The position, extents and actions of the June 8th, 1940 battlespace are recorded in the greatest detail by the victors, in this case the German combatants onboard Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The vanquished, in this case the sailors of HMS Glorious, Ardent and Acasta also supply crucial details in defining the battlespace. However, due to he loss of all three Royal Navy ships and the limited number of survivors the data from the British combatants is limited.
During my initial research it became clear that nearly all post-war publications on the events of June 8th accepted the position recorded in the German Commander’s Battle Reports (Gefechtsberichte Flottemkommando PG-34803) and not the positions recorded within the German ship’s logs.
Within the several German accounts a number of positions are recorded and we will analyze each of these as part of the study
In addition to historical documentation from the battle, analysis of the battlespace by modern historians in the post war era has produced a number of locations for the engagement. These proposed positions have spanned 20-30 nautical miles and in certain studies have helped fuel the controversy surrounding the presence of HMS Devonshire.
Before we proceed with modeling the events of the battle we should first confirm that the available data from Glorious, Ardent, Acasta’s survivors, official Royal Navy reports and third party rescue vessels supports or contests the geographic boundaries of the battlespace given by the German combatants.
However, it is essential to acknowledge that mistakes, oversights, biases, and omissions may occur either deliberately, accidentally, or unknowingly during the initial and subsequent recording, translation, and interpretation of these accounts.
Any analysis of WWII battle reports should also consider the soundness and limitations of available data sources, especially navigational observations used to ascertain the combatant’s position. These are observations and not the precise GPS fixes that we are use to today
To aid in the development of a comprehensive survey framework, we must first identify and consider any biases that may impact our calculation of a prospective search area.
We will also need consider, where practical, commonplace, and probable errors that may or may not be present in our data sources.
The aim is to recognize that the historic data is not infallible and is severely limited by the technology of the time. By acknowledging this and modeling errors alongside the verbatim data, will help chart the ”most probable” location of the battle and the wrecks.