# 1942 CHANNEL DASH by KRIEGSMARINE WARSHIPS SCHARNHORST GNEISENAU PRINZ EUGEN (Print 3) 20470a

Made for the home market in Germany during WWII, this silent film "German warships break through the Channel" shows the "Channel Dash" operation of the Kriegsmarine in 1942. The film begins with images of Brest harbor, as German ships plan a breakout thru the Dover Strait. At :35 Admiral Erich Raeder is seen addressing crew prior to the start of the operation. At :49 a map shows the strategic situation with ships leaving Brest. At 1:05 an E-boat or torpedo boat escorts the fleet into the Channel. At 1:13, Admiral Otto Ciliax is shown at the bridge of the Scharnhorst. At 1:37 a warship with dazzle camouflage paint is seen in the foreground. At 1;42 Luftwaffe planes provide cover. At 2:00 the operation reaches its climax as the ships pass between Dover and Calais. An alarm is sounded at 2:21 and crew scramble for their guns. At 2:30 the Germans begin firing at British aircraft. After a long defensive battle the Gneisenau, Scharnhorst and Prinz Eugen are shown intact. At 5:17 the crew assembles in friendly waters. The crew is congratulated by Admiral Raeder and Admiral Otto Ciliax, who led the operation aboard the Scharnhorst, is given the Knights Cross. The Channel Dash or Unternehmen Zerberus (Operation Cerberus) was a German naval operation during World War II. A Kriegsmarine squadron of both of the Scharnhorst-class battleships, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and escorts, ran a British blockade from Brest in Brittany. In late 1941, Adolf Hitler ordered Oberkommando der…

- Kind: Short
- Year: 1942
- Runtime: 6 min
- By: PeriscopeFilm
- Genres: Industrial and advertising, Propaganda
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/GermanShipsCrackThroughTheEnglishChannel)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/GermanShipsCrackThroughTheEnglishChannel?play=1)