Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Gneisenau (German pronunciation: [ˈɡnaɪ̯zənaʊ̯]) was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, in Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. She was the second vessel of her class , which included her sister ship, Scharnhorst .
Scharnhorst was launched first, [1] and is considered to be the lead ship by some sources; they are also referred to as the Gneisenau class in some other sources, [2] as Gneisenau was the first to be laid down and commissioned. [1] They marked the beginning of German naval rearmament after the Treaty of Versailles.
SMS Gneisenau [a] was an armored cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), part of the two-ship Scharnhorst class.Named for the earlier screw corvette of the same name, the ship was laid down in June 1904 at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, launched in June 1906, and commissioned in March 1908.
Renown began the action by opening fire on Gneisenau with her 15-inch guns. The German warships replied at 04:11 with Gneisenau obtaining two hits on Renown with her 11-inch shells. Both shells failed to explode, with the first hitting the British battlecruiser's foremast and the second passing through the ship near the steering gear room.
The British battlecruisers Inflexible and Invincible did precisely the job for which they were intended when they chased down and annihilated the German East Asia Squadron, centered on the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, along with three light cruisers, commanded by Admiral Maximilian Graf Von Spee, in the South Atlantic Ocean.
SMS Scharnhorst Scharnhorst steaming at high speed, c. 1907–1908 History German Empire Name Scharnhorst Namesake Gerhard von Scharnhorst Laid down 22 March 1905 Launched 23 March 1906 Commissioned 24 October 1907 Fate Sunk in action, Battle of the Falkland Islands, 8 December 1914 General characteristics Class and type Scharnhorst -class armored cruiser Displacement 12,985 t (12,780 long ...
When Gneisenau was moved back in her dock, she was hit by four bombs in the night of 10 April. These second hits on Gneisenau raised the first doubts, for German naval planners, over the viability of Brest as a base for German capital ships. [61] Prinz Eugen was seriously damaged by a bomb on 1 July.
At approximately 13:20, the battlecruisers opened fire at a range of 14 kilometers (8.7 mi). After a two-hour-long battle, Scharnhorst was dead in the water and listing heavily. The ship was sunk shortly thereafter. Gneisenau had been hit more than 50 times at close range; the crew gave three cheers for the Kaiser before the vessel sank.