Scharnhorst was a German battleship, sometimes referred to as a battlecruiser, of the Kriegsmarine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. She was built at Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down on 15 June 1935 and launched a year and four months later on 3 October 1936.

Scharnhorst and Gneisenau operated together for much of the early portion of WWII, including sorties into the Atlantic to raid British merchant shipping. During her first operation, Scharnhorst sank the auxiliary cruiser HMS Rawalpindi in a short engagement. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau participated in the German invasion of Norway.  During operations off Norway, the two ships engaged the battlecruiser HMS Renown and sank the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious as well as her escort destroyers HMS Acasta and HMS Ardent. In that engagement Scharnhorst achieved one of the longest-range naval gunfire hits in history.

In early 1942, after repeated British bombing raids, the two ships made a dash up the English Channel from Brest. In early 1943, Scharnhorst joined the Tirpitz in Norway to interdict Allied convoys to the Soviet Union. Scharnhorst and several destroyers sortied from Norway to attack a convoy; the Germans were instead intercepted by British naval patrols. During the Battle of the North Cape, HMS Duke of York and her escorts sank Scharnhorst. Only 36 men were pulled from the icy seas, out of a crew of 1,968