View source for SS Scharnhorst (1934)

{{other use|Scharnhorst (disambiguation)}}
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|Ship image=File:Werftprobefahrt_Scharnhorst.jpg
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|Ship country= [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Nazi Germany|civil}}
|Ship name= ''Scharnhorst''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship owner= [[Norddeutscher Lloyd]]<ref name=LR>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/37/37b0780.pdf |year=1937 |title=Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motor Ships |location=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |access-date=2 May 2013}}</ref>
|Ship operator= Norddeutscher Lloyd
|Ship registry= [[Bremen]]
|Ship route= Bremen – Far East
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|Ship builder= [[Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG|DeSchiMAG]], Bremen<ref name=LR/>
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|Ship yard number= 891<ref name=Simplon>{{cite web |url= http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/NDL3.html#Scharnhorst |title=NDL Page 3: 1915-1939 |work=Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) |publisher=Simplon – The Passenger Ship Website |access-date=9 May 2013}}</ref>
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|Ship launched= 14 December 1934<ref name=":Launch">{{Cite web |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singfreepressb19341215-1.2.13?ST=1&AT=filter&K=scharnhorst&KA=scharnhorst&DF=&DT=&Display=0&AO=false&NPT=&L=&CTA=&NID=singfreepressb&CT=&WC=&YR=&QT=scharnhorst&oref=article|title=The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884-1942), 15 December 1934, Page 1|website=eresources.nlb.gov.sg}}</ref>
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|Ship completed= 1935<ref name=LR/>
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|Ship in service= 3 May 1935<ref name=Simplon/>
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|Ship homeport= Bremen
|Ship identification=*[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]] DOQO<ref name=LR/>
* {{ICS|Delta}}{{ICS|Oscar}}{{ICS|Quebec}}{{ICS|Oscar}}
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|Ship country= [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|naval}}
|Ship name= {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Shin'yō||2}}
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|Ship operator= [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]
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|Ship commissioned= 15 December 1943<ref name=Simplon/>
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|Ship fate=*Torpedoed and sunk on 17 November 1944<ref name=Stille43>{{harvnb|Stille|2006|p=43}}</ref>
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|Header caption=as built
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|Ship tonnage=* {{GRT|18184}}<ref name=LR/>
* {{NRT|10,712}}<ref name=LR/>
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|Ship length=*{{convert|625.6|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=LR/> [[Length between perpendiculars|p/p]]
* {{convert|652|ft|abbr=on|1}}<ref name=Simplon/> [[Length overall|o/a]]
|Ship beam= {{convert|74.1|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=LR/>
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|Ship power= {{convert|26000|shp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}
|Ship propulsion= twin [[steam turbine]]s, [[turbo-electric transmission]], twin [[Propeller (marine)|screw]]<ref name=LR/>
|Ship speed= {{convert|21|kn|lk=in}}<ref name=Harnack>{{harvnb|Harnack|1938|p=549}}</ref>
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'''SS ''Scharnhorst''''' was a [[Norddeutscher Lloyd]] [[ocean liner]], launched in 1934, completed in 1935 and made her maiden voyage on 8 May 1935.<ref name=":NSW">{{Cite web|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/161134540|title=Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Sydney, NSW)|newspaper=Daily Commercial News and Shipping List|date=24 April 1935 |access-date=2 Oct 2018}}</ref> She was the first big passenger liner built by the [[Third Reich]]. Under the German merchant flag, she was the second liner named after General [[Gerhard von Scharnhorst|Gerhard J. D. von Scharnhorst]]. She was one of three ships on the Far Eastern route between [[Bremen]] and [[Yokohama]]; her [[sister ship]]s were {{SS|Potsdam|1935|2}} and {{SS|Gneisenau|1935|2}}. These three ships were planned to shorten the journey time between Bremen and [[Shanghai]] from the usual 50 days to 34. She was trapped in Japan in September 1939 and later converted into an [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] [[aircraft carrier]] named {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Shin'yō||2}} in 1942 and sunk by the US submarine {{USS|Spadefish|SS-411|6}} in 1944.

==Construction and career==
[[Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG|DeSchiMAG]] in [[Bremen]] built ''Scharnhorst'' and her [[sister ship]] {{SS|Gneisenau|1935|2}} for [[Norddeutscher Lloyd]] (NDL), completing them in 1935.<ref name=LR/> [[Blohm + Voss]] in [[Hamburg]] built another sister ship, {{SS|Potsdam|1935|2}}.<ref name=LR/>

''Scharnhorst'' was used as a test-bed for new high-pressure, high-temperature boilers, as the ''[[Kriegsmarine]]'' wanted to evaluate the performance of the machinery before it installed the boilers in new [[capital ship]]s.{{sfn|Polmar|Genda|2006|p=262}} ''Gneisenau'' had conventional reduction gearing from her turbines to her [[Propeller (marine)|propeller]] shafts, but ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Potsdam'' had [[turbo-electric transmission]].<ref name=LR/><ref name=Harnack/> ''Scharnhorst'' had twin [[AEG (German company)|AEG]] [[turbo generator]]s that supplied current to electric motors on her propeller shafts. ''Scharnhorst'' was [[Ceremoinal ship launching|launched]] at [[Bremen]] on 14 December 1934. The occasion was attended by [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]. A report appeared in [[Singapore Free Press|''The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser'']] on 15 December 1938.<ref name=":Launch"/><ref>{{cite news |title=For the Far East. Hitler Attends Launch of the Scharnhorst |work=The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser |date=15 December 1938 |quote=Bremen, Dec. 14. President Hitler attended the launch of the Scharnhorst, the new liner for Germany's Far East service. The Minister of Communications, who christened the ship, announced that work will begin shortly on two sister ships. Reuter.}}</ref>

The three sister ships worked the NDL express service between Bremen and the Far East, and at {{convert|21|kn|lk=in}}<ref name=Harnack/> were some of the fastest ships on the route.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} ''Scharnhorst''{{'}}s maiden voyage on 8 May 1935 was reported in the newspapers.  One report in the [[Daily Cargo News|''Daily Commercial News and Shipping List'']]<ref name=":NSW" /> dated 24 April 1935 stated that the new route provided by the ship added new port calls at [[Palma de Mallorca|Palma de Majorca]] and [[Naples]].<ref>{{cite news |title= New German Service. Schedule Drawn Up |work=Daily Commercial News and Shipping List |date=24 April 1935 |quote=The first N.D.L. vessel for the new German Far East service to start on her maiden voyage will be the S.S. Scharnhorst on May 8, and will be followed at the beginning of July by the S.S. Potsdam. The third ship, the S.S. Gneisenau, the launching of which will take place shortly at a Bremen ship yard, will start out at the beginning of December, 1935. The schedule for the new German Far East service, which has been definitely drawn up in all its details, has been notably augmented by the regular calling at Palma de Majorca and Naples, both on the outward and homeward voyages.}}</ref>

The UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878–1960,<ref name=":Ancestry">{{Cite web|url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1518&h=9256734&ssrc=pt&tid=85845745&pid=40530411287&usePUB=true|website=ancestry.com|title=UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960}}{{better source needed|date=March 2023}}</ref> show, for example, that, in 1938, ''Scharnhorst'' arrived at [[Southampton]], England, at the end of the voyage from [[Yokohama]], Japan, on four occasions, 21 January 1938, 23 April 1938, 24 July 1938 and 19 October 1938. Other years show a similar timetable; that is, four round trips between Europe and the Far East each year. ''Scharnhorst'' was mentioned in newspapers in 1937. The ''[[Western Daily Press]]'' of [[Bristol]], England, on 27 September 1937, published an account of ''Scharnhorst''{{'}}s arrival in [[Hong Kong]] carrying survivors of an attack on Chinese fishing boats by Japanese aircraft.<ref>{{cite news |title=Japanese Condemned at Geneva |work=Western Daily Press |date=28 September 1937 |page=12 |quote=... aeroplanes on this occasion appear to have been aiming at the railway stations outside the two cities. The German liner Scharnhorst, arriving at [[Hong Kong]] yesterday, brought a few survivors from a fleet of Chinese fishing junks. While They Were Fishing ...}}</ref>

The route to [[Shanghai]] developed from 1938 to become one of the main escape routes of German and Austrian Jews, since in Shanghai emigration visas were not required.<ref>{{cite book|first=Astrid |last=Freyeisen|title=Shanghai und die Politik des Dritten Reiches|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WymFbVPzUo8C&pg=PA398|year=2000|publisher=Königshausen & Neumann|isbn=978-3-8260-1690-5|pages=398|language=de}}</ref> The timetable of round trips from Bremen to Yokohama and back continued until 1939. In the UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960,<ref name=":Ancestry" /> the last occasion when ''Scharnhorst'' docked in Southampton on the return journey to Bremen was on 28 June 1939. ''Scharnhorst'' does not appear in the UK records again. ''Scharnhorst'' set sail for Japan in July 1939 and did not return to Europe.

=== Acquisition by Japan ===
[[File:Aircraft carrier Shinyo.JPG|thumb|''Scharnhorst'' after her conversion to ''Shin'yō'']]
{{main article|Japanese aircraft carrier Shin'yō}}
In September 1939, at the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe, ''Scharnhorst'' was trapped in Japan. Being a belligerent nation's ship in a neutral nation, the ''Scharnhorst'' was seized by the [[Empire of Japan|Imperial Japanese]] Government and held until ships of the ''Kriegsmarine'' arrived to escort her back to Europe. A report appeared in ''The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser'' on 2 September 1939.<ref name=":Singapore">{{Cite web|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singfreepressb19390902-1.2.24?ST=1&AT=filter&K=scharnhorst&KA=scharnhorst&DF=&DT=&Display=0&AO=false&NPT=&L=&CTA=&NID=singfreepressb&CT=&WC=&YR=&QT=scharnhorst&oref=article|title=The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 2 September 1939, Page 2|website=eresources.nlb.gov.sg}}</ref> ''Scharnhorst'' had set off from [[Kobe]] on 18 August 1939 on her return journey to [[Hamburg]] but had returned to Kobe, apparently in view of the current war threat in Europe.<ref>{{cite news |title=German Liner Staying at Kobe "Indefinitely" |quote=Kobe, Sept. 1. The Norddeutscher Lloyd liner Scharnhorst will stand by here indefinitely in view of the current war threat in Europe. The German ship left Kobe for Shanghai and Hong Kong on her return voyage to Hamburg on Aug. 18 but returned here again. - Eastern News |date=2 September 1939 |newspaper=The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser |location=Singapore}}</ref> A newspaper report in the [[Nottingham Post|''Nottingham Evening Post'']], in England on 19 September 1939 stated that the ship was being converted to an armed raider.<ref>{{cite news |title=Report in the [[Sports Hochi|Hochi Shimbun]] |quote=A report in the Hochi Shimbun to-day states that the German Norddeutscher-Lloyd liner ''Scharnhorst'', which is now at Kobe, is being converted into an armed raider |date=19 September 1939 |newspaper=[[Nottingham Post|Nottingham Evening Post]] |location=Nottingham, England}}</ref> Similar reports appeared in  ''The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser'' on 9 September and 20 September 1939  stating the ship was to be acquired by Japan and converted into a raider.<ref name=":Singapore" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Japanese Want to Buy Scharnhorst |quote=Kobe, Sept. 8. JAPANESE steamship companies, it is understood, have offered to purchase the 18.000-ton Norddeutscher Lloyd liner Scharnhorst. The Kobe agents of the Norddeutscher Lloyd say that the vessel is under the control of the German Embassy in Tokyo. |date=9 September 1939 |newspaper=The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser |location=Singapore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singfreepressb19390920-1.2.3?ST=1&AT=filter&K=Scharnhorst&KA=Scharnhorst&DF=&DT=&Display=0&AO=false&NPT=&L=&CTA=&NID=singfreepressb&CT=&WC=&YR=&QT=scharnhorst&oref=article|website=eresources.nlb.gov.sg|title=The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 20 September 1939, Page 1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Scharnhorst as Raider |quote=Tokio, Sept. 19. A REPORT that the Norddeutscher Lloyd liner Scharnhorst, now at Kobe, is being converted into an armed raider appears in the [[Sports Hochi|Hochi Shimbun]]. The paper adds the liner is surrounded by launches and there is much fuss and bustle aboard. This is taken by some observers as meaning she is being refitted as an armed vessel - Reuter. |date=20 September 1939 |newspaper=The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser |location=Singapore}}</ref>

In July 1942 ''Scharnhorst'' was sold to the Japanese government.<ref>{{cite book |title=Deutsche Ozean-Passagierschiffe 1919–1985|first=Claus |last=Rothe|year=1986|isbn=978-3921564806|page=129 |language=de}}</ref>  Subsequently, the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] acquired her and had her converted into the [[escort carrier]] {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Shin'yō||2}}.{{sfn|Stille|2006|p=42}} Her conversion began in September 1942, using steel from the cancelled fourth {{sclass|Yamato|battleship}}, and she was commissioned in December 1943 after a month of trials. She was sunk in the [[Yellow Sea]] on 17 November 1944 by the [[United States Navy]] submarine {{USS|Spadefish|SS-411|2}}.<ref name=Stille43/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last=Harnack |first=Edwin P |orig-year=1903 |year=1938 |title=All About Ships & Shipping |edition=7th |location=London |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |page=549 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Polmar |first1=Norman |last2=Genda |first2=Minoru |year=2006 |title=Aircraft Carriers : A History of Carrier Aviation and its Influence on World Events |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Potomac Books |isbn=1-57488-663-0 |display-authors=etal}}
* {{cite book |last=Stille |first=Ben |year=2006 |title=Imperial Japanese Navy Aircraft Carriers: 1921–1945 |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-84603-009-3 |page=42 }}
* {{cite book |last=Talbot-Booth |first=E.C. |orig-year=1936 |year=1942 |title=Ships and the Sea |edition=Seventh |publisher=[[Sampson Low]], Marston & Co. Ltd |location=London |pages=405, 518 }}

==External links==
* [http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/NDL_2011/Scharnhorst-01.jpg www.simplonpc.co.uk Simplon Postcards (Picture of SS Scharnhorst)]
* [http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=405326 www.shipspotting.com (Picture of SS Scharnhorst)]

{{Norddeutscher Lloyd ships}}
{{November 1944 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scharnhorst (1934)}}
[[Category:Ships built in Bremen (state)]]
[[Category:1934 ships]]
[[Category:Ocean liners]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of Germany]]
[[Category:Ships of Norddeutscher Lloyd]]
[[Category:Turbo-electric steamships]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Germany]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in November 1944]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Yellow Sea]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]