In
Service: 21 May 1938 27 March 1945
Ordered: 25 January 1934
Builder: Deutsche
Werke AG, Kiel
Construction No: 235
Laid down: 6 May
1935
Launched: 8 December 1936
Commissioned: 21 May 1938
Type: Battleship
Class: Scharnhorst
Displacement:
32,100 tons standard.
Length: 229.8 m
Beam: 30 m
Draft:
9.9 m
Propulsion: 3 × Germania geared turbines with single reduction
producing up to 165,930 hp
Propellers: 3 bladed propellers, 4.8 m diameter
Speed: 31.3 knots
Range: 6,200 nautical miles at 19 knots
Crew: 1,725 men and officers
Armament: 9 × 28.3 cm
L/54.5 SK C/34 range 42,600 m
carried 945 to 1350 rounds
12 × 15
cm L/55 SK C/28 range 22,000 m
carried 1,600 to 1,800 rounds
14 ×
10.5 cm L/65 SK C/33 range 17,700 m
carried 5,600 rounds
16 × 3.7
cm L/83 SK C/30
carried 32,000 to 76,000 rounds
10 × 2 cm MG L/65
C/30
6 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes after 1942
18 torpedo's carried
Armour Belt 350 mm Deck 95 mm
Aircraft: 4 ×
Arado
Ar 196 seaplanes
Electronics: Operators: Kriegsmarine
Variants: Gneisenau Scharnhorst
Other: Battleships Articles:
We
manned the guns of the HMS Rawalpindi Gneisenau was a World War II Scharnhorst class capital ship, classified
as either a light battleship or battlecruiser. This 38,900 t ship was the third
named after the Prussian general August von Gneisenau, after the three masted
iron hulled frigate SMS Gneisenau, launched in 1879 and wrecked in 1900 the World
War I armoured cruiser SMS Gneisenau which was ruined in the battle of the Falkland
Islands in 1914.
21 May 1938 The Gneisenau is commissioned
9
September 1939 The Gneisenau is attacked by the RAF but no damage is done.
8 October 1939 The Gneisenau patrol the Atlantic along with Scharnhorst,
light cruisers Köln and Leipzig and the destroyers Friedrich Ihn, Wilhelm
Heidkamp, Karl Galster, Bernd von Arnim, Paul Jakobi, Friedrich Eckoldt, Erich
Steinbrinck, Diether von Roeder and Max Schulz.
23
November 1939 The Gneisenau and Scharnhorst sinks the Armed Merchant Cruiser
HMS
Rawalpindi 26 November 1939 The Gneisenau suffers
sea damage and needs to return to port for repairs.
27 November 1939
The Gneisenau returns to Kiel.
4 February 1940 The Gneisenau
sea damage is repaired.
18 to 20 February 1940 The Gneisenau
takes part in operation Nordmark (German attacks on Allied North Sea convoys)
along with Scharnhorst, Admiral Hipper and the destroyers Wolfgang Zenker , Karl
Galster and Wilhlem Heidkamp are sent to engage British convoys between Bergen
and England.
8 April 1940 The Gneisenau takes part in operation
Weser�bung (Invasion of Denmark and Norway) along with Scharnhorst. They engage
the British battlecruiser HMS Renown and HMS Birmingham without a decisive result.
12 April 1940 The Gneisenau returns to Wilhelmshaven.
5 May 1940 The Gneisenau is hit by a mine suffers minor damage.
21 May 1940 The Gneisenau mine damage is repaired at Kiel.
4 June 1940 The Gneisenau takes part in operation Juno (operation
to disrupt Allied supplies to Norway) along with Scharnhorst, Admiral Hipper and
the destroyers Hermann Schoemann, Erich Steinbrinck, Karl Galster and Hans Lody.
8
June 1940 The Gneisenau and Scharnhorst engage the British aircraft carrier
HMS Glorious, HMS Ardent and HMS Acasta. All British Royal navy ships are sunk.
10 June 1940 The Gneisenau was torpedoed by the submarine HMS Clyde
and Returns to Drontheim for repairs.
25 July 1940 The Nürnberg
along with four destroyers, escorts the damaged Gneisneau back to Kiel.
26 July 1940 The battleship Gneisenau lost one of her escorts, the
totorpedo boat Luchs to British submarine HMS Swordfish. 89 crew lost.
28 December 1940 The Gneisenau and Scharnhorst fail in there attempt
to break out into the North Atlantic.
22 January 1941 The
Gneisenau takes part in operation Berlin, along with Scharnhorst and this time
manage to break out into the North Atlantic.
8 February 1941
The Gneisenau and Scharnhorst attempt to engage convoy HX-108 but after sighting
HMS Ramiles decide to retreat.
22 February 1941 The Gneisenau
and Scharnhorst attack and sink four merchants ships east of Newfoundland.
7 to 9 March 1941 The Gneisenau and Scharnhorst engage convoy
SL-67 but disengage when the British HMS Malaya is sighted. Instead they shadowed
the convoy and direct two U-boats in attacking the convoy and sink 5 merchants.
15 to 16 March 1941 The Gneisenau and Scharnhorst engage
and sink 16 merchants east of Newfoundland. Gneisenau is sighted by the British
HMS Rodney which requests identification. The Gneisenau replies HMS Emerald and
manages to escape.
22 March 1941 The Gneisenau and Scharnhorst
enter the port of Brest. They had managed to sink a total of 22 ships with (115,600
t) Gneisenau 14 with (66,300 t).
6 April 1941 The Gneisenau
is attacked by the RAF and hit by a torpedo, and needs to put into dock.
11 April 1941 The Gneisenau is again attacked by the RAF and is
hit by four bombs during the British raid on Brest.
11 to 13 February
1942 The Gneisenau takes part in operation Cerberus (Channel Dash) along
with her sister ship the Scharnhorst and Prinz Eugen escorted by 6 destroyers
Friedrich Ihn, Hermann Schoemann, Paul Jakobi, Richard Beitzen, Z25, Z29 plus
14 torpedo boats. The Gneisenau is hit by a mine on her way to Kiel.
26 27 February 1942 The Gneisenau is hit during an RAF air raid and
all of the bow section is destroyed by fire.
4 April 1942
The Gneisenau went to Gotenhafen to be decommissioned and reconstructed.
1 July 1943 The Gneisenau was withdrawn from service and her 28
cm triple turrets was going to be replaced with 38 cm twin turrets.
26 December 1943 After the sinking of the Scharnhorst, the Gneisenau
sister ship, all conversion work was stopped.
27 March 1945
The Gneisenau was scuttled and used as blockade ship in Gotenhafen harbour.
1947 to 1951 The Gneisenau broken up, and scrapped
Erich
Förste
Takes command on 21 May 1938
Ends command on 25 November
1939
Harald
Netzbandt
Takes command on 25 November 1939
Ends command on 20 August
1940
Otto
Fein
Takes command on 20 August 1940
Ends command on 11 April 1942
Rudolf
Peters
Takes command on 11 April 1942
Ends command on 1 July 1942
by Gunnar
Olav Lian 22/10/2010
I'm working as a caretaker on the C-tower from Gneisenhau.
Austrått War Museum in Norway.
German Warships, 1815-1945: Major Surface Vessels.
ISBN-10: 0851775330
German Warships, 1815-1945: U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels.
ISBN-10:
155750301X
German warships of the Second World War.
ISBN-10: 0668040378
For a complete list of
sources 
