25th August 1941

The sister ship to the Scharnhorst was the Gneisenau. There are some major differences in their deisgn that makes them easy to differentiate. The mast spacing being one of them.

This frontal view depicts a ship with no enclosed bridge. The bridge of the Gneisenau was enclosed in 1940 and that of the Scharnhorst enclosed in 1943 (following the Channel Dash). There is no indication as to when this photograph was taken, however, as it was cancelled in 1942, there is a likelihood of it being the Scharnhorst.

Ref: 24.02.1942