The construction of the German battlecruiser/battleship Scharnhorst and her sistership Gneisenau began in 1935 at two different shipyards in Germany.Both were launched in 1936 and completed in 1938 and 1939.They saw their first action on 21 November 1939 when they fought and sank the British armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi.Both took part in the naval operation off Norway in April 1940,during which they exchanged shells with the battlecruiser Renown and were damaged.
They returned in early June,arriving in time to ambush and sink the British aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and her two escorts,but during the fight the Scharnhorst was hit by a torpedo from one of the escorts.After the repairs were made they were sent out to attack convoys and sank a few ships each,but twice they were driven away from a convoy by an escorting battleship.
Early in 1942 they took part in Operation Cerberus,a daring dash up the English channel during which both were damaged.During repairs the Gneiscenau was damaged in an air raid and never went to sea again.The Scharnhorst joined the German squadron in Norway in late 1943 and fought in the Battle of the North Cape(see post),during which she was sunk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scharnhorst_class_battleship
a photo of the Gneisenau
That's all for now!
Tigertank
No comments:
Post a Comment