Operation Zarin
Operation Zarin (German: "Tsarina") was a mining operation off the north-west coast of Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Ocean, conducted between 24 September and 28 September 1942 by the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and the four destroyers Z23, Z28, Z29, and Z30.
Background
During the battle for convoy PQ-17 the Germans had noticed that freighters were going so far as possible North in the Arctic, and were using the coasts of Novaya Zemlya as cover to go to Murmansk or Archangelsk. In reaction the operation Zar (German: "Tsar") was lauched : on 24 August the minelayer Ulm was sent to Cape Zhelania, the Nortern point of the Novaya Zemlya to lay there a minefield. The sortie of the Ulm was detected by Ultra and the British were able to redirect 3 destroyers from a nearby task force to intercept her. The British destroyers Martin, Marne and Onslaught found the Ulm on 25 August and sunk her, before she could lay her minefield.[1][2] A new operation was needed.
Sortie
After a false start on 23 September, the Admiral Hipper under command of Counter Admiral Wilhelm Meisel left the bases in the Altafjord the next day with 96 sea mines on her decks. The overall command is in hands of Vice Admiral Oskar Kummetz. Z23, Z28, Z29 and Z30 escorted Admiral Hipper until the morning of 26 September. In the evening the minefield is laid on the north-west coast of Novaya Zemlya.[3] The Admiral Hipper picked up radio traffic from ships nearby and Meisel wants to investigate, but Kummetz is more prudent and returns to the destroyers. The ships arrived back in the Kaafjord on 28 September.[4]
Aftermath
No ships are know to have run into the minefield.
Footnotes
- ^ Rohwer 1992, p. 156.
- ^ Kemp 1993, p. 100.
- ^ Rohwer 1992, p. 165.
- ^ Brennecke 2003, pp. 216–219.
References
- Brennecke, Jochen (2003). Eismeer Atlantik Ostsee. Die Einsätze des Schweren Kreuzers Admiral Hipper [Arctic, Atlantic, Baltic: The Operations of the Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper] (in German). Munchen: Heyne. ISBN 3-453-87084-0.
- Kemp, Paul (1993). Convoy!. Casell. ISBN 0-304-35451-1.
- Rohwer, J.; Hummelchen, G. (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-105-X.
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