Between the beginning of November and the middle of December 1943, no less than three eastbound and two westbound Arctic convoys reached their destinations without loss and the Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, Grand Admiral Doenitz, came under increasing pressure to sanction a sortie by one of Germany's few remaining heavy surface ships to interrupt the flow of supplies via the Arctic convoy route. 

The Scharnhorst (IWM neg HU 1042)

On the evening of 25 December, the battle cruiser Scharnhorst, her mess decks adorned with traditional Christmas decorations, set sail from Langefjord with five destroyers. 
Her mission: to attack and destroy Convoys JW 55B and RA55A as they passed the northern tip of Norway. 

Unknown to the Germans, British Intelligence was intercepting and decyphering German signals and within hours the Admiralty had informed the Commander-in-Chief Home Fleet, Admiral Fraser, that Scharnhorst was at sea, giving him plenty of time to dispose his forces. While Rear-Admiral Burnett in HMS Belfast, with the cruisers Norfolk and Sheffield, screened the convoys and kept Scharnhorst in play, Admiral Fraser, in the battleship HMS Duke of York, accompanied by the large light cruiser HMS Jamaica and four destroyers, would cut her off from the south.

HMS Duke of York opens fire. (IWM neg A7550)

Early on the morning of Boxing Day, 26 December, the Scharnhorst, having lost contact with her destroyers, encountered Burnett and his cruisers only to be driven off after being hit by one of HMS Norfolk's 8-inch shells. After a further unsuccessful attempt to break through the convoys, the Scharnhorst retreated at high speed with Belfast and Sheffield in hot pursuit, driving the enemy towards Admiral Fraser and the 14-inch guns of HMS Duke of York. Shortly after gaining radar contact, the Duke of York succeeded in hitting the German battle cruiser with her first salvo.

Although Scharnhorst twisted and turned, she was unable to shake off her tormentors and eventually her fire slackened sufficiently to allow Admiral Fraser to send in his destroyers. Hit by at least three torpedoes and pounded by heavy artillery at point blank range, the battle cruiser was now dead in the water. Finally, the Belfast and Jamaica were ordered to sink her with torpedoes. Even as HMS Belfast fired, Scharnhorst's radar blip vanished, to be followed by a series of muffled underwater explosions as she slipped beneath the waves. Only thirty-six of her complement of 1,963 men survived.