In 1934/35, the NDL commissioned two new ships especially for use in the East Asian service. These should each have a volume of at least 18,000 GRT and guarantee a minimum speed of 21 knots. The new ships should make it possible to shorten the journey time between Bremen and Shanghai from the previous 50 days to 34. The first of these ships was the Scharnhorst , followed by the Gneisenau . In addition, NDL took over the Potsdam ship originally ordered by HAPAG . Differing from each other, different propulsion and foredeck concepts were implemented in the three otherwise very similarly designed ships. Just five and a half months after being launched, the Scharnhorst left Bremerhaven for her maiden voyage to the Far East. The new building was laid in Bremen on the Deschimag AG Weser shipyard . The launch took place on December 14, 1934 in the presence of Adolf Hitler . The ship was equipped with a Maierform -Steven, which was progressive for the time , but unlike its sister ship Gneisenau, it was equipped with one of the first turbo-electric propulsion systems for larger ocean-going vessels. The entire equipment of the ship corresponded to the conditions of the tropical voyage.
As an aircraft carrier Shin'yō
From 1938 the route to Shanghai developed into one of the main escape routes for German and Austrian Jews to Shanghai , since no emigration visas were required there.
In September 1939, was Scharnhorst in Japan issued and sold to the Government of Japan in July 1,942th It was taken over by the Imperial Japanese Navy at the beginning of the Pacific War and was intended to be used as a troop transport. After the Battle of Midway , however, it was decided to convert it into an escort aircraft carrier. This was realized after the completion of the renovation work on the Chūyō from September 1942 at the Kure naval shipyard . Since the construction of the Scharnhorst was similar to that of comparable Japanese passenger ships that were converted into escort aircraft carriers, their conversion plans were sometimes used for the conversion. The converted ship was a smooth deck carrier with a hangar for 33 aircraft. Steel from the unfinished battleship Kii in the Kure shipyard was used for the conversion . In order to improve the stability of the ship , the hull received lateral bulges in the underwater area. On November 15, 1943, the converted ship was put into service as Shin'yō . In July 1944, were extra -aircraft guns of type 96 installed, what their number increased from 42 to 50th As with all Japanese escort carriers, only planes could take off on the Shin'yō , but due to the very short flight deck there was no possibility of landing. Like all Japanese escort carriers, the ship was only used to transport aircraft, material transport and for pilot training.
The Shin'yō was supposed to transport 14 Nakajima B5Ns in convoy Hi-81 to the Philippines in November 1944 . It was attacked by the American submarine Spadefish on November 17, 1944 in the Yellow Sea . Four torpedoes hit the ship. The ship's oil tanks caught fire and the ship burned out. Only 70 crew members out of 1,200 were rescued.
Claus Rothe: German ocean passenger ships. 1919 to 1985. transpress, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-344-00164-7 .
Launch of the "Scharnhorst" . In: Werft * Reederei * Hafen . tape16 , no.1 , January 1935, p.15-16 .
E. Foerster: The double screw high-speed steamer "Scharnhorst" of the North German Lloyd . In: Werft * Reederei * Hafen . tape16 , no.June 11 , 1935, p.167-181 .
Supplemented resp. corrected representation of the main bulkhead of the "Scharnhorst" . In: Werft * Reederei * Hafen . tape16 , no.July 14 , 1935, p.238 .
Anthony J. Watts: Japanese Warships of World Warr II . Ian Allan, London 1966, pp. 58/59.
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