The ships' stern was also frequently "wet", they were very slow entering a turn, and always required assistance from tugboats in shallow waters. The convoy was spotted again two days later, and it was determined that the course was definitively toward the Soviet Union. On 22 February, the pair spotted an empty convoy sailing west, though it dispersed at the appearance of the battleships. Burnett chose to keep his distance and shadow Scharnhorst with radar while Fraser made his way to the scene in Duke of York. With only turret Caesar operational, all available men were sent to retrieve ammunition from the forward turrets to keep the last heavy guns supplied. [51] She was hit twice by 20.3 cm (8 in) shells; the first failed to explode and caused negligible damage, but the second struck the forward rangefinders and destroyed the radar antenna. It added to the galloping sense of defeat stoked up by German losses on the Eastern front. Debates in Germany over the role and size of its navy continued through the 1920s, when increased naval shipbuilding in France and the Soviet Union prompted the Germans to begin drawing up designs for large capital ships. "German Battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau". [19], HMS Glorious photographed in May 1940 operating off Norway, At 17:45, the German battleships spotted the British aircraft carrier Glorious and two escorting destroyers, Ardent and Acasta, at a range of some 50,000 m (55,000 yd). [g] On 6 April, four Beaufort torpedo-bombers attacked Gneisenau after she had been moved to a buoy from dry dock. When Scharnhorst was built, she was faster than any ship of her type. Gneisenau's Seetakt radar picked up a radar contact at 04:30, which prompted the crews of both vessels to go to combat stations. Gerhard Johann von Scharnhorst (1755–1813)[1]Builder: At maximum elevation, the guns could hit targets out to 40,930 m (44,760 yards). During the battle of North Cape, a force led by the Royal Navy battleship HMS Duke of York sank Scharnhorst. The second 227 kg bomb fell forward of the rear main battery turret and penetrated the first two decks. [9][64] The ship sank in approximately 290 m (950 ft) of water. German Battleship Scharnhorst. [7] On 1 April 1942, Hoffmann, who had been promoted to Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) and awarded the Knight's Cross, transferred command of the ship to KzS Friedrich Hüffmeier. The battlecruiser was a symbol of Germany's global reach. [3] Construction was held up by 14 months, partly because Hitler wanted to secure the treaty with Britain before work began,[14] and partly due to numerous design changes after the ships had been ordered. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau participated in Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Norway. The forward and rear gun turrets were temporarily disabled, along with half of her anti-aircraft battery. Gneisenau was hit twice in the opening portion of the engagement, and one shell disabled her rear gun turret. The 10.5 cm gun mounts were equipped with 20 mm (0.79 in) gun shields. [41], Scharnhorst, Tirpitz, and nine destroyers embarked from Altafjord on an offensive on 6 September known as 'Operation Sicily'; the ships were tasked with bombarding the island of Spitzbergen. At 16:00 on 14 March, Scharnhorst dropped anchor in Bogen Bay outside Narvik. [38], Aerial reconnaissance photo of Scharnhorst in Kiel after the Channel Dash, While the ship was immobilized, Admiral Ciliax transferred to Z29. Both Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were equipped with two sets of Seetakt radar. Reports of heavy activity in British airfields near the coast prompted the force to return to port, however. The blast damaged the ship's circuit breakers and knocked out her electrical system for 20 minutes. She was powered by three Brown, Boveri & Cie geared steam turbines, which developed a total of 165,930 shaft horsepower (123,730 kW) and yielded a maximum speed of 31.5 kn (58.3 km/h) on speed trials. [8] In English language reference works they are sometimes referred to as battleships and sometimes as battlecruisers. The British fleet had a significant advantage: they were able to decrypt German naval codes, and were aware of Bey's intentions. After her commissioning, Gneisenau spent the first year of her career conducting trials and training cruises in the Baltic Sea. [36][37], Scharnhorst did not make the voyage unscathed, however; at 15:31 she struck an air-dropped magnetic mine in the mouth of the Scheldt, abreast of the forward superfiring turret. Admiral Fraser ordered his destroyers to approach the ship and torpedo her. A U-boat reported the convoy's location at 09:00 on 25 December, and Dönitz ordered Scharnhorst into action. The German warships were protected by poor visibility, however, and the three ships safely reached port later that day. [26], The underwater side protection had numerous faults. [39], The ship struck another mine off Terschelling on the starboard side at 22:34. The intention was to deploy the vessels to Norway to interdict Allied convoys to the Soviet Union. At 17:03, Scharnhorst opened fire, and three minutes later a salvo of her 28 cm guns hit Rawalpindi's bridge, killing the captain and the majority of the officers. [16], Because the maximum caliber of naval gun allowed under the Anglo-German Naval Agreement was 40.6 cm (16 inch), Hitler soon had second thoughts about the guns to be used for the new ships and ordered that they be armed with 38 cm (15 inch) weapons. The number of 2 cm guns was eventually increased to thirty-eight. The original straight stem was replaced with a raised "Atlantic bow." [60] One torpedo exploded abreast of turret Bruno, which caused it to jam. While waiting outside the port, Admiral Ciliax returned to the ship. The tests revealed that welded steel construction better withstood the impact of the 250 kg warhead than did riveted steel plates. |module2= 1 Introduction 2 Namesake 3 Profile 4 Attributes 5 Costumes 6 Quotes 7 Trivia 8 External Links Scharnhorst was the lead ship of her class, and a battleship built for the Kriegsmarine in the mid/late 1930s. The Germans' radar detected the British at long range, which allowed Lütjens to avoid the British patrols, with the aid of a squall. The turrets allowed depression of the guns to −8° and elevation to 40° for "A" and "C" turrets; "B" turret was capable of depressing to −9°. [25], Following the completion of repairs, Scharnhorst underwent trials in the Baltic before returning to Kiel in December 1940. Germany (1936) Battleships: Scharnhorst, Gneisenau The Kriegsmarine “terrible twins” The Scharnhost and Gneisenau were the first Kriegsmarine battleships, completed shortly before the start of WW2. At 13:15, Admiral Bey decided to call off the search and return to port. The aft radar, which possessed only a limited forward arc, was the ship's only remaining radar capability. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. A hit from Duke of York disabled "A" turret, and at 18:00, another hit penetrated the upper portion of the belt and caused significant damage to the engine room. [58], At around 18:00, another 14 in shell struck the ship on the starboard side, passed through the thin upper belt armor, and exploded in the number 1 boiler room. When used to engage surface targets, the guns had a maximum range of 17,700 m (19,357 yd) at an elevation of 45°. With the rudder hard over, the ships lost over 50% speed and heeled over more than 10°. Watch later. He did not realize that such "unsinkable" commerce raiders would provoke Great Britain more severely than 26,000-ton battlecruisers armed with 28.3 cm (11.1 inch) guns, which would be regarded as inferior to all the Royal Navy battleships and battlecruisers then in commission. The crew was augmented by another 10 officers and 61 men when serving as a squadron flagship. General characteristics Class & type: [61] Fraser then ordered Jamaica and Belfast to move into range and finish the crippled ship off with torpedoes. Less than ten minutes later, a shell from Gneisenau struck the bridge and killed Glorious's captain. [40] A second convoy was encountered on 22 February; Scharnhorst sank the tanker Lustrous,[39] while Gneisenau accounted for four cargo ships. The battlecruiser Scharnhorst sank on Dec. 8, 1914, with more than 800 crewmembers on board, including German Adm. Maximilian Graf von Spee.
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