Battleship HMS Duke of York

Waves crashing over the bow, HMS Duke of York steaming at 20 to 25 knots during an Arctic convoy to Russia (photographed from the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious).*
Waves crashing over the bow, HMS Duke of York steaming at 20 to 25 knots during an Arctic convoy to Russia (photographed from the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious).*

On Christmas Day 1943 the most important Arctic Battle of WWII took place between a Royal Navy Battle Group with the flagship HMS Duke of York and the German Battleship Scharnhorst . Historians and interested parties all around the world are publishing in this period about this event and Expedition Arctic Ocean Raptor wants to spread their thoughts. Please feel free to write to the Expedition Team and its Chief Historian for your thoughts to be published.

The Story of the Battleship HMS Duke of York on Wikipedia

FAMOUS QUOTE from British Fleet Commander Admiral Bruce Fraser after the Arctic Battle underlining the great respect seamen had in front of each another**

“Gentlemen, the battle against the Scharnhorst has ended in victory for us. I hope that any of you who are ever called upon to lead a ship into action against an opponent many times superior, will command your ship as gallantly as the Scharnhorst was commanded today.”

Admiral Bruce Fraser

 

*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HMS_Duke_of_York_during_an_Arctic_convoy.jpg

**Garzke, William H.; Dulin, Robert O. (1985). Battleships: Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-101-0  – page 176

24 July – 7 August 2016 Historic Research Offshore Sailing Expedition to the edge of the world