Scharnhorst-class battleship
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The Scharnhorst class was a class of German battleships built immediately prior to World War II. The first capital ships of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, it comprised two vessels, Scharnhorst and Gneis
Illustration of the Scharnhorst class
Scharnhorst, before the fitting of the "Atlantic bow"
Scharnhorst's forward guns
Scharnhorst in harbor; the thickness of the armor belt is easily seen
Bismarck-class battleship
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The Bismarck class was a pair of fast battleships built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine shortly before the outbreak of World War II. The ships were the largest and most powerful warships built for the
Scharnhorst-class battleship
…from occupied France to Germany. In late 1942, Gneisenau was heavily damaged in an Allied air raid against Kiel. In early 1943, Scharnhorst joined the Bismarck-class Tirpitz in Norway to interdict Allied convoys to the Soviet Union. Scharnhorst and several destroyers sortied from Norway to attack a convoy; the Germans…
Bismarck underway near Blankenese in 1940
The French battleship Richelieu in Dakar in 1940; the Bismarck-class battleships were ordered to counter Richelieu
Recognition drawing prepared by the US Navy
Bismarck in drydock, showing the three-shaft arrangement