Career
Ordered:	January 25, 1934
Laid down:	May 6, 1935
Launched:	December 8, 1936
Commissioned:	May 21, 1938
Fate:	Sunk as blockship in Gotenhafen on March 23, 1945
General Characteristics
Displacement:	31,500 tonnes (standard) 38,900 tonnes (full load)
Length:	235 m (772 ft) overall 226 m (741.5 ft) waterline
Beam:	30 m (98.4 ft)
Draft:	9.69 m (31 ft 9 in.) at 37,303 tons
Armament:	9 × 280 mm (11 inch) 12 × 150 mm (5.9 inch) 14 × 105 mm (4.1 inch) 16 × 37 mm 10 × 20 mm (later 16) 6 × 533 mm torpedo tubes
Armor:	Main belt: 350 mm (13.78 inch) Deck: 95 mm max.
Aircraft:	3 Arado Ar 196A-3, 1 catapult
Propulsion:	3 Germania geared turbines with single reduction 3 three-bladed propellers, 4.8 m (15 9 inch) diameter 151,893 shp = 33 kt
Range:	8,400 nm at 19 kt
Complement:	1,669 (56 officers, 1613 enlisted)

Gneisenau was a famous World War II 31,100 ton Gneisenau class battlecruiser^[1] of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the second to carry the name of the Prussian general August von Gneisenau; the first was the World War I armored cruiser SMS Gneisenau, destroyed at the battle of the Falkland Islands in 1914. Image File history File links Gneisenau. ... Image File history File links War_Ensign_of_Germany_1938-1945. ... January 25 is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (127th in leap years). ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... December 8 is the 342nd day of the year (343rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year (83rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Arado Flugzeugwerke was originally established as the Warnemünde factory of the Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen firm. ... The Ar 196 was a shipboard reconnaissance aircraft built by Arado starting in 1936. ... A Siemens steam turbine with the case opened. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Gneisenau class were two large heavy-gun warships of the World War II German navy, the Kriegsmarine. ... HMS Hood (left) and the battleship HMS Barham (right), in Malta, 1937. ... The Kriegsmarine (or War Navy) was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945, during the Nazi regime, superseding the Reichsmarine. ... Flag of Prussia (1894 - 1918) The Kingdom of Prussia existed from 1701 until 1918, and from 1871 was the leading kingdom of the German Empire, comprising in its last form almost two-thirds of the area of the Empire. ... August Wilhelm Antonius Graf[1] Neidhardt von Gneisenau (27 October 1760 – 23 August 1831) was a Prussian field marshal. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Armored cruiser General-Admiral (1873) Armored cruiser USS Brooklyn (1898) Armored cruiser HMS Good Hope (1901) Armored cruiser SMS Blücher (1908) The armored cruiser was a naval cruiser protected by armor on its sides as well as on the decks and gun positions. ... This article is about the WWI armored cruiser Gneisenau; for the World War II battlecruiser of the same name, see German battlecruiser Gneisenau. ... Combatants British Empire German Empire Commanders Doveton Sturdee Maximilian von Spee Strength 2 battlecruisers, 3 armoured cruisers, 2 light cruisers and 1 grounded pre-dreadnought 2 armoured cruisers, 3 light cruisers, 3 transports Casualties 10 killed, 19 wounded No ships lost 1,871 killed, 215 captured 2 armoured cruisers, 2...

She usually sailed into battle accompanied by her sister ship, the equally famous Scharnhorst. Scharnhorst was a 31,500 tonne Gneisenau class battlecruiser of the German Kriegsmarine, named after the Prussian general and army reformer Gerhard von Scharnhorst and to commemorate the World War I armored cruiser SMS Scharnhorst. ...

Construction

She was laid down in February 1934, at Deutsche Werke Kiel. Construction was delayed, however. She was then redesigned and re-laid in May 1935. When completed, she displaced just under the Washington Naval Treaty limit of 35,000 tons though Germany had never been covered by that Treaty. Deutsche Werke was a German shipbuilding company founded in 1925 when Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and other shipyards were merged. ... Kiel ( ) is a city in northern Germany and the capital of the Bundesland Schleswig-Holstein. ... The Washington Naval Treaty limited the naval armaments of its five signatories: the United States, the British Empire, the Empire of Japan, the French Third Republic, and Italy. ...

She carried a main armor belt of 350 mm (13.78 inch), comparable to modern battleships of the time, and vastly heavier than the World War I British battlecruisers HMS Renown and HMS Repulse and the French battlecruisers Dunkerque and Strasbourg. The ships were armed with nine 280 mm (11 inch) main guns. While these had long range and quite good armor penetration power because of their high muzzle velocity, they were no match for the 380 mm (15 inch) guns of most of the battleships of her day. The choice of armament was a result of their hasty commissioning. HMS Renown was the lead ship of the three 26,500-ton Renown class battlecruisers of the Royal Navy; the other two were HMS Repulse and the cancelled HMS Resistance. ... HMS Repulse was a Renown-class battlecruiser, the second to last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy. ... The Dunkerque was the first of a new type of warship of the French Navy, labeled as fast battleship. Not quite the size of a full battleship, they were designed to counter the threat of the German pocket battleships of the Deutschland class. ... The Strasbourg was a warship of the French Navy, labeled as fast battleship. Larger and more powerful than a mere battlecruiser, yet not a full battleship, they were designed to counter the threat of the German Pocket battleships. ...

If a later proposal to upgrade the main armament to six 15 inch (380 mm) guns in three twin turrets, had been implemented, Gneisenau would have been a very formidable opponent, faster than any British capital ship and as well armored. When Gneisenau was designed, no 380mm guns were available for the German Kriegsmarine. It was decided to go ahead with 280mm guns, because as a commerce raider, she was not intended to fight a capital ship. Instead, superior speed would be used to avoid an engagement with a battleship. Due to priorities and constraints imposed by World War II, she retained her 11 inch guns throughout her career. Both Gneisenau and her sister were designed for an extended range to allow for commerce raiding. Commerce raiding or guerre de course is a naval strategy of attacking an opponents commercial shipping rather than contending for control of the seas with its naval forces. ...

She was considered a handsome ship, and looked as fast as she was. She and her sistership, the Scharnhorst, are generally spoken of as the most successful German design of the period. The main criticism of the design was their relatively low deck height above the water, the "freeboard", which made them "wet" when at heavy seas. This led to alterations in the sheer line and installation of the 'Atlantic Bow' in a winter 1938 refit. She conducted trials in the Atlantic in June, 1939. Scharnhorst was a 31,500 tonne Gneisenau class battlecruiser of the German Kriegsmarine, named after the Prussian general and army reformer Gerhard von Scharnhorst and to commemorate the World War I armored cruiser SMS Scharnhorst. ...

The Ugly sisters - Scharnhorst and Gneisenau

On September 9, 1939, six days after war was declared, she was attacked by Royal Air Force aircraft at Brunsbüttelkoog with no damage. On 8 October, she sailed with the cruiser Köln and 9 destroyers to create a diversion for the Allied forces searching for the Deutschland. Gneisenau was often seen in company with her sistership the Scharnhorst, and the two ships became known as the "ugly sisters" due to their prowling together, and the amount of havoc they caused to British shipping. In late 1939 the sisters operating in the North Atlantic sank the Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Rawalpindi, but Gneisenau suffered severe sea damage in a storm. September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ... The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... October 8 is the 281st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (282nd in leap years). ... Köln was a German light cruiser prior to and during World War II, one of three K-Class cruisers named after cities starting with the letter K. This ship was named after the city of Köln (Cologne). ... In general, allies are people or groups that have joined an alliance and are working together to achieve some common purpose. ... The Atlantic Ocean forms a component of the all-encompassing World Ocean and is directly linked to the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Southern Ocean. ... Armed Merchantmen were merchant ships taken over by their nations navies, equipped with guns, and then used for military purposes. ... HMS Rawalpindi was a ship that was sunk during the Second World War. ...

German warships in a Norwegian port, probably Trondheim, in June 1940. Gneisenau is at left, with Scharnhorst in the left middle distance and heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper in right center.

In 1940 she covered the invasion of Norway and fought with HMS Renown (a World War I battlecruiser) to no conclusion, but suffered damage to her forward turret and main gun director. On 5 May, she set off a magnetic mine about 21 meters off the port quarter, and suffered shock damage, flooding, and a loss of steering for 18 minutes. The damage was repaired by 21 May at Kiel. In the British withdrawal on 8 June, she and Scharnhorst surprised and sank the British aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, a converted battlecruiser, and her two escorts, the destroyers HMS Acasta and Ardent. She was torpedoed in the North Atlantic in June. Image File history File links Norway Campaign, 1940 German warships in a Norwegian port, probably Trondheim, in June 1940. ... Image File history File links Norway Campaign, 1940 German warships in a Norwegian port, probably Trondheim, in June 1940. ... USS Port Royal (CG-73), a Ticonderoga class cruiser. ... Seaport, a painting by Claude Lorrain, 1638 The Port of Wellington at night. ... County Sør-Trøndelag District Municipality NO-1601 Administrative centre Trondheim Mayor (2005) Rita Ottervik (AP) Official language form Neutral Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 258 342 km² 322 km² 0. ... The term heavy cruiser is used to refer to large cruisers, a form of warship. ... The German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper fought as part of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was named after Admiral Ritter von Hipper, commander of the German battlecruiser squadron during the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and later commander-in-chief of the German High Seas Fleet. ... Combatants Germany Denmark Norway Operation Weserübung was the German codename for Nazi Germanys assault on Denmark and Norway during World War II and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. ... HMS Renown was the lead ship of the three 26,500-ton Renown class battlecruisers of the Royal Navy; the other two were HMS Repulse and the cancelled HMS Resistance. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (126th in leap years). ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... June 8 is the 159th day of the year (160th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Four aircraft carriers, (bottom-to-top) Principe de Asturias, amphibious assault carrier USS Wasp, supercarrier USS Forrestal and light V/STOL carrier HMS Invincible, showing size differences of late 20th century carriers An aircraft carrier is a warship designed to deploy and recover aircraft — in effect acting as a sea... HMS Glorious was a warship of the Royal Navy. ... The third Acasta (H09), launched in 1929, was an A-class destroyer. ... The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Ardent was launched on 26th June, 1929. ... The torpedo, historically called a locomotive torpedo, is a self-propelled explosive projectile weapon, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater toward a target, and designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. ...

After repairs, she joined Scharnhorst in their most successful commerce raiding campaign from January to March, 1941 (Operation Berlin), Gneisenau sinking 14 ships, Scharnhorst sinking 8, mostly from unescorted convoys but avoiding British battleships operating on convoy escorts. Operation Berlin was the commerce raid performed by German warships KM Scharnhorst and KM Gneisenau between January and March, 1941. ... A convoy is a group of vehicles traveling together for mutual support. ...

The two ships returned to Brest, but air attacks made by 22 Squadron from RAF St Eval the port unsafe. Gneisenau was torpedoed on 6 April 1941 and hit by four bombs on the night of April 9-10 April. She was repaired at Brest through December, 1941. Brest (lol) is a city in Brittany, or the Bretagne région, north-west France, sous-préfecture of the Finistère département. ... No. ... RAF St Eval was a strategic airbase for the RAF Coastal Command in the second world war (situated in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom). ... April 6 is the 96th day of the year (97th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... April 9 is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... April 10 is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1942, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, accompanied by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and a covering screen of destroyers and torpedo boats, executed a daring daylight run to Germany (Operation Cerberus, known in Britain as the "Channel Dash"). All three ships escaped damage in the furious air and sea battles that ensued, but Gneisenau struck a mine off Terschelling and required repairs at Kiel. The German cruiser Prinz Eugen (pron. ... USS McFaul (DDG-74) In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range but powerful attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft). ... A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to launch torpedoes at larger surface ships. ... Operation Cerberus (German: Zerberus after Cerberus the three-headed dog of Greek mythology who guards the gate to Hades) was the name given to the break-out during World War II of the Kriegsmarines ships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Prinz Eugen and a number of smaller ships from Brest to their... Polish wz. ... Kiel ( ) is a city in northern Germany and the capital of the Bundesland Schleswig-Holstein. ...

Reconstruction

In air attacks on February 26-27 February 1942, on the floating dock where she was being repaired for mine damage, she became the target of massive RAF attacks by 178 bombers and was struck on the bow. Contrary to normal practice, and since repairs were planned to be completed within two weeks, ammunition had not been unloaded and the resultant fires set off an explosion that destroyed the entire bow section. However, after emergency bow repairs, Gneisenau steamed under her own power to Gotenhafen where she was decommissioned and reconstruction was to be done there. February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... A floating dock is a platform or ramp supported by pontoons. ... Gdynia (pronounce: [:gdiɲia], Kashubian Gdiniô; German Gdingen) is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodship of Poland and an important seaport at Gdansk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea. ...

Although some work was done from 1942 through to 1944 to reconstruct her, she was withdrawn from service in July 1943 to allow the replacement of the 28 cm battery with twin 38 cm (15 in) turrets. After the sinking of the Scharnhorst, this work was finally abandoned. One of the 38 cm guns intended for the rearmament exists today at the museum of Hanstholm in Denmark. Her guns from turret Anton were removed and sent to the Netherlands; and turrets Bruno and Caesar and their guns were sent to Norway for coastal defence. The 38 cm SKC 34 Naval gun was developed by Germany in the late 1930s. ...

Gneisenau ended the war as a blockship, sunk in Gotenhafen harbor. She was raised, broken up, and scrapped after the war. A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used. ... Gdynia (pronounce: [:gdiɲia], Kashubian Gdiniô; German Gdingen) is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodship of Poland and an important seaport at Gdansk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea. ...

Her aft main turret, Caesar was converted to a coastal battery named Austråt fort in Ørland near Trondheim, Norway and still exists today as a museum. The second turret Bruno was stationed as coastal battery at Fjell fort near Bergen. Only the concrete exist today. In Denmark, at the former "Stevnsfort" near Rødvig, two twin 15 cm turrets from her secondary armament still exist. In the Netherlands parts of the guns of turret Anton are on display at the former "Stichting Fort" Hoek Van Holland. County Sør-Trøndelag Landscape Municipality NO-1621 Administrative centre Brekstad Mayor (2003) Hallgeir Grøntvedt (Sp) Official language form BokmÃ¥l Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 401 74 km² 73 km² 0. ... County Sør-Trøndelag District Municipality NO-1601 Administrative centre Trondheim Mayor (2005) Rita Ottervik (AP) Official language form Neutral Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 258 342 km² 322 km² 0. ... County Hordaland District Midhordland Municipality NO-1201 Administrative centre Bergen Mayor (2006) Herman Friele (H) Official language form Neutral Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 215 465 km² 445 km² 0. ...

Commanding Officers

• KzS Erich Forste - 21 May 1938 - 25 November 1939
• KzS Harald Netzbandt - 25 November 1939 - 20 August 1940
• KzS / KAdm Otto Fein - 20 August 1940 - 11 April 1942

(Promoted to KAdm on 1 April 1942.) This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ... August 20 is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Counter Admiral is an Anglification of a naval rank found in some European navies; in the Deutsche Marine: Konteradmiral. ... August 20 is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... April 11 is the 101st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (102nd in leap years). ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ...

• KzS Rudolf Peters - 11 April 1942 - 1 July 1942

April 11 is the 101st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (102nd in leap years). ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ...

Bibliography

• William H. Garzke, Jr., and Robert O. Dulin, Jr., Battleships: Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 1985). Includes the design and operational histories, information on the guns, and other design and statistical information about the ship.
• Siegfried Breyer, Battleships and Battlecruisers 1905-1970 (Doubleday and Company; Garden City, New York, 1973) (originally published in German as Schlachtschiffe und Schlachtkreuzer 1905-1970, J.F. Lehmanns, Verlag, Munchen, 1970). Contains various line drawings of the ship as designed and as built, and the proposed 1942 38 cm gun version.
• Robert Gardiner, ed., Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1922 - 1946 (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1980)
• Jane's Battleships of the Twentieth Century (Harper Collins, London, 1996)

Notes

The firepower of a battleship demonstrated by USS Iowa A battleship is a large, heavily-armored warship with a main battery consisting of the largest caliber of guns. ...

See also

• Kriegsmarine
• List of Kriegsmarine ships
• List of naval ships of Germany
• List of World War II ships
• List of ship launches in 1936
• List of ship commissionings in 1938
• List of shipwrecks in 1945

The Kriegsmarine (or War Navy) was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945, during the Nazi regime, superseding the Reichsmarine. ... The list of Kriegsmarine ships includes all ships commissioned into the Kriegsmarine, the German navy of the Third Reich period, during its existance from 1935 to the conclusion of World War II in 1945. ... The list of naval ships of Germany includes all naval ships which have been in service of the German Navy or its predecessors. ... The List of ships of World War II is an alphabetical list of major military ships of World War II. Only warships with a displacement of 1000 tons or greater are listed. ... The list of ship launches in 1936 includes a chronological list of all ships launched in 1936. ... The list of ship commissionings in 1938 includes a chronological list of all ships commissioned in 1938. ... The list of shipwrecks in 1945 includes all ships sunk, floundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during 1945. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

DKM Gneisenau

• Maritimequest Gneisenau Photo Gallery
• Detailed technical and operational information