Scharnhorst: The Powerful Pocket Battleship of World War II

Scharnhorst was a German battleship built before World War II. It was named after the Prussian military reformer Gerhard von Scharnhorst. The ship was launched in 1936 and commissioned into the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) in 1938.

Scharnhorst was one of the most powerful warships of its time, with a main armament of nine 28 cm (11 inch) guns and a top speed of over 30 knots (56 km/h). It was designed to serve as a "pocket battleship," a small but heavily armed vessel that could compete with larger battleships.

During World War II, Scharnhorst served in the North Atlantic and participated in several naval battles, including the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939 and the Battle of Norway in April-June 1940. In December 1941, the ship was involved in a failed attempt to intercept the Allied convoy JW 51B, which led to a heavy engagement with British warships off the coast of Norway.

Scharnhorst was sunk by British warships on December 26, 1943, during Operation "Crusader," an Allied attack on German shipping in the North Atlantic. The wreck of the ship was discovered in 2019 and is now a protected historical site.