When the German battleship "Scharnhorst" was relocated to Norway, it was deemed necessary to provide heavy protection for all convoys bound for Russia. On 25 December, "Scharnhorst" was reported at sea. Initial contact was made the following day by the cruisers of Force 1 ("Belfast", "Norfolk" and "Sheffield") but following a brief engagement, "Scharnhorst" was able to outdistance the cruisers. Meanwhile, Force 2, which included "Duke of York", was able to close to range and "Duke of York" opened fire on "Scharnhorst", scoring multiple hits at ranges in excess of 12,000 yards. "Scharnhorst" scored two hits upon "Duke of York" during the engagement, both of which hit masts and failed to explode. One of "Duke of York"s shells exploded in "Scharnhorst"s number one boiler room, slowing her significantly and allowing British destroyers to close to torpedo range. Their torpedo hits allowed "Duke of York" to close to a range of 10,400 yards before opening fire once again. All "Scharnhorsts" turrets were silenced and shortly afterwards "Scharnhorst" sank with the loss of over 1,700 men.