Today’s bit of memorabilia is a real collector’s item. It is a piece of a shell from the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst that found its way into my father-in-law’s cabin in HMS Norfolk on 26 December 1944 (then, Lt Micahel Pollock RN). As he was HMS Norfolk’s Gunnery officer he was busy on the bridge firing shells into Scharnhorst at the time and therefore (and very luckily), not in his cabin!
The action took place at about 75’N 28’E, off North Cape. Scharnhorst’s 5 destroyer escorts had returned to Norway due to the atrocious weather leaving her to be encircled by a force consisting of the Battleship Duke of York, the cruisers HMS Norfolk, HMS Belfast, HMS Sheffield and HMS Jamaica, plus 8 destroyers.
A short but vivid account of the sinking of the Scharnhorst can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_North_Cape
The Batle Cruiser Scharnhorst
The action took place at about 75’N 28’E, off North Cape. Scharnhorst’s 5 destroyer escorts had returned to Norway due to the atrocious weather leaving her to be encircled by a force consisting of the Battleship Duke of York, the cruisers HMS Norfolk, HMS Belfast, HMS Sheffield and HMS Jamaica, plus 8 destroyers.
A short but vivid account of the sinking of the Scharnhorst can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_North_Cape
The Batle Cruiser Scharnhorst
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