page_title: Scharnhorst-class battleship
section_title: Battle of North Cape
hierarchical_section_title: Scharnhorst-class battleship / Service history / Scharnhorst's deployment to Norway / Battle of North Cape
caption_attribution_description: English: Scharnhorst Survivors at Scapa Flow, 2 January 1944 Blindfolded SCHARNHORST survivors, in merchant seaman rescue kit, walking down a gang-plank from the SS St Ninian on their way to internment.
context_page_description: The Scharnhorst class were the first capital ships, referred to as either battleships or battlecruisers, built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine after World War I. The class comprised two vessels: Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Scharnhorst was launched first, and is considered to be the lead ship by some sources; they are also referred to as the Gneisenau class in some other sources, as Gneisenau was the first to be laid down and commissioned. They marked the beginning of German naval rearmament after the Treaty of Versailles. The ships were armed with nine 28 cm SK C/34 guns in three triple turrets; plans to replace these with six 38 cm SK C/34 guns in twin turrets were never realized.
  The two ships were laid down in 1935, launched in late 1936, and commissioned into the German fleet by early 1939. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau operated together for much of the early portion of World War II, including sorties into the Atlantic to raid British merchant shipping. The two ships participated in Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Norway. During operations off Norway, the two ships engaged the battlecruiser HMS Renown and sank the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious on 8 June 1940.
context_section_description: On 20 December 1943, Scharnhorst was ordered to intercept the next convoy to the Soviet Union, Convoy JW 55B. The ship was to operate only with five destroyers; Tirpitz had been damaged in a British raid in September, and Lützow was away for periodic repairs. On 25 December, the location of the convoy was ascertained, and at 19:00 the ship left port, under the command of Rear-Admiral Erich Bey. The British fleet had a significant advantage: they were able to decrypt German naval codes, and were aware of Bey's intentions. The cruisers HMS Sheffield, Belfast, and Norfolk were positioned to block Scharnhorst. Admiral Bruce Fraser, aboard the battleship HMS Duke of York, was some 270 miles away, and steaming to cut off Scharnhorst after she was engaged by the three cruisers. Belfast picked up Scharnhorst on radar at 08:40; forty minutes later lookouts on Sheffield spotted the ship, at a distance of 11,000 m (12,000 yd). Shortly thereafter, Belfast fired star shells to illuminate the target, and Norfolk opened fire with her 20.3 cm (8 in) guns; in the span of 20 minutes, she hit Scharnhorst twice. The second hit destroyed Scharnhorsts forward Seetakt radar.
  By 10:00, Scharnhorst, using her 4–6 knot speed advantage, broke off the engagement and resumed searching for the convoy. At 12:00, Belfast again picked up Scharnhorst, and in 20 minutes were again in range. This time, Scharnhorst had better luck with her gunnery; at 12:23, Norfolk was hit twice by 28.3 cm shells. One hit disabled a gun turret, and the second tore a hole in the hull and disabled her radar. Near-misses rained shell splinters down on Sheffield. At 12:41, Scharnhorst again increased speed and broke off the engagement. The British shadowed her, and relayed position reports to Admiral Fraser in Duke of York. At 13:15, Admiral Bey decided to call off the search and return to port. Shortly before 17:00, the British ships closed it: Belfast again illuminated the ship with star shells, while Duke of York fired salvos from her main battery. A hit from Duke of York disabled "A" turret, and at 18:00, another hit penetrated the upper portion of the belt and caused significant damage to the engine room. This hit temporarily reduced her speed to 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph), but repairs quickly allowed her to steam at 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph).
  Shells from Scharnhorst's main guns struck Duke of York's mast and disabled her surface radars. The lack of radar forced Duke of York to cease fire at 18:24, after having hit Scharnhorst at least 13 times. The hits from Duke of York disabled most of Scharnhorst's armament in the process. Admiral Fraser ordered his destroyers to approach the ship and torpedo her. Scharnhorst was hit at least four times by torpedoes fired by HMS Scorpion and HNoMS Stord. The hits caused extensive flooding and slowed the ship to 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Duke of York then closed to 9,100 m (10,000 yd) to hammer away at the ship. At the time, only "C" turret on Scharnhorst remained operational; surviving gun crews transferred ammunition from the disabled "A" and "B" turrets to "C" turret. As more water entered Scharnhorst, her speed continued to fall to 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph). At 19:25, the light cruiser Jamaica fired three torpedoes, followed by six from Belfast. Several destroyers closed in and fired torpedoes as well, though in the smoke and haze, it was unknown how many hit the crippled ship. Scharnhorst was listing severely and very low in the water. At 19:45, the ship capsized to starboard and sank, with her propellers still spinning. She sank at the position 72°16′0″N 28°41′0″E. Of the crew of 1,968 officers and men, only 36 survived. Rear-Admiral Erich Bey was lost with his ship.
caption: Survivors from Scharnhorst debarking in Scapa Flow
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