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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- SHIPS of the GERMAN NAVY --

Scharnhorst (Battleship, 1939-1943)

Scharnhorst, a 31,100-ton Gneisenau class battleship, was built at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Launched in October 1936 under the Hitler regime's massive rearmament program, she was commissioned in January 1939. After initial service, in mid-1939 she was modified, with a new mainmast located further aft and a "clipper bow" to improve her seakeeping. However, her relatively low freeboard ensured that she was always very "wet" when at sea.

War began before Scharnhorst's modification work was completed. Her first wartime operation was a sweep into the Iceland-Faroes passage in late November 1939, in which the British armed merchant cruiser Rawalpindi was sunk. In the spring of 1940 the battleship and her sister, Gneisenau, covered the conquest of Norway. They engaged the British battlecruiser Renown on 9 April 1940 and sank the carrier HMS Glorious and two destroyers on 8 June. In the latter action, Scharnhorst was torpedoed. She was further damaged by a bomb a few days later and was under repair for most of the rest of 1940.

From 22 January until 22 March 1941 Scharnhorst and Gneisenau operated in the Atlantic, sinking several ships and severely threating British seaborne supply lines. While at Brest, France, following this operation, the German ships were the targets of repeated air attacks. The resulting damage kept them non-operational into late 1941, when it was decided to concentrate German surface naval power in the Norwegian theater. Since it was too risky to attempt the redeployment via the North Atlantic, on 11-13 February 1942 the two battleships and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen made a daring "dash" through the English Channel to reach Germany. Caught off guard, the British were unable to stop the ships with air and surface attacks, though both Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were damaged by mines during the latter part of the voyage.

Repair work, a grounding and her always troublesome steam powerplant kept Scharnhorst out of action until March 1943, when she went to northern Norway to join the battleship Tirpitz and other German ships threatening the convoy route to the USSR. Training exercises over the next several months climaxed in a bombardment of Spitzbergen on 8 September 1943.

On Christmas day 1943, Scharnhorst and several destroyers put to sea to attack a convoy northwest of Norway. Unfortunately for the Germans, their orders were decoded by the British, who sent a superior force to intercept. The Royal Navy cruisers Belfast, Norfolk and Sheffield effectively kept Scharnhorst away from the convoy until the reinforcements arrived. Realizing the futility of their mission, the Germans attempted to return to their base, but Scharnhorst was cut off by the British battleship Duke of York and her escorting cruisers and destroyers. In a three-hour battle in the frigid Arctic seas, the German battleship was battered by gunfire and sunk by torpedoes. There were 36 survivors of her crew of some 1968 men. Scharnhorst's wreck was located and photographed by a Norwegian Navy underwater exploration group in the year 2000.

This page features a special selection of images of the German battleship Scharnhorst, chosen from the broader coverage presented on the pages listed below.

For comprehensive pictorial coverage of Scharnhorst, see:

  • Scharnhorst -- Overall Views of the Ship;
  • Scharnhorst -- Actions & Activities;
  • Scharnhorst -- Views on board the Ship; and
  • Scharnhorst -- In Icy Seas and Ports, 1939-40.

    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 59670

    Scharnhorst
    (German Battleship, 1939-1943)

    In port when first completed, circa early 1939.
    Note ship's badge mounted on her bow, and snowy conditions at right.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 102KB; 740 x 555 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 101559

    Scharnhorst
    (German Battleship, 1939)

    Photographed in the fall of 1939, after completion of her July-August 1939 refit.

    Copied from the contemporary German photo album "Meine Kriegserinnerungen auf Schlachtschiff Scharnhorst", page 3.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 67KB; 740 x 420 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 83981

    Norway Campaign, 1940


    German battleship Scharnhorst firing her forward 283mm guns, during the engagement with the British aircraft carrier Glorious and her escorts, 8 June 1940.
    Photographed from the battleship Gneisenau.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 485 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 71392

    Scharnhorst
    (German Battleship, 1939-1943)

    In the Alta Fjord, Norway, circa March-December 1943.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 555 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 101571

    Scharnhorst
    (German Battleship, 1939)

    View looking aft on the foredeck, with anchor handling gear in the foreground and two triple 283mm gun turrets beyond. Taken during the winter of 1939-40, at Kiel.

    Copied from the contemporary German photo album "Meine Kriegserinnerungen auf Schlachtschiff Scharnhorst", page 9.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 82KB; 505 x 765 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 102530

    Scharnhorst
    (German Battleship, 1939)

    Firing her forward 283mm (11") guns, during exercises in the winter of 1939-40.

    Copied from the contemporary German photo album "Meine Kriegserinnerungen auf Schlachtschiff Scharnhorst", page 16.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 64KB; 740 x 530 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 102529

    Scharnhorst
    (German Battleship, 1939)

    View from the forward superstructure, looking toward the bow, as the ship throws spray while underway during the winter of 1939-40.
    Note ice accumulated on her triple 283mm (11") gun turrets.

    Copied from the contemporary German photo album "Meine Kriegserinnerungen auf Schlachtschiff Scharnhorst", page 16.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 535 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 102526

    Scharnhorst
    (German Battleship, 1939)

    View of the ship's forward 283mm (11") triple gun turrets, showing ice accumuluated overnight during operations in the winter of 1939-40.
    Probably taken in the Baltic Sea in January 1940.

    Copied from the contemporary German photo album "Meine Kriegserinnerungen auf Schlachtschiff Scharnhorst", page 8.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 525 pixels

     

    For comprehensive pictorial coverage of Scharnhorst, see:

  • Scharnhorst -- Overall Views of the Ship;
  • Scharnhorst -- Actions & Activities;
  • Scharnhorst -- Views on board the Ship; and
  • Scharnhorst -- In Icy Seas and Ports, 1939-40.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 14 March 2001