German battleship scharnhorst schiffer military history by siegfried breyer mint condition. Overshadowed by the big battleships of the bismark class, the sister ships scharnhorst and gneisenau proved to be just as valuable to the german navy in wwii. Scharnhorst presented an imposing silhouette, with three triple turrets, a heavy bridge superstructure, and a single large stack. As the first chief of the prussian general staff, he was noted for his military theories, his reforms of the prussian army, and his leadership during the napoleonic wars. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, gneisenau.
Scharnhorst was a battleshipbattlecruiser that served with nazi germanys kriegsmarine during world war ii. Scharnhorst limited the use of corporal punishments, established promotion for merit. In this wartime painting, flares illuminate the night sky on the day after christmas 1943, as elements of the british royal navy led by the battleship duke of york surround and overwhelm the german battlecruiser scharnhorst, sending her to a watery grave in what came to be known as the battle of the north cape. You play schar and 19k and dont sunk any ship poor accurate. Lessons learned in naval conflicts including german warships, like norway, the sinking of the bismarck and the loss of the scharnhorst were used to upgrade the plans, so the size of the later hclass designs increased in a very spectacular way. The kriegsmarines scharnhorst was a german capital ship, described either as a battleship or battlecruiser, and the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, gneisenau.
This is a good, concise history of the ships of the bismarck class bismarck and tirpitz. British battleships in world war ii, stackpole military history. On december 25 1943, the battleship scharnhorst, accompanied by the 4th destroyer flotilla with z29 as its flagship, took to the sea. It was initially designed as a heavy cruiser, then battleship, matching up to french dunkerqueclass ship. Completed in january 1939, the ship was armed with a main battery of nine 28 cm c34 guns in three triple turrets. Both displaced 32,100 long tons standard or 38,100 lt fully loaded. A fast battleship of the king george v class, duke of york easily outgunned scharnhorst, and had better radar. Each book contains an account of the development of a particular class, a detailed description of the ships, with full technical details, and an outline of their service, and are heavily illustrated with plans, battle maps and a substantial.
The warships of the world war ii era german navy are among the most popular subject in naval history with an almost uncountable number of books devoted to them. Space battleship scharnhorst and the library of doom an old guycybertank adventure. Battleship documentary dvds for sale in stock ebay. In world war ii, what was the story of the sinking of the. This book provides many excellent photographs and technical drawings for all aspects of these ships their hull design, weapon mounts, radar systems, camouflage schemes, refits during. On the morning of december 26, due to a severe storm and mistakes by the german admiral, scharnhorst was separated from its destroyer escort. The ship was built at the kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in wilhelmshaven. The german battleship scharnhorst schiffer military history. L ike the royal navys illfated hood, the scharnhorst was technically a battlecruiser, but is generally called a battleship. Unknown to the german command, the convoys british escort, led by admiral sir robert burnett and admiral bruce fraser, had successfully intercepted the scharnhorsts radio communications. The two bismarck class battleships followed in 1936.
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 german battleship scharnhorst schiffer military. She was launched on 3 october 1936 and completed in january 1939, armed with nine 28cm c34 guns in three triple turrets. The scharnhorst has been a favorite t7 battleship for a long time and has held its spot as being one of the more fun and unique battleships throughout its life time in the game. Pdf german battleships 1939 45 download full pdf book. Warship construction cost german battleship bismarck. Click to read more about the german battleship scharnhorst schiffer military history by siegfried breyer. Scharnhorst was a german capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship or battlecruiser, of nazi germanys kriegsmarine. Gerhard koop, klauspeter schmolke battleship scharnhorst siegfried breyer, miroslaw skwiot german capital ships of the second world war. The backbone of the german surface forces at the outbreak of war warships of the kriegsmarine paperback may 15, 2014. Pdf battleships of the scharnhorst class download full. Bismarck was completed in 1940 and tirpitz in 1941. On 12 january 1942, the german naval command, in a conference with hitler, made the decision to return gneisenau, scharnhorst, and the heavy cruiser prinz eugen to germany.
Covers the activities and design specifics of the battle. On december 20th, scharnhorst made what would be her final sortie, being sent to intercept convoy jw 55b, thanks to british inteligence breaking german naval codes, the royal navy was able to move the convoys distant cover, three cruisers and the king george v class battleship duke of york, which was over two hundred miles away initially and. With shoot to 24k most long history and with blast attack. During the early years of the war, scharnhorst supported operations against norway as well as raided allied convoys in the north atlantic. The german battleship scharnhorst schiffer military history by siegfried breyer author visit amazons siegfried breyer page. However, for a concise but authoritative summary of the design history and careers of the major surface ships it is difficult to beat a series of six volumes written by gerhard koop and. This book provides many excellent photographs and technical drawings for all aspects of these ships their hull design, weapon mounts, radar systems, camouflage schemes, refits during the war, and even a brief history of the men whos names were given to these ships. In the ensuing skirmish, the battleship gave the british ships a hard time. Read download battleships of the scharnhorst class pdf. Since at least the 1980s, the books by the late gerhard koop he died in 2005, originally published in germany as hardcovers, were universally respected and considered excellent technical reference books on the kriegsmarine. The backbone of the german surface forces at the outbreak of war. The sinking of the scharnhorst was an enormous psychological blow for the german nation, at the height of world war two.
German battleship scharnhorst underway as seen in us navy booklet a503 fm3050 for warship identification. On 15th march, the scharnhorst sank a total of 27,277 tons of shipping after a skirmish with a british convoy in the midatlantic. Speed and strength scharnhorst german battleship with. Published in supplement to the london gazette, thrusday, 7 august 1947 sinking of the german battlecruiser scharnhorst on the 26th december, 1943. Will include dust jacket if it originally came with one. Scharnhorst vs gneisenau opinions german battleships. German battleship scharnhorst in port, circa 19391940. The intention was to deploy the vessels to norway to interdict allied convoys to the soviet union. The two ships were laid down in 1935, launched in late 1936, and commissioned into the german fleet by early 1939. In january of 1936 a new scharnhorst was launched as a battlecruiser along with her sister ship, kms gneisenau. German pocket battleships download ebook pdf, epub. Wwii german warships and the prussian general staff.
Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Aboard the 14inch gun battleship, admiral sir bruce fraser, commanding the home fleet, suspected a sortie by scharnhorst might be in the wind, and he made plans accordingly. However, for a concise but authoritative summary of the. The german battleship scharnhorst was built at wilhelmshaven shipyard. This week, james arnold, who is the author of more than thirty military history books, discusses two prominent prussian military officers who fought in the 19th century napoleonic wars. In our continuing series of history articles that we are presenting, our historians are writing on a range of subjects.
The german battleship scharnhorst schiffer military history paperback february 1, 1991. The warships of the world war ii german navy are among the most popular subjects in naval history, and one of the best collections is the concise but authoritative six volume series written by gerhard koop and illustrated by klauspeter schmolke. Scharnhorst ever most quick that gnienesau on speed scharnhorst top speed test trials 31,8. In the late 1920s, debate ensued within germany regarding the size and place of the nations navy. These concerns were heightened by new shipbuilding in france and the soviet union which led to the reichsmarine planning for new warships. Comparing the basic data of the different hclass designs shows this very effectively, as shown in. The sinking of the german battlecruiser scharnhorst. World war ii,documentary, 2015 world war ii documentary, ww2, full documentary. The german battleship scharnhorst by siegfried breyer.
Buy a cheap copy of the german battleship scharnhorst. The sinking of scharnhorst warfare history network. In 1935 the only ship named scharnhorst was an 18,000ton cruise liner used by the third reich for workers and military men and their families on holiday voyages. The british battleship detected scharnhorst around 4.
German battleship scharnhorst battleship era world. Therere much more images in my latest page, plus images of my artists model builders, and link to mm annual report 2012. The hms sheffield was riddled with heavy shrapnel, while the destroyer virago was nearly sank after being hit by a salvo from the scharnhorsts main guns. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. Though restricted by the treaty of versailles that ended world war i to building warships. Commissioned in 1939, the ship mounted a main armament of nine 11inch guns and was capable of 31 knots. A key player in the defeat of the german battleship was admiral karl donitz, who could never restrain himself from. German 283mm shells disabled a primary armament turret on hms norfolk and inflicted serious damage to its hull. He had drilled his force in night tactics, and on the 24th even rehearsed an attack on scharnhorst with jamaica playing the role of the german warship. They were pursued by the two fierce battleships, king george v and rodney, but the scharnhorst and gneisenau were too fast, and successfully evaded the british in a squall. Sep 23, 2015 the battleship book, to be published by wildside books in september, 2015 see. Scharnhorst was sunk after a sharply fought battle with three british cruisers, several destroyers, and the battleship duke of york. The first new battleships built in germany were the two scharnhorst class ships, scharnhorst and gneisenau in 1935.