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''Gneisenau'' was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine''. She was the second vessel of her class, which included one other ship, . The ship was built at the ''Deutsche Werke'' dockyard in Kiel; she was laid down on 6 May 1935 and launched on 8 December 1936. Completed in May 1938, the ship was armed with a main battery of nine 28 cm (11 in) C/34 guns in three triple turrets, though there were plans to replace these weapons with six 38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 guns in twin turrets. ''Gneisenau'' and ''Scharnhorst'' operated together for much of the early portion of World War II, including sorties into the Atlantic to raid British merchant shipping. During their first operation, the two ships sank the British auxiliary cruiser in a short battle. ''Gneisenau'' and ''Scharnhorst'' participated in Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Norway. During operations off Norway, the two ships engaged the battlecruiser and sank the aircraft carrier . ''Gneisenau'' was damaged in the action with ''Renown'' and later torpedoed by a British submarine, , off Norway. After a successful raid in the Atlantic in 1941, ''Gneisenau'' and her sister put in at Brest, France. The two battleships were the subject of repeated bombing raids by the RAF; ''Gneisenau'' was hit several times during the raids, though she was ultimately repaired. In early 1942, the two ships made a daylight dash up the English Channel from occupied France to Germany. After reaching Kiel in early February, the ship went into drydock. On the night of 26 February, the British launched an air attack on the ship; one bomb penetrated her armored deck and exploded in the forward ammunition magazine, causing serious damage and a large number of casualties. The repairs necessitated by the damage were so time consuming that it was determined to rebuild the ship to accommodate the 38 cm guns as originally intended. The 28 cm guns were removed and used as shore batteries. In 1943, Hitler ordered the cessation of conversion work, and on 27 March 1945, she was sunk as a blockship in Gotenhafen (Gdynia) in German-occupied Poland. She was eventually broken up for scrap in 1951. == Construction and configuration == ''Gneisenau'' was ordered as ''Ersatz Hessen'' as a replacement for the old pre-dreadnought , under the contract name "E." The ''Deutsche Werke'' in Kiel was awarded the contract, where the keel was laid on 6 May 1935. The ship was launched on 8 December 1936, after which fitting-out out work was begun. The ship was completed in May 1938 and commissioned for sea trials on the 21st, under the command of ''Kapitän zur See'' (''KzS'') Erich Förste. The trials revealed a dangerous tendency to ship considerable amounts of water in heavy seas. This caused flooding in the bow and damaged electrical systems in the forward gun turret. As a result, she went back to the dockyard for extensive modification of the bow. The original straight stem was replaced with a raised "Atlantic bow." A diagonal cap was fitted to the smoke stack to keep the main mast free of smoke. The modifications were completed by September 1939, by which time the ship was finally fully operational. ''Gneisenau'' displaced as built and fully loaded, with a length of , a beam of and a maximum draft of . She was powered by three Germania geared steam turbines, which developed a total of and yielded a maximum speed of on speed trials. Her standard crew numbered 56 officers and 1,613 enlisted men, though during the war this was augmented up to 60 officers and 1,780 men. While serving as a squadron flagship, ''Gneisenau'' carried an additional ten officers and 61 enlisted men. She was armed with nine 28 cm (11.1 in) L/54.5 guns arranged in three triple gun turrets: two superfiring turrets forward—Anton and Bruno—and one aft—Caesar. Her secondary armament consisted of twelve 15 cm (5.9 in) L/55 guns, fourteen and sixteen L/83, and initially ten anti-aircraft guns. The number of 2 cm guns was eventually increased to thirty-eight. Six above-water torpedo tubes, taken from the light cruisers and , were installed in 1942. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「German battleship Gneisenau」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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