a position reported by the U-boat earlier in the morning. The reported position was out-of-date, and the destroyers missed the convoy. Scharnhorst ran south for several hours, once again taking advantage of its superior speed. Burnett pursued, but both Sheffield and Norfolk suffered engine problems and were forced to drop back, leaving the outgunned Belfast as the sole pursuer and dangerously exposed for a while. The lack of working radar aboard Scharnhorst prevented the Germans from taking advantage of the situation, allowing Belfast to reacquire the German ship on her radar set. Unbeknownst to Bey, his ship was now sailing into a trap, with Admiral Fraser's main force steaming towards Scharnhorst's position and perfectly placed to intercept the fleeing German ship. With Belfast sending a constant stream of radio signals on the Scharnhorst's position, the battleship Duke of York battled through the rough seas to reach the German ship. Fraser sent his four escorting destroyers to press ahead and try to get into torpedo-launching positions. The main British force soon picked up Scharnhorst on radar at 16:15 and were manoeuvring to bring a full broadside to bear. At 16:17 Scharnhorst was detected by Duke of Yorks Type 273 radar at a range of and by 16:32 Duke of Yorks Type 284 radar indicated that the range had closed to . At 16:48, Belfast fired star shells to illuminate Scharnhorst. Scharnhorst, unprepared with her turrets trained fore and aft, was clearly visible from Duke of York. Duke of York opened fire at a range of and scored a hit on the first salvo, disabling Scharnhorsts foremost turrets ("Anton" and "Bruno"), while another salvo destroyed the ship's aeroplane hangar. Bey turned north, but was engaged by the cruisers Norfolk and Belfast, and turned east at a high speed of . Scharnhorst was now being engaged on one side by Duke of York and Jamaica while Burnett's cruisers engaged from the other side. The Germans took continuing heavy punishment from Duke of York's 14-inch shells, and at 17:24 a desperate Bey signalled to Germany "am surrounded by heavy units". Bey was able to put some more distance between Scharnhorst and the British ships to increase his prospects of success. Two 11-inch shells from one of her salvoes passed through the masts of the Duke of York, severing some of the wireless aerials, and, more serious still, knocking over the radar aerial to the