Scharnhorst class
SCHARNHORST & GNEISENAU
The Scharnhorst class were battlecruiser type vessels and part of Plan Z. It comprised of the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau ships and their construction marked the beginning of German naval rearmament after the Treaty of Versailles. The two vessels were laid down in Kiel in 1935. The Scharnhorst was built on Slipway 2 at the Kriegsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven on 15 June and was marked 'Construction number S 125'. The Gneisenau, however, was laid down on Slipway 1 at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel on 6 May and was marked 'Construction number K 235'.
A year later, on 3 October 1936, Scharnhorst was launched. The prelaunch speech was delivered by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed
Forces, Generalfeldmarschall Werner von Blomberg, and the ship christened by the widow of Captain Felix Schultz, lost with the armoured cruiser Scharnhorst during World War I. Two months later the Gneisenau was launched. General Werner von Fritsch made the christening speech and then the ship was christened by Frau Maerker, the widow of Captain Julius Maerker, Commander of the armoured cruiser Gneisenau sunk in World War I. Both of these ships were identical and largely seen as transitional vessels, armed with nine 28cm (11in) SK C/34 guns, in three triple turrets. However, initially it was planned to arm them with six 38cm (15in) SK C/34 twin turrets guns. Fully armed with a full compliment of crew the Gneisena, underwent a six week trial cruise, between June and July 1939, into the midAtlantic to hold target practice and other exercises. It sailed at various speeds from Kiel through the English Channel down to the Strait of Gibraltar, then Las Palmas, Madeira, Azores and then returned through the English Channel back into Kiel.
The sea trials for the Scharnhost, however, were more limited and it undertook trials in the Baltic Sea between February and March 1939. Whilst undergoing these sea trials it was noted that both the ships were bow-heavy especially when fully equipped and very wet as high as the bridge. Designers tried to rectify the problem by replacement of the straight stem with an Atlantic bow. In addition the hangar was enlarged and equipped with a new catapult. The mainmast in the funnel was also removed and placed 27m astern of the hangar. It was also noted by the crew that the use of the A turret was heavily restricted in heavy seas. The ships’ stern were also frequently wet, and this became more evident when slowly entering a turn. The ships always required assistance from tugboats in port. The ship also lost half of its speed when the rudder was hard over and heeled over more than 10°. During trials, the ships heeled as much as 13° at hard rudder.
Yet, in spite of some modifications, both these ships had a very low freeboard and continued taking on a lot of seawater forward when steaming a high speeds.
The adoption of the Atlantic bow did not do much to improve their sea keeping capability. Despite the design flaws the ships were still powerful and deadly adversaries to the Royal Navy.
Apart from the main guns its secondary armament included 12 x 15cm (5.9in) SK C/28 L/55 quick firing guns. These guns could fire armour-piercing shells at a rate of 4-5 per minute. The ships carried 170 shells per gun, for a total of 1,020 rounds. They were manually elevated and trained. In addition it was armed with a powerful anti-aircraft battery comprising of 14 x 10.5cm L/65 guns, 16 x 3.7cm L/83 guns, and between 10 and 20 x 2cm guns. The 10.5cm guns fired at a rate of 15-18 rounds per minute, and had an effective ceiling of 12,500m (41,010ft). They were mounted in six Dopp L. C/31 twin mounts amidships, and one such mount super firing over C turret. The 3.7cm guns were placed in eight manually operated Dopp LC/30 twin mounts. At 85°, they had an effective ceiling of 6,800m (22,310ft).
After 1942, additional fire power was added to the ships to include six 53.3cm deck-mounted torpedo tubes which were taken from the light cruisers Leipzig and
Scharnhorst / Gneisenau
Class: Scharnhorst
Displacement: 38,700 tonnes
Length: 235m (771ft)
Beam: 30m (98ft 5in)
Draft: 9.69m (31ft 9.5in)
Speed: 31 knots
Range: Scharnhorst - 13,100km (8,140 miles), Gneisenau - 11,500km (7,146 miles)
Crew: 1,669 men
Armament: 9 × 28cm SK C/34 • 12 x 15cm SK C/28 • 12 x 10.5cm SK C/33 • 16 × 3.7cm SK C/30 • 10 (later 16) x 2cm C/30 or C/38
Armour: Decks – 50mm-95mm (1.97in-3.7in), Waterline belt - 350mm (13.8in)