In the 20th century, two Scharnhorst cruisers were in service with the German naval forces. They participated in the First and Second World Wars. Both were named after the reformer of the Prussian army, the famous General Gerhard von Scharnhorst, who lived at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. In this article we will talk about these ships, the history of their creation, service and death.
In the East Asian Cruiser Squadron
The first cruiser Scharnhorst was laid down at the very beginning of 1905, and launched a year later. In October 1907, he joined the German Navy.
The armored cruiser "Scharnhorst" was considered the flagship of the East Asian squadron. In its composition, he took part in the battle of Coronel in November 1914. This is a battle between German and British cruisers that unfolded off the coast of Chile. It ended with a German victory. The cruiser "Scharnhorst" destroyed the English ship "GoodHope".
A month later, the ship was lost along with the entire crew that was on board, in the battle of the Falkland Islands. There were 860 people on it. Nobody managed to survive.
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In 1935 another cruiser Scharnhorst was laid down. Its construction was carried out at the shipyards in Wilhelmshaven. The ship was commissioned in January 1939.
The history of the creation of the cruiser "Scharnhorst" was intense. After the first tests, the ship had to be upgraded. A new mainmast was installed on it, which was located much closer to the stern. The straight stem was replaced by the so-called Atlantic. All this was to improve the ship's seaworthiness.
At the same time, German designers soon had to admit that the model of the Scharnhorst cruiser turned out to be extremely unsuccessful. Initially, the ship experienced problems with flooding the bow, which could not be finally resolved.
Specifications
The photo of the Scharnhorst cruiser amazed many military experts of that time. Its total displacement reached almost 39 thousand tons. The total length was over 235 meters and the width was 30 meters. It was a powerful armored vessel with three engines and a power of 161,000 horsepower.
In addition to the description of the Scharnhorst cruiser, it should be noted that the ship could reach speeds of up to 57 kilometers per hour. The crew wasalmost two thousand people, of which 60 were officers.
Armed with artillery, anti-aircraft stops, as well as mine-torpedo tubes.
At the beginning of the war
The first combat operation of the battlecruiser "Scharnhorst" was patrolling the passage between the Faroe Islands and Iceland. The ship was sent on this mission in November 1939.
The patrols in this place were carried out by the cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. First, they sank an English armed vessel they encountered. And in the spring of 1940, they ensured the invasion of Nazi troops into Norway. On April 9, off the coast of this Scandinavian country, the cruisers met with the English ship Rinaun, which managed to disable one of the towers on the Gneisenau. At the same time, the Scharnhorst was badly damaged by the elements, but the Germans still managed to break away from the British ship, which set off in pursuit.
Operation Juno
In June, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau took part in Operation Juno in the Norwegian Sea. It was the first and only battle of battleships against an aircraft carrier in the history of the world fleet. The German ships won by sending the British aircraft carrier Glories to the bottom. The destroyers "Ardent" and "Akasta", which constituted his escort, were also destroyed.
During the battle, as a result of a torpedo strike from the side of the "Acasta" on the "Scharnhorst", 50 people were killed, the leftpropeller shaft. The ship began to sink, which soon had to turn off the middle machine.
A few days later, when the Scharnhorst was in the harbor, it was raided by British dive bombers from the aircraft carrier Ark Royal. However, the operation was a failure. Of the 15 aircraft, the Germans shot down 8. Of all the bombs dropped, only one reached the target, but it did not explode either.
In December, two German cruisers attempted to break through the blockade of the British to enter the North Atlantic, but due to a breakdown in the Gneisenau, they were forced to return.
Raid in the Atlantic
In early 1941, the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were in the Atlantic Ocean under the command of Admiral Günther Lutyens. Passing through the Danish Strait, they reached the south of Greenland. There they tried to attack the English convoy, but the attempt failed because the British battleship Ramilles came to the rescue.
In February, German battleships sank four Allied merchant ships off Newfoundland. It is worth noting that they were in conditions of weak air patrols, so it was almost impossible to avoid clashes with the British Royal Navy.
In March they attacked another convoy but retreated again. This time with the appearance of the Malaya cruiser. Later, a convoy of allied tankers was attacked. A total of 13 ships were sunk, of which four were destroyed by the Scharnhorst.
It washis last battle before returning to the port of Brest. During this campaign, the cruiser managed to sink 8 enemy ships.
Operation Cerberus
Remaining in Brest, he was regularly subjected to air raids. As a result, it was decided to relocate it to the port of La Rochelle. Resistance agents and Allied air reconnaissance were alerted to the cruiser's departure from port. At the same time, they were sure that he was going on another raid.
In order to prevent the Scharnhorst from entering the open sea, 15 heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force were lifted into the air. They de alt a powerful blow to the ship, forcing her to return to port for repairs. Damage inflicted by British aircraft, coupled with problems due to cooling of the boilers, delayed the ship in port until the end of 1941. It was only then that it was decided to send him, along with the Gneisenau and the Prinz Eugen, back to Germany.
Since it was very risky to break through the North Atlantic, three ships, accompanied by auxiliary ships and several dozen minesweepers, decided to go through the English Channel.
An important place in the history of the Scharnhorst cruiser is occupied by Operation Cerberus. That is the name given to this breakthrough. The British were not ready for such unexpected and decisive actions. The Coast Guard failed to stop the breakthrough, and the jamming of the radars prevented an air attack.
At the same time, the German cruisers still receiveddamage. "Gneisenau" was blown up by one mine, and "Scharnhorst" - by two.
At the docks for repairs
Another repair left the ship at the docks until March 1942. After that, he went to Norway to meet with the battleship Tirpitz, as well as several other German ships that were planning an attack on Arctic convoys en route to the Soviet Union.
Several months were devoted to acclimatization and crew training. The result was an active bombardment of Svalbard, in which Tirpitz also participated.
The death of the cruiser
On Christmas Day 1943, the Scharnhorst, along with several other German destroyers, set out to sea under the command of Rear Admiral Erich Bay to attack the northern convoys.
The British command prepared for this campaign in advance, as the cryptographs deciphered the orders.
At first, Bay was unable to locate the convoy due to adverse weather conditions. Then he sent destroyers south in search of them. "Scharnhorst" at the same time remained alone. Within two hours after that, he came across the cruisers Norfolk, Belfast and Sheffield. The British discovered the German ship earlier, using radar. As they approached, they opened fire on him, inflicting minor damage. The forward radar station was destroyed, presumably causing further problems.
"Scharnhorst", considering the main purpose of transportconvoy, broke away from the British cruisers, but when trying to break through again was again overtaken. Now, with return fire, he damaged the Norfolk. Having suffered a second failure, Bay decided to complete the operation and return. By that time, the British battleship Duke of York was already between Norway and Scharnhorst. The Germans did not suspect this, as they turned off the stern radar, not trusting it and fearing to give themselves away.
At about 16:50, the Duke of York opened fire from a short distance on the cruiser, which was previously illuminated with special shells. "Scharnhorst" almost immediately lost two towers, but due to the high speed was able to break away from the pursuit. An hour later, problems arose with the boilers of the ship. After that, the speed of the battleship dropped sharply, due to operational repairs, it was possible to increase it, but only slightly. It is believed that at that moment his fate was already sealed.
Due to the effect of surprise, the Duke of York got off with minimal damage, but the Scharnhorst, despite heavy armor, lost its course and most of its artillery. For destroyers, he was a good target. At 19:45 the ship went under water. Shortly after his dive, powerful explosions were heard. Of the crew of 1968, 36 sailors survived. All officers died.
British Admiral Bruce Fraser late that evening announced that the battle had ended in victory for them, but he wished everyone to command as valiantly as the Scharnhorst officers did today in the battle against a stronger enemy.
Ship detection
In 2000, the ship was discovered 130 kilometers northeast of the North Cape. The Norwegian Navy photographed it at a depth of about three hundred meters.
The pictures show that the cruiser is keel up. Its bow was destroyed by an explosion of ammunition in the cellars almost to the bridge. The aft part is also almost completely absent.
From 1939, four commanders commanded the ship. These were captains of the first rank Otto Ziliaks, Kurt Hoffmann, Friedrich Huffmayer and Fritz Hinze. The latter died in the battle at the North Cape.
