Scharnhorst: Nazi Germany's Super Battleship or Paper Tiger?

Robert Farley

Security, Europe

Just overhyped?

The Treaty of Versailles drastically limited the size of the postwar Kriegsmarine, precluding Germany from owning any dreadnought battleships. The Germans could keep (and replace) pre-dreadnought vessels of ten thousand tons or less, roughly the size of a heavy cruiser in most navies. Presented with this problem, German engineers developed a novel solution: they designed the pocket battleships, warships of relatively small size (twelve thousand tons or so, pushing treaty limits), with relatively heavy armaments (two triple eleven-inch turrets) that could outrun or outgun any potential foe. The pocket battleships were designed as commerce raiders, not as main line units, but could still outfight enemy heavy cruisers.

Within these constraints, the pocket battleships were effective ships. Alas, the concept behind the pocket battleships went the way of all technology. The Royal Navy retained three of its battlecruisers, each of which would have no difficulty catching and destroying the German ships. More troubling, the French built Dunkerque and Strasbourg, a pair of fast battleships that similarly would have meant doom for the German vessels.

In 1933, the new Nazi government was preparing to rearm on land and at sea. The Kriegsmarine realized that building additional pocket battleships would serve no compelling purpose. Initial designs for new ships simply enlarged the pocket battleships, adding more range and armor. Over time, however, the necessity for a heavier armament (and consequently larger size) became apparent. The Nazi government also needed time to negotiate the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, which allowed new battleship construction. Laid down in 1935, the first two ships of the new era of German naval expansion became the fast battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, named after a pair of crack armored cruisers destroyed at the Battle of Falkland Islands.

Read full article