on board " Z34 " assumed command of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla . " Z34 " made two torpedo attacks on the British cruisers in an attempt to force them to change course , but this was not successful . " Z38 " also tried to launch torpedoes , but had to break off this attack when her funnel caught fire and a boiler tube burst . " Z34 " suffered a hit on her waterline during this period . After " Z34 " was damaged , Hetz decided to turn to the north and attempt to outrun the British cruisers . " Z34 " fired a third salvo of torpedoes as the flotilla made this turn , again without result , and the three ships laid smoke screen s in an attempt to conceal their position . The two cruisers also turned north to chase the German ships . This led to a running battle in which " Mauritius " sustained a hit on her mess deck that did not cause any casualties and " Diadem " was struck on her boat deck by a shell six minutes later that killed one man and wounded three . The German destroyers were capable of making while " Diadem " had a maximum speed of and " Mauritius " . As a result , the German vessels gradually pulled ahead and came under the protection of shore batteries at about 2 : 00 am . The British ships broke off the pursuit and returned to Scapa Flow after these batteries fired on them . Aftermath . Early in the morning of 28 January , the 4th Destroyer Flotilla resumed its journey south and put into Bergen . " Z31 " entered one of the town ' s docks to be repaired while " Z34 " and " Z38 " departed on the evening of 28 January . The two ships were attacked from the air the next day , but did not suffer any damage and sheltered in a fjord south of Stavanger during daylight hours . They put to sea again on the evening of 29 January and eventually reached Kiel in Germany on 1 February . At Bergen , " Z31 " received initial repairs , which included removing the wreckage of her forward turret . She departed the town on 8 February bound for Horten . After arriving safely in this port she received further repairs and had her anti - aircraft armament upgraded . Her forward turret was not replaced , but a gun was mounted instead ; this was intended to be a temporary measure but remained in place for the remainder of her career . After these repairs were completed , " Z31 " eventually reached Gotenhafen on 15 March . The last German destroyer remaining in northern Norwegian waters , " Z33 " , sailed for Germany on 5 February 1945 but ran aground while en route and suffered further damage in the Allied " Black Friday " air raid on the ninth of the month . Following repairs , she arrived at Swinemünde on 2 April . Both the British and German navies were dissatisfied with the results of the battle on 28 January . The British were disappointed with the action ' s inconclusive result , and Admiral Moore regretted his decision to not cancel the escort carrier operation so that destroyers could be attached to the cruiser force . However , historians have judged that the combination of excellent visibility on the night of 27 / 28 January and the superior speed of the German destroyers meant that the British had no ability to force a result . In a post - war assessment , First Sea Lord Admiral Andrew Cunningham endorsed the tactics Dalrymple - Hamilton used during the engagement , but stated that the size of the British force was " inadequate " . The " Kriegsmarine " was also unsatisfied with the conduct of the battle , with German naval authorities believing that the destroyers should have taken shelter in coastal waters after they were sighted by Allied aircraft on the evening of 27 January . The action of 28 January was the final battle between British and German warships in Norwegian waters during World War II . It was also the second last surface action fought by the " Kriegsmarine " , with its final engagement taking place on 18 March 1945 when a force of two torpedo boat s and a destroyer was defeated by two British destroyers in the Battle of the Ligurian Sea on 18 March 1945 . By this time , most of the " Kriegsmarine " s remaining warships were stationed in the Baltic Sea where they supported German military operations and the evacuation of civilians until the end of the war in May .