Operation Donnerkeil

Operation Donnerkeil
Part of the Western Front of World War II
Satellite view of the English Channel
Date 11–12 February 1942 Location English Channel, North Sea and northern Germany 50°N 02°W / 50°N 2°W / 50; -2 Result German victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom  Canada	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Sholto Douglas Philip de la Ferté Trafford Leigh-Mallory	Adolf Galland Max Ibel
Strength
~450 aircraft	252 Bf 109 and Fw 190 fighters[1][2] 30 Bf 110 Heavy fighters[2] 32 Dornier Do 217s
Casualties and losses
41 aircraft[3]	17 fighters 5 bombers 23 airmen killed[3]

Unternehmen Donnerkeil (Operation Thunderbolt)^[4][5] was the codename for a German military operation during the Second World War. Donnerkeil was an air superiority operation designed to support Operation Cerberus, the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) plan to evacuate capital ships from France to Germany (an operation known to the British as the Channel Dash).

In 1941, Kriegsmarine surface vessels had conducted commerce raiding operations in support of German U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic. Operation Berlin was launched in January 1941, followed by Operation Rheinübung in May. The Royal Navy's dominance prevented the German units from returning to ports in the Baltic Sea or Germany. The surviving ships, the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the cruiser Prinz Eugen, docked at the port of Brest, France. Throughout 1941, RAF Bomber Command repeatedly attacked the ships. The proximity of the port to Royal Air Force (RAF) airfields allowed for frequent sorties against the vessels. The Oberkommando der Marine (Naval High Command) and Adolf Hitler desired to move the ships out of range of air raids.

In December 1941, the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (High Command of the Air Force, OKL) was ordered to devise a plan to protect the three capital ships during their escape from Brest to Germany through the English Channel. General der Jagdflieger (General of the Fighter Force) Adolf Galland prepared the Luftwaffe's aircraft for the mission. Cerberus and its supporting air operation, Donnerkeil, began on 11 February 1942. The Germans achieved surprise during the initial phase of the operation; their ships reached Germany on 13 February 1942, two days after the operations began.

The Luftwaffe defeated British air attacks during the Channel Dash, enabling the naval contingent to reach German waters. In the air battles over the Channel, the British had significant losses. German losses were modest, and the operation achieved its objective.