On October 3, 1936, the battleship "Scharnhorst" was launched in Wilhelmshaven. Germany demonstrates military strength with the 235 meter long colossus - and disregards the Versailles Treaty.
It is more than the launching of a large ship:With the battle cruiser "Scharnhorst", Adolf Hitler showed the world around three years before the outbreak of the Second World War that the Treaty of Versailles no longer had any meaning for him, even in questions of rearmament.
According to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, no German warship may have a displacement of more than 10,000 tons. With more than 35,000 tons, however, the "Scharnhorst" has more than three times as much. Although the German Navy still falls far short of the strength of potential opponents such as the British Royal Navy, this battlecruiser is an opponent that the British Admiralty will have to reckon with in the future. The 235 meter long "Scharnhorst" is the first battleship to be built in Germany after the First World War. As early as 1934 - one year after Adolf Hitler came to power - it was laid down in Wilhelmshaven.
"Scharnhorst" built at the Wilhelmshaven naval shipyard
The equipment of the 235 meter long "Scharnhorst" also included three aircraft.The "Scharnhorst" is being built at the Kriegsmarine shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, or KMW for short. It is the most important naval shipyard in the German Reich. Once founded as the Kaiserliche Marine-Werft Wilhelmshaven, KMW played a key role in building up the Kaiserliche Marine. The shipyard contributed to its rise to become the second largest navy in the world, with which Kaiser Wilhelm II finally challenged the British Empire. With the Versailles Treaty, which limited both the German navy and the merchant marine to a fraction of their former size, KMW lost its importance. The shipyard facilities have been drastically reduced.
New tasks had to be found for the remaining systems. First the scrapping of remaining warships and merchant ships brought some orders. By 1923, over 300 German and foreign ships, including many merchant ships, met their end there. Later, the shipyard also increasingly took on civil orders for the construction of passenger steamers and played a key role in the construction of trawlers and cutters for deep-sea fishing.
Second keel laying:"Scharnhorst" should become stronger
Armed with triple turrets, the Nazi regime demonstrated military strength with the "Scharnhorst".In 1935, Hitler officially declared the Versailles Treaty null and void and ordered the establishment of a powerful navy. The "Scharnhorst", initially conceived as a smaller ironclad, was laid down for the second time in 1935:now it is to be larger - and more heavily armed.
When the "Scharnhorst" was launched on October 3, 1936, superstructure and guns were still missing. The main armament later consists of three triple turrets with 28 cm guns. There are also four twin turrets and four single mounts with 15 cm guns, a large number of smaller caliber guns and six torpedo tubes. Three seaplanes complete the equipment. The drive enables the ship to reach a speed of more than 57 kilometers per hour. The total costs are 143 million Reichsmarks - that corresponds to more than 500 million euros in today's terms.
The namesake:Gerhard von Scharnhorst
The namesake:General Gerhard von Scharnhorst.The name of Gerhard von Scharnhorst (1755-1813), born in Bordenau near Hanover, is emblazoned on the bow of the ship. The Prussian general is considered one of the most important commanders in the fight against Napoleon. In addition, he had made a name for himself as a reformer of the Prussian army, with the abolition of old aristocratic privileges and as the father of general conscription.
However, General Scharnhorst can no longer defend himself against the highly dubious honor of having to serve as the namesake for a powerful instrument in Hitler's war machine - he was killed in 1813 as a result of a gunshot wound in the war against France.
Commissioning of the "Scharnhorst" in 1939
In the first days of January 1939, the future ship's crew met for the first time in Wilhelmshaven. The men had previously been trained at different locations using models for the new command. Now they are starting up together, knowing that in the future they will form a unit that will work together in a very small space and maybe even fight together. In his speech on the commissioning, the Commander, Captain Otto Ciliax, emphasized the obligation that comes with the proud name of Scharnhorst. The Deutschlandlied sounds and on the command "Hot flag and pennant!" the Reich war flag with the swastika and the commander's pennant are hoisted. With that the "Scharnhorst" is officially put into service.
War deployment and sinking
Around 160 kilometers north of the North Cape, the "Scharnhorst" - here is a later illustration - was sunk by British forces on December 26, 1943.It doesn't take long before it's put to use. The Second World War begins on September 1, 1939 with Hitler's invasion of Poland. During the war, the "Scharnhorst" - often together with her sister ship "Gneisenau" - successfully operated several times against superior fleets. Among other things, she is involved in the occupation of Norway and the fight against Allied convoys in the Atlantic. She is repeatedly damaged by torpedoes and sea mines. On December 26, 1943, the "Scharnhorst" went down in battle. Faced with battle by superior forces of the Royal Navy, the "Scharnhorst" provided the British warships with a firefight lasting several hours. But it cannot withstand the more than 2,000 shells and around 50 torpedoes. After numerous hits, the battleship sinks in the North Sea. Of the 1,968 crew, only 36 are rescued.
Wreck of the "Scharnhorst" remains missing for 57 years
A stone on the North Cemetery in Kiel today commemorates "the 1,975 dead of the battleship 'Scharnhorst' in 1939 until the sinking of the ship on December 26, 1943". The search for the wreck has been in vain for decades. It was not until September 2000 that the Norwegian journalist Alf R. Jacobsen found it at a depth of 300 meters.