Radio reports let Fraser refine his approach while Type 273 search radar and Type 284 gunnery radar found Scharnhorst before Duke of York opened fire at roughly 12,000 yards. At that distance heavy armor offered little reassurance against repeated 14-inch hits. Early damage disabled forward turrets and wrecked the aircraft and hangar, while later boiler damage reduced speed enough for destroyers to close from both sides. Cruisers and destroyers then delivered successive torpedo attacks against a ship already trapped by radar-directed gunfire. The sinking was a coordinated fleet action rather than a battleship victory in isolation.
Notable Point · 12:05-17:49
Radar, close-range gunnery, and the destruction of Scharnhorst
This account of the final North Cape action follows Fraser's radar-led interception, Duke of York's close-range fire, and the destroyer torpedo attacks that finished Scharnhorst.