British Armed Merchant cruiser H.M.S. Rawalpindi sunk by German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau on 23 November 1939

German battleship Scharnhorst. Warshipsresearch.blogspot.com

German battleship Gneisenau. Warshipsresearch.blogspot.com

British merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi

An item reported that the search for the German warships (1,2)which sunk the British Armed Merchant cruiser H.M.S. Rawalpindi had been fruitless.(3) The fleet retained her normal positions (the main part returned to their bases onn 1 December), convoys between the United Kingdom and resumed their passages with a strong escort and the Northern patrol of Armed Merchant cruisers was since 2 December again active.

Notes

1. Gneisenau of Scharnhorst-class preceded by planned L20e α-class and realized Bayern-class preceded by Bismarck-class, ordered as Ersatz Hessen under contract name “E”, laid down by Deutsche Werke, Kiel, Germany on 6 May 1935, launched on 8 December 1936, commissioned on 21 May 1938, decommissioned on 1 July 1942, scuttled as block ship on 23 March 1945 and broken up in 1951. Main armament 3x3-28cm/11" C/34 quick firing guns.

2. Scharnhorst of Scharnhorst-class preceded by planned L20e a-class and realized Bayern-class succeeded by Bismarch-class, laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhemshaven, Germany on 15 June 1935, launched on 3 October 1936, commissioned on 7 January 1939 and sunk while in battle off the North Cape on 26 December 1943 by the British battleship HMS Duke of York with just 36 survivors of a crew of 1,968 men. The Scharnhorst was to replace the old dreadnought Elsass and so she became first know in official documents and newspaper as the Ersatz Elsass and in the contracts as “D”.Main armament 3x3-28cm/11" C/34 quick firing guns.

3. Laid down by Harland and Wolff, Greenock, United Kingdom with yard number 660 in 1923, launched on 26 March 1925, completed on 3 September 1925, requisitioned by the navy on 24 August 1939, commissioned on 19 September 1939 and sunk on 23 November 1939 by the Gneisenau and Scharnhorst with 238 men killed while on patrol north of the Faroe Islands. Armed with 8-15cm/6” Mk VII guns and 2-3”20 cwt anti aircraft guns.

Source

The National Archives, Kew Gardens, England CAB-66-4-1 Weekly Résumé (No. 14) of the naval, military and air situation from 12 noon 30 November to 12 noon 7 December 1939.