Scharnhorst

Scharnhorst, circa 1939.

History

Design

With the commissioning of the last Deutschland-class vessel in 1936, the Kriegsmarine found itself in possession of warships that could outrun almost every ship that outgunned them, while being able to outgun almost every ship that could outrun them. The few exceptions to this were the British battlecruisers HMS Renown, HMS Repulse, and HMS Hood, and the Japanese battleships of the Kongo class. The entry of Deutschland and her sister ships into service led the French begin designing a new class of battlecruisers — the Dunkerque class — which would be larger, stronger, and faster.

Having learned the intended operational specifications of Dunkerque and her sisters, German designers began development on improved versions of the Deutschland-class, known as Panzerschiff D and Panzerschiff E. Shortly after, however, the French laid down Strasbourg, which was a more heavily-armored Dunkerque and would again outclass the nascent German designs. The Kriegsmarine responded by designing an even more powerful ship, this time with a third turret — to help overcome the difference in firepower between the two classes — a tougher armor scheme, and a stronger propulsion to allow high speeds.

This step was — strictly speaking — not entirely legal. The Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany from possessing any warship in excess of 10,000 tons displacement. With the new class being designed for a displacement in excess of 30,000 tons, they were in clear violation of their treaty obligations. Subsequently, Hitler reached out to Great Britain and initiated negotiations of a new Anglo-German Naval Treaty, which partially legitimized the construction of the new ships. Whether the treaty fully covered the legitimacy of the new ships remains topic of discussion even today.

The armament of these ships consisted of three triple turrets with 283mm guns, the same caliber as those found on the Deutschland class. However, these guns were modified to increase their performance: the barrel was lengthened, and the weight of the shell increased. Additionally, the reloading and hoist system saw an improvement to allow a faster rate of fire, with reloads of 17 seconds being achieved during trials. Despite these improvements, German command knew that the 283mm guns were not competitive against larger surface units and planned early on to replace these guns with more powerful 380m twin turrets (the same as would later be mounted on the Bismarck class). One of the reasons to not install the turrets from the get-go was to not provoke the ire of their British neighbors, as negotiations with them were ongoing.

The secondary armament was a mixed load out of twelve 150mm guns, mounted in four twin and four single mountings, and a dual purpose battery of seven twin 105mm guns. In 1942 — following the usage of these ships as merchant raiders — both Scharnhorst and Gneisenau received two triple torpedo launchers that had been removed from light cruisers Nürnberg and Leipzig. The mid-range anti aircraft armament consisted of eight twin 37mm Flakzwilling 30, which were designed as a weapon against medium bombers; against mono planes, however, these guns would have limited effectiveness. Short range AA was provided by a steadily increasing number of 20mm guns in both single and quad mountings.

The propulsion was upgraded from the Deutschlands. Unlike the diesel propulsion of their immediate predecessors, the Scharnhorst class went back to traditional steam propulsion, able to crank out 125,000 shaft horsepower across three shafts; output could be pushed up to over 160,000 in times of great need. This gave the Scharnhorst class a design speed of 31 knots, with the highest noted speed being above 33 knots. A stern catapult would allow them to operate seaplanes for the purposes of scouting.

The protection of the Scharnhorst class was drastically improved. The main armor belt was 350mm thick, and behind it followed a 105-110mm strong turtleback, which would deflect shells away from the vitals at short combat ranges. The horizontal protection consisted of a 50mm strong main deck, and the vital areas had an additional 80-95mm strong armored deck.

During their service these ships saw several modifications. The most important ones were the addition of an Atlantic bow in 1939 to improve the seaworthiness, the removal of the optical rangefinders of the A-turret in 1941 due to the lenses being constantly coated with water, the aforementioned addition of triple-tube torpedo launchers in 1942, and the continual addition of radar and sensory equipment for the purpose of detecting and engaging opposing vessels.

Service

Scharnhorst officially completed trials in July 1939 and all modifications were completed near the end of August 1939. She began World War II by returning to Kiel where she received repairs for blast damage sustained during training. On 21 November 1939, both Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were ordered to sea in the Arctic. During this patrol, they encountered and sank the armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi, returning to Germany for maintenance in January 1940.

Having completed a second, failed sortie into the North Sea, the pair returned to port in time to participate in the invasion of Norway. Sailing in April, they, along with ten destroyers, were to cover the invasion of Narvik. Encountering HMS Renown on 9 April, Gneisenau came off the worse in an inconclusive engagement, with Scharnhorst sustaining significant environmental damage from the heavy seas.

Returning to port and making good all damage, both Scharnhorst and Gneisenau again sailed in support of German operations in Norway in June. On 8 June 1940, they encountered aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and her escorts, destroyers HMS Ardent and HMS Acasta. They sank Glorious, but Scharnhorst was torpedoed by Acasta and was forced to make for Trondheim. Scharnhorst eventually returned to Germany in June, but it would be the end of the year before she was back in action.

In late December 1940, both Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sailed as part of Operation Berlin in the Atlantic. Forced back to port by bad weather and mechanical failures, both ships returned within days, but sortied again on 22 January 1941. This time they managed to break into the Atlantic, and proceeded to sink twenty-two ships, returning to Brest in occupied France in March 1941. Here they became favorite targets of the Royal Air Force, with both ships being severely damaged and spending much of the year under repair and refit. It was here where both ships were refit with torpedo banks that had been landed by cruisers Leipzig and Nürnberg.

Having been joined in the meantime by cruiser Prinz Eugen on 11 February 1942, both Scharnhorst and Gneisenau left Brest for Operation Cerberus (which famously became known as the "Channel Dash"). While the force managed to evade British attacks, both Gneisenau and Scharnhorst struck mines, Scharnhorst twice. All ships reached Kiel on 13 February. Scharnhorst spent several months under repair.

It was not until January 1943 when Scharnhorst was finally returned to action, and she was sent to the Arctic. With the increasing presence of Allied air and sea power, Scharnhorst failed to make port in Narvik until March, her earlier attempts having been abortive. Moving to Altafjord, she remained at anchor — with the exception of a single sortie with Tirpitz — until December 1943.

Her final voyage (which is now referred to as the Battle of the North Cape) began on Christmas Day, 1943. Ordered to intercept two Russia-bound convoys, she sortied with five destroyers under the command of Konteradmiral Erich Bey. Having intercepted one of the convoys on 26 December, Scharnhorst, which had separated from her destroyer screen, was in turn intercepted by the convoy screen, which contained battleship HMS Duke of York, heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk, light cruisers HMS Belfast, HMS Jamaica, and HMS Sheffield, and eight destroyers. Engaged, Scharnhorst fought against numerically superior forces blind, as her FuMO 27 radar was disabled early on due to shellfire from Norfolk. Eventually, Scharnhorst was damaged by gunfire, then torpedoed, finally sinking with heavy loss of life.

Historical Inaccuracies

• Scharnhorst’s camouflage represents her appearance when she was sunk in the Battle of the North Cape in December 1943. She is still wearing her coat of arms which was removed in September 1939.
• Scharnhorst’s camouflage when she took part in Operation Zitronella in September 1943 is missing.
• Scharnhorst’s paint scheme during Operation Cerberus in February 1942 is also missing.

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  The wappen (coat of arms) of Scharnhorst.

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  Launching ceremony of Scharnhorst, 3 October 1936.

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  Scharnhorst underway, date and location unknown.

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  Scharnhorst, circa 1939.

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  Scharnhorst in port during the winter of 1939–1940.

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  Scharnhorst in Kiel during the winter of 1939-1940.

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  An icy view of Scharnhorst's forward battery, 1939-1940.

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  Scharnhorst in port.

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  Scharnhorst firing against HMS Glorious.

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  Scharnhorst at sea.

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  Gneisenau (fore) and Scharnhorst (distance) as seen from Prinz Eugen during Operation Cerberus, February 1942.

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  Second view of Gneisenau (fore) and Scharnhorst (distance) from Prinz Eugen during Operation Cerberus, February 1942.

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  Aerial reconnaissance photo of Scharnhorst in Kiel after the Channel Dash, 1942.

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  Scharnhorst in Altafjord, Norway, 1943.

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  Survivors from Scharnhorst disembarking in Scapa Flow.

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  Memorial in Wilhelmshaven, Germany for Scharnhorst's crew.