Operation Wunderland

Operation Wonderland/Unternehmen Wunderland
Part of the Arctic Theatre of the Second World War
Date 16–30 August 1942 (1942-08-16 – 1942-08-30) Location Kara Sea Result German victory
Belligerents
Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Hubert Schmundt Wilhelm Meendsen-Bohlken	Arseniy Golovko Anatoli Kacharava V. V. Baluntsev
Strength
Admiral Scheer Friedrich Eckoldt Erich Steinbrinck Richard Beitzen U-209 U-251 U-456 U-601	Northern Fleet
Casualties and losses
Nil	~ 80 men killed Sibiryakov sunk 5 cargo ships sunk 2 cargo ships damaged 2 gunboats damaged

Operation Wonderland (Unternehmen Wunderland) was an operation from 16 to 30 August 1942 by the Kriegsmarine in the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea off the Arctic coast of the Soviet Union. The operation was an attack on Soviet shipping using the Northern Sea Route which ran along the Soviet Arctic coast from the Bering Strait, westwards along Siberia to the Kara Sea. The operation was the first part of a campaign to dominate the seas of the western Arctic. Reports from Japanese naval intelligence alerted the Germans to the sailing of a convoy, EON-18.

The German cruiser Admiral Scheer supported by five U-boats and reconnaissance aircraft sailed on 16 August for the Kara Sea where it encountered pack ice. The cruiser carried an Arado Ar 196 reconnaissance floatplane which found several groups of ships. Admiral Scheer sank the icebreaker A. Sibiryakov and bombarded the Soviet base at Dikson before returning to its base at Kirkenes in northern Norway. The meagre result obtained by Admiral Scheer was exceeded by the U-boats in the operation.