cerberus
07-31-2004, 11:04 AM
Perhaps the most elegant and most loved of all the Altantic raiders.
A ship which evaded the Royal Navy on several occasions .
A veteran of Norway , the Atlantic convoy routes , the arctic , she sufferred from many of the problems of german ship design yet caused the admirality a real headache.
She forced the English Channel with her sister ship ( Gneisenau) and Prinz Eugen in Feb. 1942 ( Operation Cerberus) making a successful run back to home waters much to the total humilation of the Royal Navy who owing to a series of failures and bad luck was taken completely by surprise.
She was sunk of North cape on Boxing Day 1943 with heavy loss of life , only 36 men suriving her loss.
A well run happy and successful ship .
On the negative side , her sea keeping qualities were not good , her "wet bow" was never completley cured , she rolled quite a bit even in relatively calm waters , her steam turbines (in common with all german designs) frequently caused problems , she was seriously under gunned the 11 inch being not powerful enough to take on anything bigger than a heavy cruiser.
For all this she was an elusive , very fast and well managed unit which led the Navy on a merry dance for the length of her service life.
She too has recently been found on the floor of the arctic sea her remains lying upside down , her bow section totally blown away by a magazine explosion which took away the ship from her main guns to the bow , answering the question why she sank so quickly.
She absorbed terrible punishment before sinking and so nearly managed to make good her escape.
Her operations.
1. war cruise in North Atlantic 21-27 November 1939 ( Along the Gneisenau).
2. Operation Weserubung -The Invasion of Norway. (ditto).
3. Operation Juno 1940 . (ditto)
4. Operation Berlin 1941. (ditto).
5.Planned to take part in Rheinburg, aborted owing to damage from attentions of RAF.
6. Operation Cerberus to return the Brset squadron to home waters via the English cannel , the ships entering the Straits of Dover in broad daylight.
7.Battle of North Cape December 1943.
This failuer to intercept Convoy JB55B resulted in her being engaged by the covering forces of Norfolk , Sheffield and Belfast.
Twice she attempted to attack the convoy and twice was driven off , her forward radar being damaged by counter fire .
Blind ahead she headed for home unawre of Admiral Fraser in Duke of York and her escorts which were closing fast from the west to intercept and cut her off from the Coast of Norway.
Duke of York engaged her at short range 11,000 yds hitting her twice .
Scharnhorst increased her speed and moved away leaving the DOY out of range.
Damage to the Scharnhorst's HP steam lines caused to lose speed and she was attacked by destroyers and re engaged by Duke of York and Belfast in a battle she could not win.
Destroyers engaged her several times hitting her with numerous ( perhaps as many as 10-15 times ) torpedos.
She sank as a result of a a magazine explosion .
Her wreck remains on the ocean floor covered in lost fishing nets , recently surveyed by the Norwegian Navy.
A ship which evaded the Royal Navy on several occasions .
A veteran of Norway , the Atlantic convoy routes , the arctic , she sufferred from many of the problems of german ship design yet caused the admirality a real headache.
She forced the English Channel with her sister ship ( Gneisenau) and Prinz Eugen in Feb. 1942 ( Operation Cerberus) making a successful run back to home waters much to the total humilation of the Royal Navy who owing to a series of failures and bad luck was taken completely by surprise.
She was sunk of North cape on Boxing Day 1943 with heavy loss of life , only 36 men suriving her loss.
A well run happy and successful ship .
On the negative side , her sea keeping qualities were not good , her "wet bow" was never completley cured , she rolled quite a bit even in relatively calm waters , her steam turbines (in common with all german designs) frequently caused problems , she was seriously under gunned the 11 inch being not powerful enough to take on anything bigger than a heavy cruiser.
For all this she was an elusive , very fast and well managed unit which led the Navy on a merry dance for the length of her service life.
She too has recently been found on the floor of the arctic sea her remains lying upside down , her bow section totally blown away by a magazine explosion which took away the ship from her main guns to the bow , answering the question why she sank so quickly.
She absorbed terrible punishment before sinking and so nearly managed to make good her escape.
Her operations.
1. war cruise in North Atlantic 21-27 November 1939 ( Along the Gneisenau).
2. Operation Weserubung -The Invasion of Norway. (ditto).
3. Operation Juno 1940 . (ditto)
4. Operation Berlin 1941. (ditto).
5.Planned to take part in Rheinburg, aborted owing to damage from attentions of RAF.
6. Operation Cerberus to return the Brset squadron to home waters via the English cannel , the ships entering the Straits of Dover in broad daylight.
7.Battle of North Cape December 1943.
This failuer to intercept Convoy JB55B resulted in her being engaged by the covering forces of Norfolk , Sheffield and Belfast.
Twice she attempted to attack the convoy and twice was driven off , her forward radar being damaged by counter fire .
Blind ahead she headed for home unawre of Admiral Fraser in Duke of York and her escorts which were closing fast from the west to intercept and cut her off from the Coast of Norway.
Duke of York engaged her at short range 11,000 yds hitting her twice .
Scharnhorst increased her speed and moved away leaving the DOY out of range.
Damage to the Scharnhorst's HP steam lines caused to lose speed and she was attacked by destroyers and re engaged by Duke of York and Belfast in a battle she could not win.
Destroyers engaged her several times hitting her with numerous ( perhaps as many as 10-15 times ) torpedos.
She sank as a result of a a magazine explosion .
Her wreck remains on the ocean floor covered in lost fishing nets , recently surveyed by the Norwegian Navy.