Scharnhorst

"Scharnhorst ever onwards."

- Rear Admiral Erich Bey, Captain of the Scharnhorst, 26 Dec. 1943, while being pursued by 13 British warships.

One of the few color photographs of Scharnhorst, believed to be taken on Hitler's birthday, April 20, 1939.

 

 

Scharnhorst was a famous World War II battleship of the German Kriegsmarine, named after the Prussian general Gerhard von Scharnhorst and to commemorate the World War I cruiser SMS Scharnhorst that was sunk in the Battle at the Falkland Islands in 1914. The Scharnhorst usually sailed into battle with her sistership, the equally famous Gneisenau. The feared duo were known as The Ugly Sisters and sank many merchant ships in the North Atlantic. In a well known engagement they also sank the British Carrier HMS Glorious and her two accompanying destroyers. Neither would survive the war afloat with the Scharnhorst's reign coming to an especially violent end.

 

 

She spent almost 16 months being built before she was launched on 3 October 1936. The ship was christened by the widow of Kapitän zur See Felix Schultz, commander of the armored cruiser Scharnhorst, lost with his ship at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914. Both Ugly Sisters were designed to be fast and have extended range for commerce raiding and were actually considered to be very handsome ships with long lean lines. Due to their hasty commissionings the main guns were long range high velocity 280mm rather than the larger 350mm so they would have to use their speed to avoid any battleships with superior firepower. The Scharnhorst was commissioned on 7 January 1939 and conducted intensive trials in the Baltic Sea the next few months. On 1 April 1939 the Scharnhorst was at Wilhelmshaven for the launching of the new battleship Tirpitz with the Scharnhorst as flagship. After the launch of the Tirpitz the promotion of Generaladmiral Erich Raeder to Grossadmiral (Grand Admiral), by Hitler, took place on the Scharnhorst.

 

 

Scharnhorst at her commissioning.

 

 

More months of battle training were conducted in the Baltic before Scharnhorst returned to Wilhelmshaven in November 1939 to be readied for combat operations.

On 21 November the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau  headed for the North Atlantic to hunt British vessels in the strait between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. They ran across the large British armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi. She unbelievably refused three orders to abandon ship and opened fire on The Sisters. Scharnhorst's first salvo killed almost everyone on the bridge and destroyed the radio room.  Her second salvo destroyed the main gun control and a starboard gun. Her third salvo destroyed the engine room. With both sisters firing the abandon ship order was finally given and soon after a Scharnhorst salvo found the main magazine. The explosion broke the ship in two and it sank, only 15 minutes after Scharnhorst opened fire. Scharnhorst recovered 38 survivors but 238 were killed in the action. Two British ships shadowed the German battleships as they made their escape while HMS Warspite, Hood and Repulse raced to the forward track of the Germans, but without radar lost them in a viscious squall.

 

 

Scharnhorst followed by a destroyer and one of her onboard He-115 float planes in the North Atlantic in 1940.

 

 

 

The sisters returned to port for minor overhaul and were icebound in Wilhelmshaven for a month. In Feb. 1940 they returned to sea and patrolled as far north as the Shetland Islands but saw no action. The sisters were again icebound for 6 weeks of the brutal winter of 1940.

In April of 1940 The Sisters assisted with the invasion of Denmark and Norway. On April 9 they encountered the battlecruiser HMS Renown with 9 destroyers and exchanged fire. The Scharnhorst's radar malfunctioned and, unable to track the target, withdrew from the fight. They returned to port for more minor overhaul.

In May 1940 the German Naval High Command prepared an operation against the supply and evacuation lines for the British army still fighting in northern Norway. The sisters were part of the operation that sank three British ships and allowed the hospital ship Atlantis to sail away. Two British carriers, the HMS Ark Royal and HMS Glorious, were also covering the evacuation. In a move that it is still questioned Glorious, with 35 planes aboard, asked for and received permission to detach with only 2 destroyers and return early. It is also not entirely understood how the Germans saw the British 15 minutes before they were seen and the Glorious ran into them at half speed with no air patrol on June 8. With the surprise advantage the Germans maneuvered to approach the carrier at full speed, Scharnhorst in the lead with flagship Gneisenau to her port. The British responded by sending the destroyer Ardent to make torpedo attacks while both destroyers put up smoke so that Glorious could make a getaway. Scharnhorst ordered primary fire on the carrier, secondary fire on the Ardent. The Gneisenau quickly hit the Ardent's main boiler, slowing her down. Scharnhorst opened fire on the HMS Glorious. First salvo short. Second salvo long. The third salvo hit the Glorious flight deck from 24,175m (15 land miles) away, still the longest recorded gunfire hit on an enemy warship, and did sufficient damage so that no further aircraft could be launched. Ardent launched three salvos of torpedos against Scharnhorst, all missing, while sustaining continued damage from the accurate German guns. Gneisenau moved into position to fire on the carrier and both her and Scharnhorst let loose their 280mm guns. With the carrier almost lost in smoke from the destoyers, a Gneisenau salvo hit the bridge, killing the Captain, all officers and crew there and it began to list badly.

Gneisenau orders to save ammo and use only secondary guns as the brave Ardent fires its guns uninterrupted and lets loose 4 more salvos of torpedos at Scharnhorst, forcing it to evade, while taking hits from both sisters. The destroyer Acasta keeps a smoke screen on Glorious but the stern is burning fiercly. As the smoke clears Gneisenau orders open fire on Glorious and Acasta again while Scharnhorst engages Ardent. The Ardent is at last capsized and sinking but had gotten off one last torpedo salvo that went across the bow. Gneisenau congratulates Scharnhorst on sinking the Ardent. Scharnhorst opens fire with main guns on Glorious and secondary guns on Acasta but again is told to conserve ammo. The also brave destroyer Acasta skillfully makes smoke and maneuvers to open fire on Scharnhorst and approach for torpedo runs. Gneisenau continues to finish off the Glorious from short range. A torpedo from Acasta's second salvo of 4 hits Scharnhorst astern. Gneisenau switches fire to Acasta and stays out of torpedo range. Scharnhorst's starboard engine is damaged and some gunfire from the severely injured Acasta also hits. The Acasta sinks. Gneisenau orders the war flag at half mast and stand up in attention to honor the brave crew of the British destroyer Acasta. The German ships leave without picking up survivors due to Scharnhorst's damage and the clear danger they were in. 48 men were killed on Scharnhorst from the torpedo hit. Although about 900 men were able to evacuate the 3 British ships it took the British 2 days to learn about the disaster and reach the area and only 46 survivors total were recovered from the sea with about 1,500 lost.

 

 

Photo from Scharnhorst of Gneisenau firing on HMS Glorious 8 June 1940.

 

 

 

HMS Glorious burns, surrounded in a smoke screen from her destroyers.

 

 

Back in dry dock, the hole in Scharnhorst from HMS Acasta torpedo.

 

 

 

The ships returned to Trondheim for emergency repairs. The torpedo hole in the Scharnhorst was 14 x 4 meters. Despite several bombing and torpedo attacks from the air, Scharnhorst made it back to Kiel for 6 months of drydock repair and sea trials. Gneisenau was also undergoing repairs due to a later torpedo hit and The Sisters are reunited for a breakout into the North Atlantic in Jan. 1941 after bad weather delays.

 

 

For 3 months Scharnhorst and Gneisenau rule the Atlantic.

 

Although every effort had been made to enforce secrecy, the ships were spotted by a British agent as they steamed off Denmark and a report radioed to the Admiralty in London. Admiral John Tovey put to sea with three battleships, eight cruisers and eleven destroyers, hoping to meet Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at a point somewhere south of Iceland but they would not find them on this occasion. On 4 February, the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau steamed out into the Atlantic from the Denmark Strait. Admiral Lütjens decided to concentrate on the route between Canada and Britain for a start as German intelligence had reported that a convoy had left Halifax on a NE course days before. They find the convoy but a battleship is with them so they abort. The Germans fear they were recognized but the British only see one ship and mistake it for a cruiser. On 22 February they spot a convoy returning to the US. With the merchants and tankers unloaded of supplies, the Germans try to disengage to hunt loaded ships but are spotted and attack. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau together sink the Kantara. Gneisenau sinks Trelawny. Scharnhorst sinks Lustrous. Gneisenau sinks A. D. Huff. A fast tanker gets away from Scharnhorst. The Harlesden is pursued and sunk. Remarkably there are only 11 allied casualties and 180 are taken prisoner. They are transferred to a refueling ship.

Scharnhorst in 1941 as seen from Gneisenau, showing how wet these low riding ships could get.

 

By March 1941, the two ships were near the Cape Verde islands and threatening the convoy route from Freetown to Britain, having traveled 11,000 nautical miles, half the distance around the world.

Scharnhorst spotted a battleship and knew a convoy must be nearby. The Sisters lead 2 u-boats to the convoy and the subs sink 6 out of 12 of them. On the way to refueling Scharnhorst sinks a Greek freighter Marathon. Their two supply ships join the battleships to help hunt for victims. 6 more merchants are sunk. They receive orders to head back North for an eventual new operation. 15 more Allied vessel are sunk or captured by the duo. Worried that the last ship sunk was a scout they backed off to sink her. Scout or not, the battleship HMS Rodney quickly appeared. When flashed a challenge, Captain Fein of Scharnhorst replied with the call sign of the British cruiser HMS Emerald and quickly got away. The rest of the trip to Brest was uneventful. The cruise of 17,800 miles in sixty days created a record for German capital ships. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau had sunk or captured alltogether 22 merchant vessels totaling 113,690 gross tons. The famous Admiral Lütjens is promoted to fleet commander and leaves Gneisenau for his ill-fated command of the Bismarck.

In Brest for repairs, refitting and overhaul The Sisters are subjected to massive and repeated British bombardment that delay departure but fail to put them out of commission. Far from Germany, Hitler orders the ships to return to the Motherland. They make a daring daylight "channel dash" with Prinz Eugen. All three ships escaped damage in the furious air and sea battles that ensued, but both battleships eventually strike mines and require repair in Kiel. In January 1943 the Scharnhorst completed sea trials and was ready again but the partnership with Gneisenau was over, she would go it alone now on her last fateful operation. She heads north as only German capital ship available to be utilized against the Arctic convoys from United Kingdom to Russia.

To further depress the Allies,after sinking or capturing 22 merchant ships in their last operation, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau successfully make a broad daylight "Channel Dash".

 

Famous "Channel Dash" photo 12 Feb. 1942. Scharnhorst is center right, aft is Gneisenau center left. They are flanked by protecting destroyers.

One of the many artistic depictions of the scene.

 

On 19 December 1943 Admiral Dönitz reported to Hitler that the next convoy sailing through the Barents Sea was going to be attacked by Scharnhorst, escorted by the 4th Destroyer Flotilla. Meanwhile Admiral Fraser (British C-in-C Home Fleet) decides to increase the escort to the convoys and to prepare a trap for the German battleship in case the Scharnhorst was going to leave the safety of the fjords she was hiding in.

Dec. 23-24 Admiral Fraser practices Scharnhorst attack exercises with his fleet of battleship H.M.S. Duke of York, light cruiser H.M.S. Jamaica and 4 destroyers. The Russian bound convoys are escorted by heavy cruiser H.M.S. Norfolk, light cruisers H.M.S. Belfast and Sheffield and are also informed of the attack plan.

On Christmas Day German reconnaissance planes pick up the convoy and Dönitz orders the attack. Norwegian agents inform via radio transmission to UK Intelligence agency that Scharnhorst has left the fjord and is at sea. The German orders were also broken by the secret British code breaking project.

• Yellow line - Scharnhorst
• Red line - German destroyers
• Blue line - British cruisers, convoy escort
• Green line - British trap force with HMS Duke of York

 

The next day Scharnhorst and her destroyers are unable to find the convoy in the bad weather and Rear Admiral Bey detaches the destroyers, leaving Scharnhorst alone. Contact with the destroyers is lost. Less than two hours later, the convoy escorts Norfolk and Belfast pick the Scharnhorst up on radar. Under cover of snow, the British cruisers opened fire. A lucky hit by Norfolk wipes out Scharnhorst's main radar, leaving her sailing almost blind and unable to return fire in low visibility. After a skirmish Scharnhorst disengages and sails south back to Norway, unaware that Fraser's ships with HMS Duke of York were waiting there for her. Scharnhorst's only working radar, aft, did not pick up the Duke of York as she closed the trap. Duke of York turns to allow all of her main armament guns (10 by 356 mm) to be used. Belfast illuminates Scharnhorst with star shells as the Duke of York opens fire. Jamaica joins in and soon Scharnhorst is surrounded by the 6 larger ships and more destroyers and other small ships. She has her A and B turrets knocked out but still has 3 guns of her C turret. Rear Admiral Bey orders, "Scharnhorst ever onwards". The German battleship still has the possibility of escape due to her superior speed and even temporarily puts out the Duke of York firing radar but one of the last shells to hit from Duke of York as Scharnhorst moves out of range penetrates into the Number 1 boiler room and causes much damage. Scharnhorst's speed is reduced from a maximum of 32 knots to 10 knots. The Duke of York at 20 knots catches her and pours more fire into her. All 13 British ships converge on her, destroyers put star shells over her and pour torpedoes into her. Scharnhorst fights back with her last few remaining guns and turns away a destroyer. 4 out of the 28 initial torpedoes hit. The British ships go into firing shifts. Duke of York ceases fire after 80 broadsides on Scharnhorst (446 rounds). Scharnhorst's bow is underwater and she is moving at only 5 knots in a circle, listing heavily to starboard. The abandon ship order is given. Captain Hintze and Rear Admiral Bey give their life-jackets to cadets on board who had never jumped into the sea. The British continue to pour torpedoes into Scharnhorst, 52 are fired in total with 14 hits. At 19:45 a huge explosion occurs and at 19:48 on Dec. 26 1943 the Scharnhorst sinks. Of a total complement of 1,968 men, only 36 survivors - none an officer - were rescued from the frigid seas; 30 by HMS Scorpion and 6 by Matchless. Hundreds of Scharnhorst's crew were left in the sea due to the U-boat threat.

Later that evening Admiral Bruce Fraser briefed his officers on board Duke of York: "Gentlemen, the battle against Scharnhorst has ended in victory for us. I hope that if any of you are ever called upon to lead a ship into action against an opponent many times superior, you will command your ship as gallantly as Scharnhorst was commanded today".

On 3 October 2000, the submerged wreck of Scharnhorst was located at about 72°16′N 28°41′E, approximately 70 nautical miles (130 km) north-northeast of North Cape at a depth of nearly 300 m and photographed by the Royal Norwegian Navy.

One of the last known photos of a camouflaged Scharnhorst, Norway, 1943.

In May 1980 at the Naval Memorial Laboe near Kiel, the society of surviving Scharnhorst crewmen unveiled and dedicated this plaque to the memory of the battleships dead. The inscription read:
"Battleship Scharnhorst. Sunk on 26 December 1943 in the Polar Sea in battle with superior British naval forces. To the memory of more than 2,000 fallen comrades and the proud ship. Scharnhorst Kameradschaft, May 1980".

Edited by Zainhund

I know it's hopeless to remind Baka that there is more on TV than "E! The Girls Next Door", but hey the History Channel can be fun too.

And now I can link people who ask me about my names.

Why would you name characters after Nazi warships?

Origin is a Prussian General.

Originally posted by Doki Why would you name characters after Nazi warships?

I will answer your question because it's Friday.

But first we need to go back to a farm in Augusta, Kansas in the early 1940's.

My father was a young teenager then, growing up on the plains at my grandfather's wheat, cattle and other products basic Midwest farm. Unlike many farmers in the area, my grandparents managed their farm and money well and had come through the Great Depression alright. My grandmother ran a busy country store from the property. My father and his sister worked on the farm and went to the same 2 room schoolhouse where my very busy grandmother also taught. My father had his mother as his teached for 2 years.

WWII came along and as a side note my uncle was old enough to have to go to war, and being a brainy one, learned various Japanese and Chinese dialects and worked with codebreakers in Pearl Harbor. He eventually became a noted Professor of Far Eastern History at OSU and UO (Oklahoma), received Japan's highest civilian foreigner award for his translations of samurai diaries and led some of the first tours in China when it was opened during the Nixon era.

Anyway, thousands of German prisoners of war were brought back to the US and interred here. I didn't know this before my dad told me this story. One of the prison camps was near my grandparent's farm and they offered the prisoners a chance to get out and work away from the prison if they wanted. The deal was they would work on the farm all day (with little to no benefit - just to get outside for a day) and my grandfather had to feed them. So my dad used to have meals, that my grandmother would make, with a dozen German POWS. They only let the trusted ones out of course and my father remembers them all as a genial lot. In fact after the war many of the German POWS interred in the US including some of these stayed in this country, either liking it here better and/or having nothing to go home to. Almost Genghis Khan style eh? - assimilate the enemy.

The point is of course that we are not just sometimes a product of environment, but also a prisoner of it. Many German soldiers, sailors and even officers were perfectly decent people that got roped into the war just as many of our fighting men and women got roped in. Many of the Germans thought Hitler was a lunatic and did not share his views on Aryan superiority and were overjoyed to have him put down. Although I've seen only a small part of the world myself I am constantly intrigued to find that when I go to foreign countries the people there are more like "us" than different from us.

Hitler was an evil man. Many atrocities were carried out on his behalf, but this does not mean all Germans were evil. If you read the story above you will find that the Scharnhorst fought with honor according to naval tradition, allowing a hospital ship to go free after ambushing a convoy, rescuing survivors when possible and lowering her war flag to half mast to salute a sunken enemy ship that had fought bravely. I believe in tolerance, reconciliation and understanding versus judgement and I chose these names to reflect that. And because a Hobbit named Bismarck running around in LOTR Online was funny.

So WTF is a Doki?

Originally posted by Gavina The third salvo hit the Glorious flight deck from 24,175m (15 land miles) away, still the longest recorded gunfire hit on an enemy warship, Debatable.  Both the Yamoto (IJN) and the Kongo (IJN) were 17 miles off Taffy 3 when they started firing at the carriers Gambier Bay and Kalinin Bay in the Battle of Samar. Both carriers were known to have taken mutlpile large caliber hits. Will have to research more later, children are bugging me.

It's always fun to play the Yamato in war games with those big ass guns. Let me know what you find out.

Actually some of those ship predate the Nazi party, mainly the cruiser fleet, having been laid down in the early 20's, but the famous ones were all Nazi built. All of the battleships and most of the heavy cruisers were Nazi built ships. It takes years to build out a capital ship like that. All the major surface combatants were laid down in the 20's and early 30's. Once the war started, the Nazi's were much more interested in U-boats/E-boats than capital ships, since there was no realistic way the Germans could have competed with British ship numbers unless they had actually gone through with the prewar Z plan.

As far as Nazi's and the Kriegsmarine, Hitler really didnt understand the navy, and of all the WWII German services, it was the least political. It was also given short shrift by the Nazi government, being dead last in most cases. It also had one of the highest loss rates of any naval combatant in any major conflict. The majority of all the major German surface combatants were sunk, only a few cruisers survived the war, and those were broken up, or served as target ships, or as test targets for the nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll.

I despise the Nazi's, and dont regret the destruction of the German miliary in any way shape or form, they brought it upon themselves. At the same time, I think that you can respect the actions of some of the individuals who were trying their best in an impossible situation.

Originally posted by thune Originally posted by Doki Why would you name characters after Nazi warships?   has a chance of getting baned ask focker he named after the german plane

The name of the plane is Fokker. Focker is that crappy Ben Stiller charecter. And I was banned not because it was a german WWI fighting plane, but because Beavis and Butthead would have laughed at my name and that seems to be the criteria that Blizzard uses to determine bad names. No other game that I have played either live or in beta has even blinked at my name.

Ok did some more research.  Couldn't find any precise times recorded when the first large caliber shell hit the Kalinin Bay or the Gambier Bay.  Both were being fired upon by cruisers  as well as battleships after a few minutes into the battle, so it might have been hard to determine the exact distance of the hits.

However, the hits scored by the Scharnhorst were made at extreme range while both ships were at max speed- and several hits scored.  This is an impressive feat of gunnery and well worth the title of longest ranged shot to hit an enemy warship.  It should also be noted that the Scharnhorst sunk her target while (during the Battle of Samar)the Yamoto broke off firing at Taffy 3 to avoid torpedoes and effectively fled the battle.  The Kongo continued firing but the hits that sunk the Gambier Bay were most likely from torpedoes and the Jappanese cruisers, no the battleships.  The Kalinin Bay, despite up to 15 large caliber hits from the battleships and numerous hits from the cruisers, remained afloat- a testament to pure dumb luck and the tenacity of her crew.