Scharnhorst and Gneisenau encountered several convoys escorted by lone battleships, but their orders from Berlin, coupled with the fact they only had 11-inch guns compared to the British battlewagons' 15-inchers, forced them to leave these convoys alone and go after more vulnerable targets.
Both SCHARNHORST and GNIESENAU were designed for conversion to three turrets, with two 15” guns in each. The conversions never occured. If they had, the German ships would have played hob with the Brits, since NO British battleship [including the KG Vs could match their speed [or the speed of the BISMARCK and TIRPITZ for that matter.
Interestingly, considering yesterday’s post regarding Lutjens, he’ll be dead in slightly more than two months’ time.