http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Scharnhorst
Scharnhorst’s first wartime operation was a sortie into the Iceland-Faroes passage, which lasted six days from 21-27 November 1939, with Gneisenau in which she sank the British Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Rawalpindi, although her victim fought a tough defensive battle.[10] The Rawalpindi’s Captain, Edward Coverley Kennedy (father of naval Historian Ludovic Kennedy[11]), had been notified at around 15:30 hrs that a large warship had been sighted. Kennedy identified it as the Deutschland. Sighting another large ship, Kennedy thought it was a British Heavy Cruiser, and hoped it would be Rawalpindi’s savior. He therefore ignored the warning shots fired by Scharnhorst. Unfortunately the ship sighted was Gneisenau, and Kennedy found himself surrounded. The ensuing battle lasted just 15 minutes. Scharnhorst eventually sank the ship, killing 238 of the crew, including Kennedy. The German squadron stopped to rescue 38 survivors from the freezing seas. The German commanders on both Gneisenau and Scharnhorst commented on the bravery of the Captain and his crew.[12]
SCHARNHORST. Most successful German warship of WWII. My favorite.
Only surface ship to sink an enemy fleet carrier in war [H.M.S GLORIOUS, June 8, 1940]. Participated in successful commerce raid in Atlantic, Spring, 1941.
Led Channel Dash [with GNIESENAU and PRINZ EUGEN], 1942 [surviving at least two mine hits].Sunk off North Cape, Boxing Day, 1943 [last battleship-battleship action in history] by H.M.S DUKE of YORK], with almost all hands lost. [H.M.S BELFAST also involved]