Scharnhorst-class battleship
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 Gneisenau. Scharnhorst was launched first, and is considered to be the lead ship by some sources; they are also referred to as the Gneisenau class in some other sources, as Gneisenau was the first to be laid down and commissioned. They marked the beginning of German naval rearmament after the Treaty of Versailles. The ships were armed with nine 28 cm (11 in) SK C/34 guns in three triple turrets; plans to replace these with six 38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 guns in twin turrets were never realized.
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
The Kriegsmarine was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war Reichsmarine (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches, along with the Heer and the Luftwaffe, of the Wehrmacht, the German armed forces from 1935 to 1945.
Erich Raeder, commander of the Kriegsmarine until 1943
The crew of a minesweeper in France, 1941
The battleship Tirpitz in Norway, 1944
Anti-Jewish measures ordered by the German naval commander in Liepāja, 5 July 1941