the Sinking of Scharnhorst

On January 7th, 1939, the day the Scharnhorst was commissioned, her commanding officer, Captain (as he then was) Ciliax, told his officers: ?The important thing to remember is this ? that the whole life and character of this ship will rest upon the spirit which you officers are able to inculcate in your men.’ No one could have foreseen how literally true these words were to prove. In the few months still left before the outbreak of war, the newly assembled crew had to be shaped into a team; under the impact of the manifold operations in which the battleship was subsequently engaged, operations successfully completed in spite of often serious damage, there developed among the men a spontaneous comradeship of rare quality, the true team spirit. Every man of the two thousand who formed the ship’s complement was inspired by one conviction ? that their ship ?sailed under a lucky star’. The author has made full use of all factual material available from both British and German sources and has produced a vivid account of the action off North Cape on December 26th, 1943, when the proud ship succumbed to a vastly superior opponent. The exemplary conduct and unflinching devotion to duty of every man on board the Scharnhorst were in accordance with the highest traditions of the German Navy.