Trumpeter 1/350 05361 DKM Scharnhorst German WW2 Battle Cruiser Kit

Germany’s most famous battleship and pride of the Kriegsmarine, SCHARNHORST was considered invincible and state-of-the-art but was sunk by Allied forces led by the Home Fleet flagship Duke of York during the Battle of the North Cape on Boxing Day 1943. Earlier in WWII, SCHARNHORST had a formidable record in the Atlantic and Norwegian seas, sinking the armed merchant cruiser Rawalpindi, aircraft carrier GLORIOUS, and the destroyers ARDENT and ACASTA, often operating alongside her sister ship GNEISENAU and targeting Russian supply convoys from bases near Norway’s North Cape. Allied intelligence, gathered from Operation Venus and Bletchley Park codebreakers, allowed the Royal Navy to set a trap. On Christmas Day 1943, SCHARNHORST and five escorts put to sea, only to be intercepted by a combination of Royal Navy forces including battleship DUKE OF YORK, cruisers NORFOLK, BELFAST, SHEFFIELD and JAMAICA, plus multiple destroyers. After being pounded by 2,195 shells and 55 torpedoes, SCHARNHORST suffered catastrophic damage and sank at 19:45 on December 26th, with 36 survivors.