Defence of the Sworbe peninsula

23 October – 24 November 1944, Sworbe (Sõrve) peninsula, Ösel (Saaremaa), Estonia

Soviet victory; the Germans evacuated Sworbe by sea

After the Red Army took most of the island of Ösel in October 1944, the Germans held on to the Sworbe peninsula at its southern tip, which commanded the Irben Strait into the Gulf of Riga. Their last big ships came to support the garrison with their guns, the first time since 1940 they had fought together. Lützow shelled Soviet positions on 23 and 24 October and helped beat off an attack; Soviet aircraft hit the destroyer Z28, killing nine men. When the Soviets attacked again in November, Prinz Eugen fired some 500 shells, and Admiral Scheer relieved her with destroyers and torpedo boats, beating off air attacks. On the night of 23–24 November the navy took off about 4,500 men to Windau in Courland, and the peninsula fell.