History of the Scharnhorst Class

The German Navy always designated the Scharnhorst Class ships as battleships. I have included them because they fit into the battlecruiser type in every way except name: they were faster than any enemy battleship, carried less firepower than enemy battleships, and their protection left much to be desired. As raiders, they were more than capable of destroying any cruiser, and able to outrun any British capital ship that threatened them.
These two vessels were the most potent ships available to the Germans when the war started, which in itself speaks volumes about how unprepared Germany was for the war.
Originally intended as additional Panzerschiff, the appearance of the French Dunkerque Class caused the redesign of these vessels into far more powerful units. Protection against the French 13" gun was needed, but size limitations of available slipways limited displacement to 26,000 tons. A higher speed than was possible with diesel propulsion was called for, so a new and unproven high-pressure steam plant was chosen. Two triple 11.1" turrets were to be carried, and two ships were ordered. They were laid down as Panzerschiff D and E.

Click HERE for specs and line drawing of Panzerschiff D & E


In July of 1934, Hitler had a change of heart and decided to allow a third turret, to increase the fighting power of these two vessels. Work was immediately halted, and the little bit of construction that had been done was broken up on the slipways.
A considerable delay was incurred while the entire project was redesigned. Various proposals were put forth, including 15" gunned vessels. But to expedite construction and avoid provoking Britain, the 11.1" gun was retained, but now in three triple turrets. They were of an improved type over the ones used on the Panzerschiff, being longer and with a higher muzzle velocity.
The resulting vessel was of 35, 540 tons, but they were publicly declared to be of only 26,000 tons. They were without a doubt the weakest capital ships of their day, having an obsolete turtle-deck protection system, poor underwater protection, small main guns, and a propulsion system that did not fit below the armored deck. However, they were faster than any other capital ship, so they could choose the terms of engagement. They were poor seaboats, and had to be rebuilt with new "Atlantic bows" almost immediatly. This helped some, but the forward turret was often un-usable in heavy seas, and the ships were damaged by heavy weather more than once in there careers. The main problem was that the vessels lacked freeboard, and were overloaded by design modifications and extra equipment from the day they entered service.
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau led active lives. Gneisenau was heavily damaged by RAF bombers in 1942, so she was removed from service. Work was started to rebuild her with 15" twin turrets, of a modified design fitted to the Bismarck Class battleships. One of her original turrets survives as shore battery museum in Norway. This conversion work was cancelled in 1943, and the ship was eventually scuttled as a block ship. Scharnhorst was sunk at the Battle of North Cape by the British battleship Duke of York and several cruisers.

Click HERE for specs and drawing of the Gneisenau conversion

Scharnhorst:

Jun - Aug 1939 Rebuilt with new bow

WWII Service:

Nov 1939 Atlantic sortie with Gneisenau, sank British auxiliary cruiser Rawalpindi
9 Apr 1940 Action with Gneisenau against British battlecruiser Renown off Norway
8 June 1940 With Gneisenau sank British carrier Glorious and destroyers Acasta and Ardent off Norway. Hit by one torpedo from Acasta. Hit Glorious at 26, 465 yards, one of the longest hits ever on a moving target.
Jan-Mar 1940 Atlantic sortie with Gneisenau, together sank 22 ships
22 Jul 1941 Damaged by 5 RAF bombs at La Pallice
13 Feb 1942 Channel Dash from Brest to Kiel with Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen, struck 2 mines
Aug 1942 Collided with U-523, briefly drydocked
8 April 1943 Explosion in auxiliary machinery space, 34 killed,repairs took 14 days
10 Feb 1942 Ran aground avoiding a U-boat, drydocked 24-26 Feb
8 Sep 1943 Bombarded Spitzbergen
26 Dec 1943 Sunk while attempting to engage convoy JW 55B off North Cape, by British battleship Duke of York, and cruisers Norfolk, Belfast, Sheffield, and Jamaica. 1,803 killed.

Gneisenau:

30 Jun - 8 Jul 1938 maiden voyage North Sea and Atlantic, sea going performance not acceptable
Oct - Dec 1938 Rebuilt with new bow
Jun - Jul 1939 Cruise to mid-Atlantic and Canary Islands

WWII Service:

Nov 1939 Atlantic sortie with Scharnhorst, sank British auxiliary cruiser Rawalpindi
9 Apr 1940 Action with Scharnhorst against British battlecruiser Renown off Norway, struck three times
5 May 1940 Struck mine in Baltic Sea
8 June 1940 With Scharnhorst sank British carrier Glorious and destroyers Acasta and Ardent off Norway.
20 June 1940 Torpedoed by British submarine Clyde off Trondheim
Jan-Mar 1940 Atlantic sortie with Scharnhorst, together sank 22 ships
6 April 1940 Torpedoed by British aircraft at Brest
10 Apr 1941 Damaged by 4 RAF bombs at Brest
13 Feb 1942 Channel Dash from Brest to Kiel with Scharnhorst and Prinz Eugen, struck mine
27 Feb 1942 Severely damaged by RAF bombs at Kiel, bow and forward turret destroyed
1 Jul 1942 Decommissioned, turrets and damaged bow removed
Jan 1943 Repairs suspended on Hitler's orders
27 Mar 1945 Hull scuttled as block ship at Gotenhafen
1947-51 Partially broken up by Polish salvage operation
12 Sep 1951 Hulk re-floated and then broken up

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