SS Scharnhorst was a German ocean liner and mail ship launched in 1904.

C. Tecklenborg shipyard in Geestemünde, Germany, for the Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) shipping company.

Her sister ships were Zieten, Roon, Seydlitz, Gneisenau, Bülow, Yorck, Kleist, Goeben, Lützow and Derfflinger, all built for the German Imperial Mail Service to Australia and the Far East.

On 19 December 1908, Scharnhorst arrived in New York harbor, after having been delayed by inclement weather.

[1] When the First World War started she had made 19 round trips to Australia, seven to the Far East and five to the USA.