An item (1) reported that the burgomaster of the French Atlantic naval harbour Brest asked Paris to prevent the visit of the German patrol vessel named Scharnhorst in February 1960.(2) The burgomaster also a politician of the extreme right side feared angry reactions of the citizens of Brest. During the Second World War anchored the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst (3)often in Brest with as result regularly allied air attacks.
Notes
1. De Waarheid (Volksdagblad voor Nederland) was a Dutch newspaper published by the Dutch Communist Party, which succeeded the Communist newspaper Volksdagblad which was forbidden in 1940.
2. The former British HMS Mermaid, a modified Black Swan-class sloop launched in 1943 which was transferred to the West German navy in 1959 where she was renamed Scharnhorst (F213) as part of the type 138 frigates..
3. Battle cruiser laid down on 15 June 1935 at the Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven, Germany, launched on 3 October a year later was she commissioned on 7 January 1949. She was sunk by British naval forces on 26 December 1944 during the Battle of North Cape.
