and training cruises in the Baltic Sea. The cruises revealed the wetness of the bow and bridge; in January 1939 her "Atlantic bow" was installed. Scharnhorst was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven, on 16 May 1935. She was launched on 30 June 1936 and completed on 7 January 1939. In mid 1939, the ship conducted trials in the Baltic Sea; as with Gneisenau, the ship's low freeboard necessitated the installation of the "Atlantic bow", which was completed in August 1939. During that refit, a large hangar for the ship's aircraft was added amidships. The ship emerged from the dockyard in October. On 21 November, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, the light cruisers and Leipzig, and several destroyers conducted a sweep between Iceland and the Faroe Islands; during the operation, the German ships encountered the British armed merchant cruiser ; Scharnhorst sank the ship, but in the process sustained a hit from one of Rawalpindis 152 mm guns. Scharnhorst stopped to pick up survivors, but the arrival of the cruiser prompted the German ships to withdraw. Operation Weserübung On 7 April 1940, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau formed the primary covering force for the invasions of Narvik and Trondheim in Norway during Operation Weserübung. At 04:30 on 9 April, the Seetakt radar on Gneisenau picked up a contact, beginning the action off Lofoten; both ships went to battle stations. Half an hour later, muzzle flashes were observed, from what turned out to be the old battlecruiser which had been part of the cover for a British minelaying operation. The British battlecruiser initially targeted Gneisenau, at a range of . In the span of five minutes, Gneisenau hit Renown twice, but sustained one 15" and two 4.5" hits in return. One of the two 4.5" hits disabled Gneisenaus A turret, The 15" hit destroyed the main armament fire control station, and knocked out her Seetakt radar. Scharnhorsts gunnery radar suffered technical problems, which prevented her from effectively engaging Renown. The British ship engaged Scharnhorst for a brief period starting at 05:18, but effective maneuvering by Scharnhorst allowed her to escape unscathed. Fears that the destroyers escorting Renown might make a torpedo attack prompted the German commander to break off the engagement. By 07:15, the German ships had escaped from the slower Renown. In the course of their escape Scharnhorst suffered from damage to her A turret caused by the heavy seas coming over her bows.