The depletion Expend_resource of `` Scharnhorst '' s and `` Gneisenau '' s ammunition at Papeete also contributed Causation to their subsequent destruction Destroying at the Battle Hostile_encounter of the Falklands .

The outcome of the battle Hostile_encounter was a strategic victory Earnings_and_losses for the Allies—the German blockade failed—but at great cost Cost : 3,500 merchant ships and 175 warships were sunk Earnings_and_losses in the Atlantic for the loss Earnings_and_losses of 783 U-boats ( the majority being Type VII submarines ) and 47 German surface warships , including 4 battleships ( `` Scharnhorst '' , `` Bismarck '' , `` Gneisenau '' , and `` Tirpitz '' ) , 9 cruisers , 7 raiders , and 27 destroyers .