Admiral Scheer approached Port Dikson in northern Russia at 0105 hours, intending to attack the command center of the Soviet Northern Sea Route with a 180-man landing party, not knowing the port was well-defended with 50 NKVD troops, 300 militia, 2 anti-tank guns, 1 anti-aircraft gun, 1 750mm howitzer, and large caliber coastal guns. As Admiral Scheer approached to bombard, Soviet flagship Dezhnev was disabled at 0145 hours (7 were killed), followed by Soviet ship Revolutionary. To Admiral Scheer's surprise, 152mm coastal guns opened fire; although the Soviet coastal gun crews could not see through the thick smoke from Dezhnev and Revolutionary and could only fire in Admiral Scheer's general direction, it was enough to force Admiral Scheer to break off the attack. At the end of the engagement, Port Dikson saw its radio station, oil depot, coal storage, and power station damaged or destroyed.
