Editing Channel Dash (section)

{{short description|German naval operation during the Second World War}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Channel Dash<br />({{lang|de|Unternehmen Zerberus}}/Operation Cerberus)
| partof            = the [[Battle of the Atlantic|Atlantic Campaign]] of the [[Second World War]]
| image             = File:Operation Cerberus-fr.svg
| image_size        = 250px
| caption           = Diagram of the course taken by Operation Cerberus (in French)
| date              = 11–13 February 1942
| place             = [[English Channel]]
| coordinates       = {{coord|50|58|45|N|1|44|09|E|type:event_region:GB_dim:200000|display=inline}}
| result            = German victory
| combatant1        = {{flagcountry|Nazi Germany}}
| combatant2        = {{UK}}
| commander1        = {{flagicon|Nazi Germany|naval}} [[Otto Ciliax]]
| commander2        = {{flagicon|UK|naval}} [[Bertram Ramsay]]
| strength1         = 2 battleships<br />1 heavy cruiser<br />6 destroyers<br />14 torpedo boats<br />26 [[E-boats]]<br />32 bombers<br />252 fighters
| strength2         = 6 destroyers<br />3 destroyer escorts<br />32 motor torpedo boats<br />{{circa|450}} aircraft
| casualties1       = 2 battleships damaged<br />1 destroyer damaged<br />1 destroyer lightly damaged<br />2 torpedo boats lightly damaged<br />22 aircraft destroyed (7 fighters) <br />13 sailors killed<br />2 wounded<br />23 aircrew killed (4 from JG 26)
| casualties2       = 1 destroyer severely damaged<br />Several MTBs damaged<br />42 aircraft destroyed<br />230–250 killed and wounded
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Western Front (World War II)}}
{{Campaignbox Atlantic Campaign}}
}}

The '''Channel Dash''' ({{langx|de|'''Unternehmen Zerberus'''}}, Operation Cerberus) was a German naval operation during the [[Second World War]].{{efn|{{langx|de|Zerberus}} ([[Cerberus]]), a three-headed dog of [[Greek mythology]] who guards the gate to [[Hades]].}} A {{lang|de|[[Kriegsmarine]]}} (German Navy) [[Squadron (naval)|squadron]] comprising two {{Sclass|Scharnhorst|battleship|2}}s, {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} and {{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}}, the heavy cruiser {{ship|German cruiser|Prinz Eugen||2}} and their escorts was evacuated from [[Brest, France|Brest]] in [[Brittany]] to German ports. ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' had arrived in Brest on 22 March 1941 after the success of [[Operation Berlin (Atlantic)|Operation Berlin]] in the Atlantic. More raids were planned and the ships were refitted at Brest. The ships were a threat to Allied trans-Atlantic convoys and [[RAF Bomber Command]] attacked them from 30 March 1941. ''Gneisenau'' was hit on 6 April 1941 and ''Scharnhorst'' on 24 July 1941, after dispersal to [[La Pallice]]. In late 1941, [[Adolf Hitler]] ordered the {{lang|de|[[Oberkommando der Marine]]}} (OKM; German Navy High Command) to plan an operation to return the ships to German bases in case of a British invasion of [[Norway]]. The short route up the [[English Channel]] was preferred to a detour around the British Isles for surprise and air cover by the {{lang|de|[[Luftwaffe]]}} and on 12 January 1942, Hitler gave orders for the operation.{{sfn|Koop|Schmolke|2014|p=111}}

The British exploited decrypts of German radio messages coded with the [[Enigma machine]], air reconnaissance by the RAF [[No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAF|Photographic Reconnaissance Unit]] (PRU) and agents in France to watch the ships and report the damage caused by the bombing. [[Operation Fuller]], a joint Royal Navy–RAF contingency plan, was devised to counter a sortie by the German ships against Atlantic convoys, a return to German ports by circumnavigating the British Isles, or a dash up the English Channel. The [[Royal Navy]] had to keep ships at [[Scapa Flow]] in Scotland in case of a sortie by the {{ship|German battleship|Tirpitz|up=yes}} from Norway. The RAF had sent squadrons from Bomber and Coastal commands overseas and kept torpedo bombers in Scotland ready for ''Tirpitz'', which limited the number of aircraft available against a dash up the Channel, as did the winter weather which reduced visibility and blocked airfields with snow.

On 11 February 1942, the ships left Brest at {{nowrap|10:45 p.m.}} (German time) and escaped detection for more than twelve hours, approaching the [[Strait of Dover]] without discovery. The {{lang|de|Luftwaffe}} provided air cover in {{lang|de|[[Operation Donnerkeil|Unternehmen Donnerkeil]]}} (Operation Thunderbolt) and as the ships neared Dover, the British belatedly responded. Attacks by the RAF, [[Fleet Air Arm]], Navy and bombardments by coastal artillery were costly failures but ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' were damaged by mines in the [[North Sea]] (''Scharnhorst'' was out of action for a year). By 13 February, the ships had reached German ports; [[Winston Churchill]] ordered an inquiry into the débâcle, and ''[[The Times]]'' denounced the British fiasco. The {{lang|de|Kriegsmarine}} judged the operation a tactical success and a strategic failure because the threat to Atlantic convoys had been sacrificed for a hypothetical threat to Norway. On 23 February, ''Prinz Eugen'' was torpedoed off Norway and after being repaired, spent the rest of the war in the Baltic. ''Gneisenau'' went into dry dock and was bombed on the night of {{nowrap|26/27 February,}} never to sail again; ''Scharnhorst'' was sunk at the [[Battle of the North Cape]] on 26 December 1943.