Renown encountered Scharnhorst and Gneisenau while looking for the missing destroyer Glowworm, which Admiral Hipper had sunk. The German ships were fast battleships despite their 11-inch main batteries, since gun calibre alone did not determine the type and their designs allowed room for later heavier weapons. They hit first, but a 15-inch shell and two 4.5-inch shells then disabled Gneisenau's main fire-control director and damaged a turret rangefinder. Renown closed to roughly 15 kilometres, about half the main battery's maximum range and close enough for effective secondary fire in heavy seas. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau escaped only after driving machinery rated at substantially more power than Renown's plant. During roughly 90 minutes Renown fired 230 main-battery rounds and more than a thousand secondary rounds, then required repairs before covering the evacuation of Norway. Modernization, speed, and aggressive range-closing let an older battlecruiser challenge two newer fast battleships, though they did not guarantee a decisive result.
Notable Point · 32:30-38:15
The chase of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau
In heavy weather off Norway, Renown drove close enough to damage German fire-control equipment but could not prevent Scharnhorst and Gneisenau from escaping.