Description
Book SynopsisThe Kriegsmarines
Scharnhorst was a German capital ship, described either as a battleship or battlecruiser, and the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship,
Gneisenau. She was launched on 3 October 1936 and completed in January 1939, armed with nine 28cm C/34 guns in three triple turrets. She operated with
Gneisenau for much of the early portion of World War II, including sorties into the Atlantic to raid British merchant shipping. They took part in Operation
Weserübung (AprilJune 1940), the German invasion of Norway, during which they sank the aircraft carrier HMS
Glorious and her escort destroyers
Acasta and
Ardent.
Scharnhorst also sank HMS
Rawalpindi in November 1939. In early 1943,
Scharnhorst joined the
Tirpitz in Norway to intercept Allied convoys to the Soviet Union. On a sortie from Norway to attack a convoy, the German force was intercepted by British ships and during the Battle of the
