Operation Juno

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Operation Juno was a German naval offensive late in the Norwegian Campaign. The German ships involved were the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Admiral Hipper and the destroyers Karl Galster, Hans Lody, Erich Steinbrinck and Hermann Schoemann.

The mission was launched on June 8th, 1940, as an attack on Harstad to relieve pressure on the German garrison at Narvik. After refuelling at Jan Mayen Island the mission became unnecessary as the Allies were evacuating from Norway. On his own initiative, however, the German commander, Admiral Marschall, decided to seek and destroy the Allied transports. The troop transport Orama, the tanker Oil Pioneer and the minesweeper HMS Juniper were sunk. Marschall ordered the Hipper and the destroyers to Trondheim, where they arrived in the morning of June 9th.

Next day, the Hipper attempted to leave Trondheim, but was forestalled by the sighting of a British submarine.

The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau had remained at sea and they intercepted and sank the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and its two escorting destroyers, HMS Acasta and Ardent. Despite this notable success, Scharnhorst was hit by a torpedo from Acasta which damaged the middle and starboard engines and the aft turret {"Cäsar"). She returned to Trondheim, for emergency repairs and returned to Kiel. The withdrawal of these two warships allowed the remaining Allied convoys to reach Britain with a greatly reduced threat.

A subsequent operation on June 20 by Gneisenau, Hipper and a destroyer was abandoned when Gneisenau was torpedoed by the submarine HMS Clyde.