![]() ![]() ![]() The British exploited decrypts of German radio messages coded with the Enigma machine, air reconnaissance by the RAF Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU) and agents in France to watch the ships and report the damage caused by the bombing. The short route up the English Channel was preferred to a detour around the British Isles for surprise and air cover by the Luftwaffe and on 12 January 1942, Hitler gave orders for the operation. In late 1941, Adolf Hitler ordered the Oberkommando der Marine (OKM German Navy High Command) to plan an operation to return the ships to German bases against a British invasion of Norway. Gneisenau was hit on 6 April 1941 and Scharnhorst on 24 July 1941, after dispersal to La Pallice. The ships were a threat to Allied trans-Atlantic convoys and RAF Bomber Command attacked them from 30 March 1941. ![]() More raids were planned and the ships were refitted at Brest. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau had arrived in Brest on 22 March 1941 after the success of Operation Berlin in the Atlantic. A Kriegsmarine (German Navy) squadron comprising the two Scharnhorst-class battleships, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and their escorts was evacuated from Brest in Brittany to German ports. The Channel Dash ( German: Unternehmen Zerberus, Operation Cerberus) was a German naval operation during the Second World War. To reposition Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen from Brest to German ports Part of the Atlantic Campaign of the Second World WarĪdmiral Alfred Saalwächter ( Marine-Gruppenkommando West) ![]() ( Unternehmen Zerberus/Operation Cerberus) ![]()
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