Action of 28 January 1945

Action of 28 January 1945
Part of the Second World War
HMS Diadem in 1944
Date 27/28 January 1945 Location Waters off Bergen, Norway Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton	H.F. von Wangenheim Karl Hetz
Strength
2 light cruisers	3 destroyers Shore batteries
Casualties and losses
1 killed, 3 wounded 2 light cruisers lightly damaged	55 killed, 24 wounded 1 destroyer heavily damaged 1 destroyer lightly damaged

The action of 28 January 1945 was an inconclusive naval battle of the Second World War fought between two British Royal Navy light cruisers and three Kriegsmarine (German navy) destroyers near Bergen, Norway. The battle was the last of many actions between British and German warships off Norway during the war and the second-to-last surface engagement to be fought by the Kriegsmarine. It resulted in heavy damage to one of the German destroyers and light damage to another destroyer and both British cruisers.

Shortly after midnight on the night of 27/28 January, as the three destroyers of the German 4th Destroyer Flotilla were sailing from northern Norway to the Baltic Sea, they were intercepted by the British cruisers HMS Diadem and Mauritius. The destroyers Z31 and Z34 were damaged by gunfire but the German flotilla outran the slower British ships and escaped. The German warships eventually reached the Baltic, though Z31 was delayed until repairs were completed in Norway.