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Part 3
7th October 1939

The German Naval staff concerned about the mounting pressure on the two pocket battleships, orders units of the German fleet lead by the battlecruiser Sharnhorst along with the light cruiser koln and nine destroyers sortie towards the southern coast of Norway. The plan is to draw the home fleet across a line of four U-boats and into range of land based bombers of the Luftwaffe.

As soon as Admiral Forbes learns that the major units of the krigesmarine are attempting to break out into the north Atlantic, he issues orders for his main units north-east of the Shetlands where they could cover the exits to the Atlantic. These where the battleships Rodney and Nelson, the battlecruisers Hood and Repulse, the cruisers Aurora, Sheffield and Newcastle, the carrier HMS Furious along with twelve destroyers.

During the night HMS Furious along with HMS Repulse, Sheffield and four destroyers detach from the battle group and head south towards southern Norway. At day break Furious turns into the wind and lunches four Skuas for combat air patrol and four Swordfish tbr,s on a 100 mile search vectors. At 1015 a swordfish spots the German battlecruiser Sharnhorst and three destroyers escorting her. The swordfish manages to make a sighting report before a Ju 88 flying a recon mission sends it spiralling towards the water. On board HMS Furious catches the sighting report and launches 30 swordfish bi plane torpedo bombers carrying torpedoes, the Swordfish are ordered to put as many torpedoes into the Sharnhorst and Koln as possible.

11:10

On board Sharnhorst Admiral lutjens orders the group to retreat to Kiel and to get back under Luftwaffe air cover. With the Swordfish having missed their chance to deal a blow to the Germans, return to Furious. The operation is fruitless and with the Germans under fighter protection Admiral Arthur Dowding retreats back to Loch Ewe. During all this both the RAF and Luftwaffe bombers fail to find their targets and by the 11th October both the Krigesmarine and the Home Fleet are safely back in port.

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