The "Scharnhorst" class was the last traditional class of armored cruisers built by the Kaiserliche Marine. The class comprised two ships, and . They were larger than the s that preceded them; the extra size was used primarily to increase the main armament of 21 cm (8.2 inch) guns from four to eight. The ships were the first German cruiser to reach equality with their British counterparts. The ships were named after 19th century Prussian army reformers, Gerhard von Scharnhorst and August von Gneisenau.