Spearfish torpedoes Lützow

11 April 1940, Skagerrak, north of Skagen

British success; Lützow crippled

Lützow, until a few months before the Deutschland, had been hit by the Oscarsborg guns at Drøbak, and was ordered home to be repaired before an Atlantic raid. Crossing the Skagerrak at speed in the dark early on 11 April 1940, she passed the submarine Spearfish, on the surface charging her batteries. Lieutenant-Commander John Forbes fired a full salvo. One torpedo hit right aft, blowing away her propellers and rudder and nearly tearing off her stern; 15 men were killed. She drifted helpless towards the Danish coast until tugs towed her to Kiel, and she was out of action for a year.

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