Comment by Nick Dowling  A few of the comments above cast doubt over the claim I made a few days ago that the Royal Navy classified these ships as battlecruisers My source is Volume III Part I of the Official History of the Royal Navy in WWII The War at Sea by Stephen Roskill which covers the period including the sinking of Scharnhorst See for instance the index on page  which refers to the ship as  Scharnhorst German battle cruiser Some other British sources call the ships battleships however for instance Corelli Barnett in his excellent Engage the Enemy More Closely Incidently Im somewhat suprised to see the Imperial War Museum labeled an unreliable source   As a general comment Im suprised at how heated this discussion has become As long as one name redirects to the other it really shouldnt matter As for my two cents on the name Ive changed my mind after reading the debate and it seems that battleship is the more common classification