The German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were designed to challenge the naval power of France and the United Kingdom, built under the restrictions of 1930s naval treaties. Though Gneisenau ...

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 ...

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 ...

In 1941, along with the Gneisenau, it attacked and sank 22 merchant ... lay in wait with Force Two (the battleship Duke of York, the cruiser Jamaica, and four destroyers intended for the final ...