German battleship Gneisenau

Gneisenauher sister Scharnhorst were large heavy gun warshipsWorld War II vintage ofGerman navy, or Kriegsmarine. Due tocostprestigesuch ships, theyoften referredas "capital ships".

Like"pocket battleships" ofDeutschland class, ScharnhorstGneisenau were political compromises, symbolsinternational power forHitler regime, but designed notoverly inflameBritish. Theyoften referredas "battlecruisers" or "light battleships", whichincorrect. In fact, as completed,were straightforward battleships that traded extra gunstheir 32-33 knot speedextended rangeallowcommerce raiding. They initially carried nine 11" gunsthree triple turrets, two forwardone aft, inferiorany British capital ship oftime. Ifhad carried their designed main armamentsix 15" gunsthree twin turrets,would have been formidable opponents, faster than any British capital shipnearly as well armored. But dueHitler's shifting attitudes towardssurface navy andprioritieswar,retained their 11" gunstriple turrets, likeDeutschland's, throughout their careers.

Gneisenau was built by Deutsche Works at Kiel, laid downFebruary1934. Construction was delayedthen scrapped asdesign changed,she was re-laidMay1935. She was launchedlate 1936commissioned1938. She was 771 feetlength, 98 feetbeamdisplaced just undernaval treaty limit35 thousand tons. She carriedmain armor beltnearly 14", comparablemodern battleships oftime,vastly heavier thanBritish battlecruisers HMS RenownHMS Repulse, ships which would have been her equalmain battery as designed. Itoften said that she washandsome ship,looked as fast as she was. Sheher sister Scharnhorstgenerally spokenasmost successful German design ofperiod. The main criticism ofdesign was their relatively low deck height, or "freeboard", which made them "wet"North Atlantic conditions.

Her career was brief, mostly spentrepair yards,her successes few. In late 1939 she operatedScharnhorst inNorth Atlanticsunkminor British warship, but suffered severe sea damage instorm. In 1940 she coveredNorway invasionfoughtHMS Renownno conclusion. InBritish withdrawal sheScharnhorst surprisedsankold British carrier HMS Glorious, herselfconverted battlecruiser,her two escorts. She was torpedoed inNorth AtlanticJune,after being repaired joined Scharnhorsttheir most successful merchant campaignMarch, 1941, sinking 22 shipsmanagingkeep out ofwayBritish battleships coveringconvoys. She was torpedoed againApril 1941repaired at BrestFrance.

In 1942 British air attacks made Brest unsafe,accompanied by Scharnhorst,heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen andcovering screendestroyerstorpedo boats, she attempteddaring daylight runNorway, known ever after as"channel dash", as part ofreinforcement ofcountry followingCommando raid on Vaagso. Although she escaped damage infurious air battles that resulted, she struckmine that laid her up at Kiel, where she was badly damaged inbombing raid that wasend her career. Some work was done1942-1944reconstruct her withtwin 15" guns, butnever camefruitionher final sad duty wasbe used asblockship, sunkGotenhafen harbor. She was broken upscrapped afterwar.

Even though ships such as Gneisenau were designedcommit actsdestructionwar, thereno doubt that she carriedcertain sensedignity, powerbeauty, which can be appreciatedits own sake. Many decades after her death, sheher sisterstill discussed, admireddebated over.