Here is my list of capital-ship (i.e. large-caliber gun) actions in WWII. As far as I know, this list covers every time gunfire of 11" or greater was fired at warships by warships in WWII. Numbers 10, 11 and 28 are exceptions in that no shots were fired at all in the first two, and in the last the battleship did not engage. They are included because the presence of battleships was vital in the first two, and the last would have been the last time a battleship fired on another major warship. 1. Scharhorst (Gneisnau standing by) vs. Rawalpindi; Denmark Strait; November 1939. 2. Graf Spee vs. Ajax, Achilles, Exeter; Battle of the River Plate; December 1939 3. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau vs. Renown (with destroyers) off Lofoten Islands, April 1940. 4. Warspite (and destroyers) vs. German destroyers; 2nd Battle of Narvik; April 1940. 5. Scharnhorst and Gneisnau vs. Glorious and destroyers; evacuation from Norway; June 1940. 6. Hood, Valiant and Resolution (with fleet and a carrier) vs. Dunkerque, Strasbourg, Provence, and Bretagne (plus destroyers); at Mers-El-Kibir (Oran); July 1940. 7. Warspite (with Malaya and Royal Sovereign in support but not engaged) vs. Conte di Cavour and Giulio Cesare; Battle off Calabria; July 1940. 8. Barham and Resolution (with supporting squadron) vs. incomplete Richelieu (with suporting ships and batteries); Dakar; September, 1940. 9. Admiral Scheer vs. HMS Jervis Bay; convoy in North Atlantic; November 1940. 10. Ramillies, covering a convoy, faced down Scharnhorst and Gneisnau, whose orders were to avoid actions with a high probability of damage, and they retired with no shots fired by either side; North Atlantic; February 1941. 11. Malaya, covering a convoy, faced down Scharnhorst and Gneisnau, whose orders were to avoid actions with a high probability of damage, and they retired with no shots fired by either side; North Atlantic; March 1941. 12. Vittorio Veneto (with cruisers and destroyers) vs. RN cruiser sqdn.; Battle of Cape Matapan; March 1941. 13. Warspite, Valiant, Barham (with destroyers) vs. Zara and Fiume (and destroyers); Battle of Cape Matapan; March 1941. 14. Bismarck (with Prinz Eugen) vs. Prince of Wales and Hood; Battle of Denmark Strait; May 24, 1941. In the early hours of May 25, Bismark fired a few salvos at cruiser Suffolk. Prince of Wales may have fired in return. 15. Bismarck vs. Rodney and King George V (with Norfolk, Dorsetshire); 500 miles WNW of Brest; May 1941. 16. Gneisnau (with Prinz Eugen and destroyers, Scharnhorst out of formation with mine damage) vs. RN destroyers off Netherlands; February 1942. 17. Littorio (with cruisers and destroyers) vs. convoy and light cruiser/destroyer escort; 2nd Battle of Sirte; March 1942. 18. Massachusetts vs. incomplete Jean Bart, at Casablanca, November 1942. 19. Massachusetts (with cruisers and destroyers) vs. Vichy destroyers and destroyerleaders; off Casablanca; November 1942. 20. Hiei and Kirishima (with DD sqdn) vs. USN cruiser/destroyer task force; 1st Night Battle of Guadalcanal; November 1942. 21. Washington (with South Dakota withdrawing due to loss of power after engagement with cruisers and destroyers) vs. Kirishima (and cruiser/destroyer support); 2nd Night Battle of Guadalcanal; November 1942. 22. Lutzow (plus Hipper and destroyers) vs. convoy and Sheffield and Jamaica; Battle of the Barents Sea; December 1942. 23. Scharnhorst vs. Norfolk, Belfast, Sheffield off North Cape, December 1943. 24. Scharnhorst vs. Duke of York (with cruiser/destroyer support) off North Cape, December 1943. 25. New Jersey and Iowa (with cruiser/destroyer support) vs. CL (training) Katori and destroyers at Truk Lagoon; February 1944. 26. West Virginia, Tennessee, California, Maryland (due to poor fire control radar, Pennsylvania did not fire and Mississippi fired only 2 salvos) (with substantial cruiser and destroyer support) vs. Yamashiro (Fuso sunk by DD torpedos without engaging BBs) (with some supporting vessels) in Battle of Surigao Strait (part of Battle of Leyte Gulf); October 1944. 27. Yamato, Nagato, Kongo, Haruna (with strong cruiser and destroyer forces) vs. escort carriers with destroyers and destroyer-escorts; Battle off Samar (part of Battle of Leyte Gulf); October 1944. 28. Richelieu (standing by but not engaged) as RN destroyers vs. Haguro; Malacca Strait; May 1945. Back to MWAN # 130 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2004 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com