Lütjens got the damaged German capital ships home, but he knew that doing so abandoned the destroyers at Narvik. He had helped build the German destroyer arm and had selected and trained Commodore Friedrich Bonte. Bonte died when Wilhelm Heidkamp was destroyed. Raeder endorsed the withdrawal because preserving Germany's only operational capital ships was the assigned priority. The loss of Bonte and the force affected Lütjens personally.
Notable Point · 1:56:26-1:59:18
Saving the capital ships meant abandoning the force Lütjens had built
The withdrawal preserved Scharnhorst and Gneisenau but left the Narvik destroyers, including officers Lütjens had selected and trained, without capital-ship support.