Operation Cerberus, carried out on 12 February 1942, was a high-risk naval manoeuvre executed by the German Kriegsmarine. It involved three capital ships—the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen—making their way from Brest to their home bases in Germany. The ships had been stationed in Brest since 1941, where they had come under constant threat from British air raids. With the Eastern Front escalating and Allied convoys supplying the Soviet Union via Arctic routes, the German command opted to redeploy its surface fleet to Norway, where they could pose a renewed threat.

Rather than navigating around the British Isles via the long and heavily patrolled northern route, Adolf Hitler chose the shortest but riskiest path—through the English Channel, passing directly in front of British coastal defences. Despite reservations from naval commanders like Admiral Otto Ciliax, the plan was approved. Preparations included extensive mine-sweeping, radar jamming, and deception tactics. British intelligence had hints of movement, but poor coordination and radar failures meant the Germans left Brest unspotted.

The most dangerous point of the route was the Dover–Calais corridor, where the ships came within range of British shore batteries. Moving at high speed in zigzag formation, the flotilla avoided serious damage despite heavy fire. British aircraft, including outdated Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers, launched valiant but ineffective attacks. The Worcester, one of the few destroyers deployed, was heavily damaged by return fire.

The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau struck mines near the Dutch coast, sustaining damage, but reached Germany. The Prinz Eugen remained largely intact. The operation, although tactically successful, marked a strategic withdrawal. It acknowledged the increasing vulnerability of Germany’s surface fleet in the Atlantic. The Scharnhorst was later sunk in December 1943, the Gneisenau never returned to service, and the Prinz Eugen ended the war as a training vessel before being sunk during atomic testing in the Pacific.

Operation Cerberus demonstrated boldness, meticulous planning, and rare Luftwaffe–Kriegsmarine cooperation. However, it also signaled the end of German ambitions for surface naval dominance in the Atlantic.