Operation Berlin (Atlantic)

Operation Berlin (Atlantic)
Part of the Battle of the Atlantic of the Second World War
The German battleship Gneisenau in 1939; she served as the flagship for Operation Berlin
Date 22 January — 22 March 1941 Location Atlantic Ocean Result German victory
Belligerents
Germany	United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Günther Lütjens	John Tovey
Strength
2 battleships	Large numbers of warships and aircraft
Casualties and losses
None	22 merchant ships sunk or captured

Operation Berlin (German: Unternehmen Berlin) was a raid conducted by the two German Scharnhorst-class battleships against Allied shipping in the North Atlantic between 22 January and 22 March 1941. It formed part of the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II. The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sailed from Germany, operated across the North Atlantic, sank or captured 22 Allied merchant vessels, and finished their mission by docking in occupied France. The British military sought to locate and attack the German battleships, but failed to damage them.

The operation was one of several made by German warships during late 1940 and early 1941. Its main goal was for the battleships to overwhelm the escort of one of the convoys transporting supplies to the United Kingdom and then sink large numbers of merchant ships. The British were expecting this given previous attacks, and assigned battleships of their own to escort convoys. This proved successful, with the German force having to abandon attacks against convoys on 8 February as well as 7 and 8 March. The Germans encountered and attacked large numbers of unescorted merchant ships on 22 February and 15–16 March.

By the end of the raid, the German battleships had roamed widely across the Atlantic, ranging from the waters off Greenland to the West African coast. The operation was considered successful by the German military, a view generally shared by historians. It was the last victory achieved by German warships against merchant shipping in the North Atlantic, with the sortie made by the battleship Bismarck in May 1941 ending in defeat. Both Scharnhorst-class battleships were damaged by air attacks while they were in France and returned to Germany in February 1942.