The German battleship Scharnhorst had a reputation for being a lucky ship. Early in the war she fought off a British battlecruiser and sunk a carrier, before carrying out two successful forays into the Atlantic. In the spring of 1943, the Scharnhorst was redeployed to Norway. There, working in concert with other German warships such as the battleship Tirpitz, she posed a major threat to the Arctic convoys – the Allied sea lifeline to Russia. Her presence, alongside Tirpitz, forced the British to tie down ships in Arctic waters. When Tirpitz was put out of action, and Hitler demanded naval support for the war in Russia, the crew of the Scharnhorst under Rear-Admiral Bey, had to act. In late December 1943, she put to sea, her target an Allied convoy passing through the Barents Sea on its way to Murmansk. Unknown to Bey, the British were using the convoy as bait to draw the Scharnhorst into battle. What followed was a two-day running battle fought in rough seas and near-perpetual darkness, ending with the destruction of the Scharnhorst and all but 36 of her crew, ending any serious German naval threat to the Arctic convoy lifeline. In this illustrated study, leading naval historian Angus Konstam offers a fascinating new insight into this key engagement. He combines expert analysis with his unique knack for storytelling to offer a fascinating new perspective on the battle which sank the Scharnhorst.

In one of World War Two's great naval battles, the Royal Navy finally tracked down, cornered, and sank The Scharnhorst--a potent symbol of Nazi seagoing power that had wreaked havoc on Allied convoys. This gripping military tale reveals how the cruiser was lured out of her Norwegian haven on Christmas Day 1943...and in a climactic fight, perished under the big guns of the battleship Duke of York. Eyewitnesses recount this crucial victory that was helped by the cracking of German codes.

Death of the Scharnhorst is a collection of poetry on war, death, and love. McKillen's poetry contains sorrowful musings on the events at Pearl Harbor during World War II. Contents: The Bird, the Lad and Me, The War in Spain, It Rains Tonight, While Drums Are Rolling, Apollo, Fountain of Loveliness, Highway Number 66, Dirge for the Squalus, Echo Canyon

The authors of Bismarck deliver “a very good account of the Tirpitz and of the naval war in the North Atlantic and Norwegian waters” during World War II (NYMAS Review). After the Royal Navy’s bloody high seas campaign to kill the mighty Bismarck, the Allies were left with an uncomfortable truth—the German behemoth had a twin sister. Slightly larger than her sibling, the Tirpitz was equally capable of destroying any other battleship afloat, as well as wreaking havoc on Allied troop and supply convoys. For the next three and a half years, the Allies launched a variety of attacks to remove Germany’s last serious surface threat, hidden within fjords along the Norwegian coast. Trying an indirect approach, the British launched one of the war’s most daring commando raids—at St. Nazaire—in order to knock out the last drydock in Europe capable of servicing the Tirpitz. Of over six hundred commandos and sailors in the raid, more than half were lost during an all-night battle that succeeded, at least, in knocking out the drydock. It was not until November 1944 that the Tirpitz finally succumbed to British aircraft armed with ten-thousand–pound Tallboy bombs, the ship capsizing at last with the loss of one thousand sailors. In this book, military historians Niklas Zetterling and Michael Tamelander, authors of Bismarck: The Final Days of Germany’s Greatest Battleship, illuminate the strategic implications and dramatic battles surrounding the Tirpitz, a ship that may have had greater influence on the course of World War II than her more famous sister. “A riveting story . . . keeps the reader engaged.” —Nautilus, A Maritime Journal of Literature, History and Culture

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The German battlecruiser Scharnhorst was sunk in the last action of its life, by a group of British ships led by Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser. The German admirals were easily depressed, as they were constantly being urged onwards to victory for Fuhrer and Fatherland, while at the same time being cautioned against taking any risks with their ships. #2 The Royal Navy has always known that the price of Admiralty is very high indeed, in blood and treasure. But one setback does not lose a war. In Bruce Fraser, the Home Fleet had a commander who knew who his opponent would be, and he had had ample time to prepare for it. #3 In 1941, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were used to carry out a raid on commerce. They successfully sank 22 ships, of 115,622 tons, and totally disrupted Allied convoy schedules. They had also tempered valor with discretion, having adroitly withdrawn when they sighted an opposing capital ship with a convoy. #4 Scharnhorst was a German ship that had suffered many reverses and damage. But her crew was extremely proud of her, and they developed a great pride in their ship. They were lucky in their commanding officer, Kapitan zur See Kurt Caesar Hoffman, who had relieved Ciliax in September 1939.