By late 1942, the snow squall had taken its toll on both sides, and combined with the smoke deployed by the British vessels to conceal a convoy of 15 merchant ships carrying fighters, bombers, tanks, and several resources, the battlefield had turned into a series of minor skirmishes with little to no visibility.
If the convoy managed to deliver the goods to the Soviet port of Murmansk, there was a possibility the Soviet Union could survive the encirclement of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad.
Still, German Vice Admiral Oskar Kummetz was trying his best to lure away the enemy ships so that his second ambush force could attack from the south and lay waste to the rest of the convoy bound for the Soviet Union.
As the second group of German destroyers finally arrived at the scene, it was only a matter of time before more British escorts appeared.
The Germans had to act fast and sink the merchant ships before the hellish Arctic ambiance ruined their ambush operation…
