Convoy QP 11

The German command sent the three destroyers of Zerstörergruppe "Arktis", Z7 Hermann Schoemann, Z24 and Z25 under the command of Kapitän zur See Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs, to attack QP 11 and then sink HMS Edinburgh.[4] The German ships reached the convoy in the afternoon on 1 May. The weather was cold, and intermittent snow and rain limited visibility.[4] Hermann Schoemann opened fire at 14:05. The four British destroyers formed up between the German destroyers and the convoy, and engaged them at a range of about 10,000 yd (9,100 m).[4] Amazon was hit twice and severely damaged. At 14:30 a German torpedo salvo hit and sunk the Soviet freighter Tsiolkovski.[4] At 17:50 the German destroyers retired and turned to go after Edinburgh.[4]

The German forces found Edinburgh 250 nmi (460 km; 290 mi) east of the convoy at 06:17 on 2 May. The cruiser was moving at only two knots.[2] The Edinburgh was being escorted by Foresight, Forester, the four British minesweepers and Rubin (Gremyaschi and Sokrushitelny having returned to Murmansk due to a lack of fuel).[1] The three German destroyers engaged the British ships. Due to the damage caused by U-456, Edinburgh was unable to maneuver and could only steam in circles.[4] A snow shower separated Herman Schoemann from the other German destroyers, so it attacked the British ships alone.[4] Edinburgh's targeting systems had been destroyed by the torpedo explosions but its gunners managed to hit and cripple Hermann Schoemann.[2] At 18:45, Z24 and Z25 arrived. Z25 hit and disabled Forester and then badly damaged Foresight.[4] At 18:52 a salvo of torpedoes from one of the German destroyers missed Foresight and Forester. One of the torpedoes from this salvo kept going and struck Edinburgh in the middle of its left side, opposite the hole made by U-456's torpedo.[2] Shortly thereafter the German ships withdrew, possibly because they overestimated the strength of the British minesweepers.[4] At 08:15, Z24 rescued most of the crew of Hermann Schoemann who were still on the deck and then scuttled it.[4] More survivors from Hermann Schoemann who were in life rafts were later rescued by U-88.[1] The minesweepers Harrier and Gossamer took survivors off of Edinburgh, which was later sunk by a torpedo from Foresight.[1]