The battleships of the Kriegsmarine are only four vessels in total, which they managed to put into operational service in 1935-1941. The first two of those, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, did not make as spectacular combat career as the other two. So far, no extensive memories of seamen sailing them have appeared, because their career practically boiled down to staying in a port, dock or roadstead until they sank or the hostilities ended. The current publication is a form of compromise between combat operations, shortened in it to a necessary minimum, in the case of Scharnhorst, and a broader description of use of the wreck of Gneisenau after the war, and a photo album that represents life on the ship.

The warships of the World War II era German Navy are among the most popular subject in naval history with an almost uncountable number of books devoted to them. However, for a concise but authoritative summary of the design history and careers of the major surface ships it is difficult to beat a series of six volumes written by Gerhard Koop and illustrated by Klaus-Peter Schmolke. Each contains an account of the development of a particular class, a detailed description of the ships, with full technical details, and an outline of their service, heavily illustrated with plans, battle maps and a substantial collection of photographs. These have been out of print for ten years or more and are now much sought after by enthusiasts and collectors, so this new modestly priced reprint of the series will be widely welcomed.??Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the subject of this volume, were the product of a long, involved and politically determined design process that saw them develop from an improved Pocket Battleship to what many described as a battlecruiser, although they were really fast battleships. They were the most active, and successful, of the Kriegesmarine's major warships, taking part in numerous famous operations, including the infamous 'Channel Dash'.

A highly detailed study of the World War II German battleship that sparred with the British Royal Navy from 1939–43. The Kriegsmarine's Scharnhorst was a German capital ship, described either as a battleship or battlecruiser, and the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. She was launched on 3 October 1936 and completed in January 1939, armed with nine 28cm C/34 guns in three triple turrets. She operated with Gneisenau for much of the early portion of World War II, including sorties into the Atlantic to raid British merchant shipping. They took part in Operation Weserübung (April–June 1940), the German invasion of Norway during which they sank the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and her escort destroyers Acasta and Ardent. Scharnhorst also sank HMS Rawalpindi in November 1939. In early 1943, Scharnhorst joined the Tirpitz in Norway to intercept Allied convoys to the Soviet Union. On a sortie from Norway to attack a convoy, the German force was intercepted by British ships and during the Battle of the North Cape (26 December 1943), HMS Duke of York and her escorts sank Scharnhorst and most of her crew was lost. This is the most comprehensive examination of Scharnhorst ever published, drawing on new research and technology to tell the full story of the ship. It includes a complete set of detailed line drawings with fully descriptive keys and full-color artwork, supported by technical details, photographs, and text on the building of the ship, as well as a record of her service history.

This book is a compilation in which we will find in one place (two volumes) the stories of all the German battleships that were in Kriegsmarine service. The author describes their history in the order in which they entered the service devoting much attention to their construction and precisely describing the differences among them. He goes back to the history of the service, trying not to forget about the many curiosities in this policy and people who had a direct influence on their fate. The book includesany excellent quality photographs primarily from private collections. All the ships are described and illustrated with full technical specifications, profusely illustrated with scale drawings and color illustrations.