Scharnhorst class warship (1936)
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| Class overview | |
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| Name: | Scharnhorst |
| Builders: | Deutsche Werke Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven |
| Operators: | Kriegsmarine |
| In commission: | 21 May 1938 - 7 Jan 1939 |
| Completed: | Gneisenau Scharnhorst |
| Active: | 0 |
| Lost: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | battleship/battlecruiser |
| Displacement: | 31,500 tonnes (standard} 38,900 tonnes (full load) |
| Length: | 235 m (772 ft) overall 226 m (741.5 ft) waterline |
| Beam: | 30 m (98.4 ft) |
| Draught: | 9.69 m (31 ft 9 in.) at 37,303 tons |
| Propulsion: | 3 Germania geared turbines with single reduction 3 three-bladed propellers, 4.8 m (15 9 inch) diameter 151,893 shp |
| Speed: | 33 kt |
| Range: | 8,400 nm at 19 kt |
| Complement: | 1,669 (56 officers, 1613 enlisted) |
| Armament: | 9 × 28 cm/54.5 (11 inch) SK C/34[1] 12 × 15 cm/55 (5.9") SK C/28[2] 14 × 10.5 cm/65 (4.1 inch) SK C/33[3] 16 × 3.7 cm/L83 (1.5") SK C/30[4] 10 (later 16) × 2 cm/65 (0.79") C/30 or C/38[5] 6 × 533 mm torpedo tubes |
| Armour: | Main belt: 350 mm (13.78 inch) Deck: 95 mm max. |
| Aircraft carried: | 3 Arado Ar 196A-3 |
| Aviation facilities: | 1 catapult |
The Scharnhorst class, were the first capital ships built for the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) since World War I. They marked the beginning of German naval rearmament after the Treaty of Versailles. They were the first class of German ships to be officially classified by the Kriegsmarine as Schlachtschiff (battleship). Previous German battleships were classified as Linienschiffe (ship of the line) and Panzerschiffe (armoured ship).[6] Their adversery, the Royal Navy, rated them as battlecruisers, although another adversery, the United States Navy, rated them as battleships; and in English language reference works either designation may be used.
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[edit] Design and classification
Like the "pocket battleships" of the Deutschland class, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were political compromises, symbols of international power and prestige for the Nazi regime, but not so big as to overly concern international opinion or inflame the British. They traded off large-calibre guns for their 32 to 33 knot (60 km/h) speed albeit, but still achieved good armour protection, in the tradition of World War I Kaiserliche Marine battlecruisers.
The two ships came about as Hitler's Germany moved away from compliance with the Treaty of Versailles which had limited its military strength since the end of the First World War - specifically that no German battleship should be greater than 10,000 tons. Further building of the pocket battleships of the Deutschland class was curtailed and the guns freed up were used to arm the new ships. They were officially declared to be of some 26,000 tons displacement which while greater than the Treaty demanded was less than the 35,000 tons that the major naval powers had limited themselves to under the Washington Naval Treaty and subsequent treaties. In reality their standard displacement was some 32,000 tons, which was much more than what allowed, as with earlier Deutschlands that were officially only 10,000 tons, but over 16,000 tons in reality.
The launching ceremonies themselves paid tribute to their forebearers - the widows of the captains of the original Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, armoured cruisers that had been lost during the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the First World War, performing the christening.
[edit] Characteristics
In outward appearance, they were considered beautiful ships,[citation needed] and they looked very similar to the following Bismarck class battleships, although they only had three main gun turrets to the Bismarck's four. Unlike the Bismarck class where the Bismarck had been sunk before having a chance to operate together with her sister ship, Tirpitz, both Scharnhorst-class vessels saw combat action together for much of their careers, so they were nicknamed the "Twins". All of the ships were designed for an extended range to allow for commerce raiding.
[edit] Main Armament
The ships were built with nine 28 cm (11 inch) SKC/34 guns in three triple turrets, two forward and one aft.[1] Although the number and firepower of guns were an improvement on the preceding Deutschland class, their overall main firepower was inferior to any Royal Navy or French capital ship of the time, although only slightly in some cases, having firepower almost comparable to that of the British Queen Elizabeth and Revenge class battleships 15 inch (381 mm) guns due to the high muzzle velocity of the modern guns.[1][7] The high muzzle velocity of the guns gave the relatively light-weight projectiles long range and good belt penetration power, at a cost of deck penetration power.[1]
The turrets were named, in order from the bow of the ship: "Anton", "Bruno" and "Cäsar". Similarly to most German installations, those turrets had an electric system of rotation, but all other operations were hydraulic systems. Although rotating mass of the turret was 750 tonnes (internal barbette diameter 10.2 m), traversing speed was revealed to be quite good - 7.2 deg/min. Elevation was 8 deg/min. Distance between axes of guns was 2,750 mm. Maximum elevation was +40 degrees, and the lowest one was -8 degrees for turrets "Anton" and "Cäsar", and -9 degrees for the higher placed "Bruno" turret.
The 283 mm SKC/34 gun was relatively fast loading, comparing with other armament of this size. It could deliver a shot every 17 seconds. The ship magazines had a large capacity; they held 3x450 shells (150 per gun) of each of three types: armour-piercing, semi-armour-piercing, and igniting.
It was planned to rearm the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau with 38 cm/52 (14.96") SK C/34; replacing triple 28-cm turrets with twin 38-cm turrets. "No serious work ever started for Scharnhorst, but three turrets were built during the early 1940s to rearm Gneisenau. When Gneisenau was badly damaged in 1943, these three turrets plus an additional one originally intended for the Soviet Union were reallocated for use as coastal artillery. These were to be installed at Cap de la Hague and at Paimpol in France, but this plan was never implemented. Work on putting two of these turrets at Oxsby in Denmark was well advanced but incomplete by the end of the war."[8]
[edit] Service
The class's military service started soon after the start of World War II, with Gneisenau and Scharnhorst hunting Allied convoys in North Sea. On 23 November 1939, while attempting to break through the Iceland Gap to attack Allied ships in the North Atlantic, the two ships were sighted by British armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi. Although Rawalpindi was sunk after a short engagement, she had managed signal the German ships' location back to base, forcing them to return to Germany. The first major operations of the two ships against enemy warships were in the Norwegian campaign in 1940. Thereafter they acted as a constant threat to shipping and did sink a substantial tonnage of merchant vessels. They had the effect, even when in port, of tying down Royal Navy battleships in the convoy support role. They spent a while at Brest on the French Atlantic coast where they were in position to sortie against convoys bringing supplies and materiel from the US to Britain. Here they were exposed to attacks by air, and in the Channel Dash they sped through the English Channel to more protected anchorages in Northern Europe. Once there they were no longer a threat to the Atlantic convoys but they instead posed a deadly challenge to Arctic convoys carrying supplies from Britain to the Soviets through Murmansk.
Gneisenau was badly damaged during a British air raid in Kiel eleven days after Channel Dash and required extensive repairs. Scharnhorst moved further North to partner the Tirpitz, but was sunk after encountering a heavy RN force during an attack on a convoy in the "Battle of North Cape" 26 December 1943. During Gneisenau's repairs, moves were made to rearm the ship with 38-cm (15 inch) guns (see above), but after the sinking of Scharnhorst all work was stopped and Gneisenau was sunk as a blockade ship in Gotenhafen (Gdynia) in 1945, at the end of the war.
[edit] Actions against other capital ships
On 9 April 1940 (D-Day for Operation Weserübung), Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and escorting destroyers were steering due north some 50 miles off Vestfjord, when they encountered the British battlecruiser Renown under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir William Whitworth. Renown had been rebuilt just before the war, increasing the effectiveness of her main armament.[7] "It was now blowing a full gale, with mountainous seas and sudden curtains of snow or rain. AT 0405 the Renown opened fire with her 15-inch guns at a range of about 15,000 yards. Twelve minutes later she knocked out the Gneisenau's main gunnery control system, which persuaded the enemy [the Germans] to run for it. In the stern chase now ensuing, Whitworth hit the Gneisenautwice again at 0434 and knocked out a forward turret. However the weather itself was on the side of the German ships as Whitworth was later to recall: The chief feature of this running action was a heavy head sea, which forced Renown to slow down in order to fight her fore turrets. The Germans on the other hand could disregard the damaging effects of heavy water coming over their forecastles and continue to fight their after turrets whilst steaming at high speed. It is noteworthy that the Germans always jinked when they saw our salves fired, thus throwing us out of line. Although at times Whitworth drove Renown up to 29 knots, the two German ships had disappeared from view amid the squalls by 0660 [sic]."[9] Renown was hit twice by the Germans in this engagement.[citation needed]
[edit] Relics
"The small battleship Gneisenau was decommissioned in 1943 and then dearmed, with her guns then used in coastal fortifications in Denmark. In 1952, Denmark emplaced two of the twin [15cm] mountings as coastal defense guns at Fort Stevns. These mountings were reduced to reserve status in 1984, but as of 1994 they were still being fired every year as part of mobilization training."[2]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Navweaps.com data page for the 28 cm C/34 gun. Like all German 28 cm guns, these guns had an actual bore diameter of 28.3 cm (11.1").
- ^ a b Navweaps.com data page for the 15 cm/55 (5.9") SK C/28.
- ^ Navweaps.com data page for the 10.5 cm/65 (4.1") SK C/33.
- ^ Navweaps.com data page for the 3.7 cm/L83 (1.5 inch) SK C/30.
- ^ Navweaps.com data page for the 2 cm/65 (0.79") C/30 and 2 cm/65 (0.79") C/38 AA MG.
- ^ Gröner, Erich, German Warships 1815-1945, Volume One: Major Surface vessels.
- ^ a b Navweaps.com data page for the British 15"/42 (38.1 cm) Mark I
- ^ Navweaps.com data page for the 38 cm/52 (14.96") SK C/34.
- ^ Page 111, Barnett, Correlli, Engage the Enemy More Closely, the Royal Navy in the Second World War, pub Hodder and Stoughton, 1991, ISBN 0-340-33901-2
[edit] External links
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