Sinking of Sibiryakov

25 August 1942, Kara Sea, near Belukha Island

German success; Sibiryakov sunk, but the raid was given away

In Operation Wunderland Admiral Scheer was sent round the north of Novaya Zemlya into the Kara Sea to attack Soviet convoys on the Northern Sea Route, where no German warship had been. Ice and fog kept her from the convoys. On 25 August 1942 she met the old icebreaking steamer A. Sibiryakov, carrying supplies and people to the polar stations. Captain Anatoli Kacharava refused to stop, radioed a warning to the mainland, and opened fire with his small guns. Scheer sank her in minutes, and an engineer opened the sea cocks so the Germans could not take her. Scheer took a few prisoners; most of the rest were killed. The warning cost the Germans surprise.