 Gneisenau | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Germany | |
| Name | Gneisenau |
| Namesake | August Neidhardt von Gneisenau[1] |
| Builder | Deutsche Werke |
| Laid down | 6 May 1935 |
| Launched | 8 December 1936 |
| Commissioned | 21 May 1938 |
| Decommissioned | 1 July 1942 |
| Fate | Sunk as ablockship 23 March 1945, scrapped in 1951 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Scharnhorst-classbattleship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 229.8 m (753 ft 11 in) |
| Beam | 30 m (98 ft 5 in) |
| Draft | 9.9 m (32 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power | 165,930 PS (163,660 shp; 122,040 kW) |
| Propulsion | 3 Germania gearedsteam turbines |
| Speed | 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph) |
| Range | 6,200 nmi (11,500 km; 7,100 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
| Aircraft carried | 3AradoAr 196A |
| Aviation facilities | 1catapult |
Gneisenau (German pronunciation:[ˈɡnaɪ̯zənaʊ̯]) was a Germancapital ship, alternatively described as abattleship andbattlecruiser, inNazi Germany'sKriegsmarine. She was the second vessel ofher class, which included her sister ship,Scharnhorst. The ship was built at theDeutsche Werke dockyard inKiel; she was laid down on 6 May 1935 and launched on 8 December 1936. Her outfitting was completed in May 1938: she was armed with a main battery of nine28 cm (11 in) C/34 guns in three triple turrets. At one point after construction had started, a plan had been approved to replace these weapons with six38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 guns in twin turrets, but when it was realized that this would involve a lot of redesign, that plan was abandoned, and construction continued with the originally planned lower-calibre guns. The upgrade had been intended to be completed in the winter of 1940–41, but instead, due to the outbreak of World War II, that work was stopped.[2]
Gneisenau andScharnhorst operated together for much of the early portion of World War II, for example making sorties into the Atlantic to raid British merchant ships. During their first operation, the two ships sank the British auxiliary cruiserHMS Rawalpindi in a short battle.Gneisenau andScharnhorst also participated in the German invasion of Norway:Operation Weserübung. During operations off the coast of Norway, the two ships engaged the battlecruiserHMS Renown and sank the aircraft carrierHMS Glorious.Gneisenau was damaged in the action withRenown and later torpedoed by a British submarine,HMS Clyde, off the coast of Norway. Aftera successful raid in the Atlantic in 1941,Gneisenau and her sister ship put in atBrest, France. The two battleships were the object of repeated bombing raids by theRAF, during whichGneisenau was hit several times, though she was ultimately repaired.
In early 1942, the two ships – along with the heavy cruiserPrinz Eugen – successfullymade a daylight dash up theEnglish Channel from occupied France to Germany. After reaching Kiel in early February,Gneisenau went into drydock. On the night of 26 February, the British launched an air attack on her; one bomb penetrated her armored deck and exploded in the forward ammunition magazine, causing serious damage and many casualties. The necessary repairs would have been so time-consuming that it was decided instead to rebuild the ship to replace the nine 28 cm guns with six 38 cm guns in double turrets. The 28 cm guns were removed and used as shore batteries. But in 1943Hitler issued a stop-work order on the ship. On 27 March 1945, having been moved toGotenhafen (Gdynia) in German-occupied Poland, she was sunk as ablockship, and in 1951 she was broken up for scrap.
Gneisenaudisplaced 32,100long tons (32,600 t) atstandard displacement and 38,100 long tons (38,700 t) atfull load. She was 229.8 m (753 ft 11 in)long overall and had abeam of 30 m (98 ft 5 in) and a maximumdraft of 9.9 m (32 ft 6 in). She was powered by threeGermania gearedsteam turbines, which developed a total of 165,930metric horsepower (163,660 shp; 122,041 kW) and yielded a maximum speed of 31.3knots (58.0 km/h; 36.0 mph) 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 asquadronflagship,Gneisenau carried an additional ten officers and 61 enlisted men.[3]
She was armed with amain battery of nine28 cm (11.1 in) L/54.5 guns arranged in three triplegun turrets: two turrets were placed forward in asuperfiring arrangement—Anton and Bruno—and one aft—Caesar. Hersecondary armament consisted of twelve15 cm (5.9 in) L/55 guns, eight of which were placed in two-gun turrets and the remaining four were carried in individual turrets. Her heavy anti-aircraft armament consisted of fourteen10.5 cm L/65. These guns were directed by four SL-6stabilized anti-aircraft director posts. The light anti-aircraft armament consisted of sixteen3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 L/83, and initially ten2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft guns.[4] The number of 2 cm guns was eventually increased to thirty-eight.[3] Two triple 53.3 cm (21 in) above-watertorpedo tubes, taken from thelight cruiserLeipzig, were installed in March 1941.[5]
Gneisenau had anarmor belt that was 320 mm (12.6 in) thick in the central portion, where it protected the ship's ammunitionmagazines and propulsion machinery spaces. The ship had an armor deck that was 20 to 40 mm (0.79 to 1.57 in) thick on the flat portion, increasing to 105 mm (4.1 in) on downward-sloping sides that connected to the bottom of the belt. Her main battery turrets had 360 mm (14 in) of armor on their faces and 200 mm (7.9 in) on their sides. Theconning tower was protected with 350 mm on the sides.[3][6]
Gneisenau was ordered asErsatz Hessen as a replacement for the oldpre-dreadnoughtHessen, under the contract name "E."[3] TheDeutsche Werke inKiel was awarded the contract, where the keel was laid on 6 May 1935.[7] The ship was launched on 8 December 1936, after whichfitting-out work was begun.[8] The ship was completed in May 1938 and commissioned forsea trials on the 21st,[9] under the command ofKapitän zur See (KzS)Erich Förste.[10][9] 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."[11] A diagonal cap was fitted to the smoke stack to keep the main mast free of smoke.[12] The modifications were completed by September 1939, by which time the ship was finally fully operational.[11]
Gneisenau left Germany for a round of trials in the Atlantic in June 1939. As it was peacetime, the ship carried primarily practice ammunition, with only a small number of live rounds. She was back in Germany when war began in September 1939. On the 4th, the day after the British declaration of war,Gneisenau was attacked by fourteenWellington bombers, though they made no hits.[13] In November,KzS Förste was replaced byKzSHarald Netzbandt.[10]
The ship's first combat operation, under the command of AdmiralHermann Boehm, involved a sortie together with the light cruiserKöln and ninedestroyers through theKattegat andSkagerrak towards the Norwegian coast on 7 October. The intent was to feint a breakout into the Atlantic which would keep pressure on the British to continue convoying, and to ease the pressure on the heavy cruiserAdmiral Graf Spee, which was being pursued in the South Atlantic. A third goal was to draw theHome Fleet out ofScapa Flow and lure them into range of theLuftwaffe. The German force was found by British air reconnaissance on 8 October at the Norwegian south coast and promptly returned home, arriving on 10 October in Kiel. The Home fleet left Scapa Flow to intercept the German force but did not find anything. A total of 148 German aircraft were deployed to attack the Home Fleet but they achieved nothing. The British launched an air attack consisting of 12 Wellington bombers, though it too failed to hit any of the German warships. The Home Fleet did not return to Scapa Flow so whenU-47 penetrated the harbor defenses of Scapa Flow on 14 October to attack the Home Fleet, it found only the old battleshipHMS Royal Oak lying at anchor.[14][15]
The ship's second combat operation, under the command of AdmiralWilhelm Marschall, began on 21 November 1939;[13] the ship, in company with her sisterScharnhorst, was to attack theNorthern Patrol between Iceland and theFaroe Islands.[16] The intent of the operation was again to draw out British units and ease the pressure on the heavy cruiserAdmiral Graf Spee. A patrol line of fourU-boats was stationed in the North Sea to intercept any sortie from the Home Fleet.[17][a] The two battleships left Wilhelmshaven in company of the light cruisersKöln andLeipzig, and three destroyers, which parted company in the morning of 22 November for operations in the Skagerrak.[18] The next day, the German flotilla intercepted theauxiliary cruiserRawalpindi.[19]Scharnhorst fired first, followed byGneisenau eight minutes later. The ship was quickly reduced to a burning wreck; Marschall orderedScharnhorst to pick up survivors while he stood by inGneisenau. The cruiserNewcastle arrived on the scene, which prompted Marschall to halt rescue operations and flee. Based on the reports ofRawalpindi andNewcastle, the British deployed the Home Fleet with the battleshipsNelson andRodney from the Clyde towards Norway in case the Germans intended to return to Germany, and the battlecruisersHood and the FrenchDunkerque left fromDevonport towardsIceland to prevent a breakout towards the Atlantic. Aware of these deployments through theB-Dienst, Marschall retreated northwards and waited for bad weather in order to break through a British cruiser and destroyer patrol line betweenShetland and Norway.[20] The Germans reachedWilhelmshaven on 27 November, and on the trip both battleships incurred significant damage from heavy seas and winds.[13]
After returning to Kiel,Gneisenau went into drydock for repairs for the storm damage. During the repairs, the bow was remodeled a second time to incorporate additional flare and sheer, in an attempt to improve her seaworthiness.Gneisenau went into the Baltic for trials on 15 January 1940, after the completion of the refit. Her voyage back to the North Sea was blocked by ice in theKiel Canal until 4 February.[21] Between 18 February and 20 February, she participated inOperation Nordmark, a brief sortie into the North Sea as far as theShetland Islands.[22]
Gneisenau was assigned to the forces participating inOperation Weserübung, the invasion of Denmark and Norway. She and her sister were the covering force for the assaults onNarvik andTrondheim (Flag OfficerVize AdmiralGünther Lütjens). The two ships left Wilhelmshaven on the morning of 7 April, along with the heavy cruiserAdmiral Hipper and fourteen destroyers. The cruiser and destroyers carried the assault forces for Narvik and Trondheim, whileGneisenau andScharnhorst provided cover for them.[21] Later that day, at around 14:30, the three ships came under attack by a force of British bombers, though the bombers failed to make any hits.[23] On the morning of 8 April, the destroyerZ11 Bernd von Arnim encountered the British destroyerGlowworm. Before being sunk,Glowworm rammedAdmiral Hipper, though the latter was not seriously damaged. The crews of the two battleships went to battle stations, though they did not take part in the brief engagement. At 21:00,Gneisenau andScharnhorst took up a position west of theVestfjorden to provide distant cover to both of the landings at Narvik and Trondheim.[21]
At 04:30 on the 9th,Gneisenaulocated the British battlecruiserRenown with herSeetakt radar; the call to battle stations rang out on bothGneisenau andScharnhorst, though it wasRenown that fired first, at 05:05.[21]Gneisenau scored two hits onRenown; the first failed to explode and the second exploded on her upper deck and damaged the radio equipment.Gneisenau andScharnhorst then turned to disengage.[24] Almost simultaneously, two ofRenown's 15 in (38 cm) shells struckGneisenau. One shell hit the director tower and passed through it without exploding; regardless, it cut several cables and killed one officer and five enlisted men. The second shell disabled the rear turret. This promptedGneisenau to cease firing and increase speed in order to break away fromRenown. Vice Admiral Lütjens feared that the destroyers escortingRenown could be used to make torpedo attacks against his unescorted battleships.[21] In the course of the action,Gneisenau fired sixty 28 cm and eight 15 cm rounds. During the high-speed escape, bothGneisenau andScharnhorst were flooded by significant quantities of water over their bows, which caused problems in both of their forward gun turrets.[25]
Scharnhorst andGneisenau had reached a point north-west of Lofoten, Norway, by 12:00 on 9 April. The two ships then turned west for 24 hours while temporary repairs were effected. After a day of steaming west, the ships turned south. Since broadcasting radio messages would betray the position of the ships to the British, anArado 196 float plane was launched byScharnhorst on 10 April at 12:00 with the instruction to fly in the direction of Norway and to signal there the intentions of Lütjens to break through to Germany in the night of 11 April. The plane was launched at extreme range and could barely reach the outer islands on the Norwegian coast where it managed to send its message. The float plane was towed to Trondheim where it could also convey Lütjens' order toAdmiral Hipper to join the German battleships in the return journey to Germany.[26]Admiral Hipper joined in the morning of 12 April but her four destroyers had to stay back at Trondheim because of lack of fuel.[27] ARoyal Air Force (RAF) patrol aircraft spotted the three ships that day, and 82RAF Bomber Command and nineRAF Coastal Command aircraft were ordered to attack the ships. The German warships were protected by poor visibility, however, and none of the bombers found the ships whilst losing nine of their number to German fighters.[28][29][30]
The three ships safely reached Wilhelmshaven at 22:00. There, the damage incurred during the engagement withRenown was repaired. She was then drydocked inBremerhaven for periodic maintenance on 26–29 April.[31] The ship was to go to the Baltic following the completion of repairs,[32] but on the morning of 5 May, while steaming at 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) off the Elbe estuary,Gneisenau detonated a magnetic mine about 21 m (69 ft) off the port rear quarter and 24 m (79 ft) below the hull. The explosion caused significant damage to the hull and flooded several compartments, which caused the ship to take on a half-degree list to port. The concussive shock from the blast damaged many internal and topside components, including the starboard low-pressure turbine and the rear rangefinders. Repairs were effected in a floating drydock in Kiel from 6 to 21 May. A brief shakedown cruise followed in the Baltic, and by the 27th, she was back in Kiel at full combat readiness.[31]
Gneisenau andScharnhorst left Wilhelmshaven on 4 June to return to Norway. They were joined byAdmiral Hipper and four destroyers.[31] The purpose of Operation Juno was to interrupt Allied resupply efforts to the Norwegians and to relieve the pressure on German troops fighting in Norway.[33] On 7 June, the squadron rendezvoused with the tankerDithmarschen to refuelAdmiral Hipper and the four destroyers.[31] The next day, they discovered and sank thetrawlerJuniper, along with the oil tankerOil Pioneer.[34] The Germans then launched theirArado 196 float planes to search for more Allied vessels.Admiral Hipper and the destroyers were sent to destroyOrama, a passenger ship of 19,500GRT; the Germans allowedAtlantis, ahospital ship, to proceed unmolested. Admiral Marschall, who had returned from sick leave to command the sortie, detachedAdmiral Hipper and the four destroyers to refuel in Trondheim, while he steamed to theHarstad area.[31]
At 17:45, the German battleships spotted the Britishaircraft carrierGlorious and two escorting destroyers,Ardent andAcasta, at an approximate range of 40,000 m (44,000 yd). The German ships turned towardsGlorious and increased speed from 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) to 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) and then turned again to intercept, still increasing in speed.Gneisenau opened fire onArdent, the nearest destroyer at 18:28.Scharnhorst, the lead ship, fired atGlorious 4 minutes later from a range of 26,000 m (28,000 yd).Scharnhorst achieved a hit with her third salvo at 18:38 and shortly after engagedArdent with her secondary armament, whilst still firing atGlorious with the main armament.Ardent fired the first of several torpedoes at the two German ships, requiringScharnhorst to take evasive action at 18:45, and again 10 minutes later.Gneisenau opened fire onGlorious at 18:46. A problem withScharnhorst's boilers now reduced her speed to 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph), soGneisenau took over station ahead.[35] By now,Glorious was burning and listing heavily to starboard, but still travelling at high speed.[36]
The British ships made extensive use of smoke screens. Though the German battleships had available their Seetakt radar to assist the gunlaying, lack of target visibility required temporary ceasefires due to this smoke. The Germans found that the British destroyers were skilfully handled, making them difficult targets.Ardent continued firing torpedoes after receiving serious damage that reduced her speed. She eventually capsized at 19:22, at which timeGlorious was burning fiercely.Acasta then headed for the German ships, making smoke and firing torpedoes. One torpedo hitScharnhorst at 19:39 when she returned to her course too soon after taking evasive action.Acasta was hit on making a second torpedo attack out of her smokescreen and severely damaged, sinking at about 20:08.[36]
The torpedo hit onScharnhorst caused serious damage. After all three British ships had been sunk, Marschall withdrew his force to Trondheim to conduct emergency repairs toScharnhorst. In the meantime, Marschall sortied withGneisenau,Admiral Hipper, and four destroyers, though after two days he returned to Trondheim when it became clear that the British convoys were too heavily guarded.[37]
Admiral Günther Lütjens replaced Marschall as the commander of the squadron permanently, and on 20 June Lütjens sortied withGneisenau,Admiral Hipper, and four destroyers in the direction of Iceland. His intention was to give the impression he was attempting to break out into the Atlantic, to draw British attention away fromScharnhorst as she made the return voyage to Germany. About 40 nmi (74 km; 46 mi) northwest ofHalten, however, the submarineClyde torpedoedGneisenau. The torpedo hitGneisenau in the bow, just forward of the splinter belt, and caused serious damage. The ship took on a significant amount of water in the two forwardwatertight compartments, and she was forced to return to Trondheim at reduced speed.[38] In Trondheim, the repair shipHuascaran effected temporary repairs that permittedGneisenau to return to Kiel on 25–27 July, escorted byAdmiral Hipper,Nürnberg, four destroyers, and six torpedo boats. A strong force from the BritishHome Fleet attempted to intercept the flotilla, but the British failed to find it. Upon arrival,Gneisenau went into drydock at theHowaldtswerke dockyard for five months of repair work.[39] In August, the ship's commander was replaced byKzSOtto Fein, who would captain the ship for the majority of her active wartime career.[10]
Scharnhorst joinedGneisenau, in preparation forOperation Berlin, the planned breakout into the Atlantic Ocean designed to wreak havoc on the Allied shipping lanes.[39] Severe storms caused damage toGneisenau, thoughScharnhorst was undamaged. The two ships were forced to put into port during the storm:Gneisenau went to Kiel for repairs whileScharnhorst put into Gdynia (Gotenhafen). Repairs were quickly completed, and on 22 January 1941, the two ships, again under the command of Admiral Lütjens, left port for the North Atlantic. They were detected in theSkagerrak and the heavy units of the British Home Fleet deployed to cover the passage between Iceland and the Faroes. The Germans' radar detected the British at long range, which allowed Lütjens to avoid the British patrols, with the aid of asquall. By 3 February, the two battleships had evaded the last British cruiser patrol, and had broken into the open Atlantic.[40]
On 6 February, the two ships refueled from the tankerSchlettstadt south ofCape Farewell. Shortly after 08:30 on 8 February, lookouts spottedconvoy HX 106, though it was escorted by the battleshipRamillies. Lütjens' orders prohibited him from engaging Allied capital ships, and so the attack was called off.Scharnhorst's commander,KzS Hoffmann, however, closed to 23,000 m (25,000 yd) in an attempt to lureRamillies away from the convoy so thatGneisenau could attack the convoy. Lütjens ordered Hoffmann to rejoin the flagship immediately. The two battleships steamed off to the northwest to search for more shipping. On 22 February, the pair spotted an empty convoy sailing west, though it dispersed at the appearance of the battleships.Gneisenau sank three ships, and along with a fourth destroyed byScharnhorst, the pair accounted for 25,784 GRT of Allied shipping.[40]
Lütjens then decided to move to a new area, as the surviving members of the dispersed convoy had sent distress signals. He chose the Cape Town-Gibraltar convoy route, and positioned himself to the northwest ofCape Verde. The two ships encountered another convoy, escorted by the battleshipMalaya, on 8 March. Lütjens again forbade an attack, though he shadowed the convoy and directed U-boats to attack it. A pair of U-boats sank a total of 28,488 GRT of shipping on the night of 7–8 March.Malaya turned on the two battleships and closed to 24,000 m (26,000 yd), well within the range of the Germans' guns, but Lütjens refused to be drawn into an engagement.[41] He instead turned toward the mid-Atlantic, where the two ships refueled from the tankersUckermark andErmland on 12 March.[42]
On 15 March, the two battleships, with the two tankers in company, encountered a dispersed convoy in the mid-Atlantic.Gneisenau captured three tankers and sank a fourth, totaling 20,139 GRT of shipping. The next day, stragglers from a convoy were sighted.Gneisenau sank seven ships for 26,693 GRT, while her sister accounted for six vessels for 35,088 long tons (35,651 t).[43] One of the surviving ships radioed the location of the German battleships, which summoned the powerful British battleshipsRodney andKing George V.Scharnhorst andGneisenau used their high speed to escape in a squall, and the intervention by the British battleships convinced Lütjens that the chances of further success were small. He therefore decided to head forBrest in occupied France, which the ships reached on 22 March. She then entered drydock for periodic maintenance.[44]
After arriving in Brest,Gneisenau was the subject of repeated British air raids. The first attack took place on the night of 30–31 March, and a second occurred on 4–5 April. During this second raid, a 500 lb (227 kg) armor-piercing (AP) bomb narrowly missed the ship. As a result of the attacks, the ship was moved out of the dry dock and moved to the harbor.[44] On 6 April,Gneisenau was attacked by British torpedo bombers, which managed to score a single hit.[45] TheBristol Beaufort that struck the ship was piloted byFlying OfficerKenneth Campbell, who was killed in the attack, for which he was awarded theVictoria Cross.[46] The torpedo struckGneisenau in the vicinity of the rear main battery turret. Some 3,050 t (3,000 long tons) of water flooded the ship and caused a 2 degree list to starboard. The flooding also disabled several components of the ship's propulsion system. The explosion caused significant destruction to the side plating as well as the starboard and centerline propeller shafts. The concussive shock also caused widespread damage to the ship's electronic components. A salvage tug came alongside to assist in the pumping effort. Following the attack,Gneisenau returned to the drydock for repairs.[47]
Three days later, on the night of 9–10 April, several British bombers dropped around 25 t (25 long tons) of 227 kg AP bombs on the ship, four of which hit. All four hit the starboard side of the forward superstructure. Two of the bombs exploded on the main armor deck while the other two failed to detonate. The attack killed 72 initially and wounded 90, of whom 16 later died of their injuries. The bombs slightly damaged the main armor deck and caused some structural damage on the starboard side. It was decided to make alterations to the ship while she was drydocked for repairs; these included the installation of fourteen additional 2 cm anti-aircraft guns and six 53.3 cm torpedo tubes amidships. The aircraft hangar was rearranged, and thecatapult that had been mounted on top of it was removed. The length of repairs and modifications precluded participation inOperation Rheinübung, the sortie by the new battleshipBismarck in May 1941. The British continued to attack the ship in drydock, though no further damage was done.[48] On 6 February 1942, a bomb fell close toGneisenau, but caused no damage.[49]
On 12 January 1942, the German Naval Command, in a conference with Hitler, made the decision to returnGneisenau,Scharnhorst, and the heavy cruiserPrinz Eugen to Germany. The intention was to deploy the vessels to Norway to interdict Allied convoys to the Soviet Union. The so-called "Channel Dash", codenamed Operation Cerberus, would avoid the increasingly effective Allied radar and patrol aircraft in the Atlantic. Vice AdmiralOtto Ciliax was given command of the operation. In early February,minesweepers swept a route through theEnglish Channel, though the British failed to detect the activity.[50]
At 23:00 on 11 February,Scharnhorst,Gneisenau, andPrinz Eugen left Brest. They entered the Channel an hour later; the three ships sped at 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph), hugging the French coast along the voyage.[50] The British failed to detect their departure, as the submarine that had been tasked with observing the port had withdrawn to recharge its batteries.[51] By 06:30, they had passedCherbourg, at which point they were joined by a flotilla of torpedo boats.[50] The torpedo boats were led byKapitänErich Bey, aboard the destroyerZ29.General der Jagdflieger (General of Fighter Force)Adolf Galland directed Luftwaffe fighter and bomber forces (Operation Donnerkeil) duringCerberus.[52] The fighters flew at masthead-height to avoid detection by the British radar network. Liaison officers were present on all three ships.[50] By 13:00, the ships had cleared theStrait of Dover, though half an hour later, a flight of sixSwordfish torpedo bombers, withSpitfire escort, attacked the Germans. The British failed to penetrate the Luftwaffe fighter shield and all six Swordfish were destroyed.[53][54] Several more attacks were launched over the next two hours, but the Luftwaffe screen repulsed them all.[55]
Five British destroyers mounted an attack on the German squadron at 16:17. The ships attempted to close to torpedo range, though heavy seas and overcast conditions hampered their attack.Gneisenau andPrinz Eugen inflicted serious damage to the destroyerWorcester.[56] At 19:55,Gneisenau detonated a magnetic mine offTerschelling. The mine exploded just forward of the rear gun turret but caused only minor damage. Slight flooding was quickly stopped, though the shock disabled the center turbine. The ship stopped for less than 30 minutes before resuming the voyage; by 03:50,Gneisenau and two destroyers reachedHelgoland. After being joined there byPrinz Eugen, the ships left for Kiel, but thick ice in the canal forced the ships to stop inBrunsbüttel. While maneuvering in port,Gneisenau struck a submerged wreck. The collision tore a hole in the hull and caused some minor flooding.[57]Gneisenau reached Kiel the following day, where she went into a floating dry dock at theDeutsche Werke dockyard.[49]
Repair work onGneisenau was completed by 26 February 1942, and she was scheduled to deploy to Norway on 6 March. Despite the fact that she was still in dry dock, her ammunition stores had been restocked and she was prepared for a short round of trials before her departure. On the night of 26–27 February, however, the British launched a heavy air raid on the ship.[58] The ship was hit by a single bomb in herforecastle that penetrated the armored deck and exploded.[59] Red-hot bomb fragments ignited propellant charges in the forward turret and caused a tremendous explosion. The turret was thrown off its mount and the entire bow section was burned out.[49] The crew partially flooded the magazine to prevent a more catastrophic explosion. The blast killed 112 men and wounded 21 others.[60]
The extensive damage convinced the Naval Staff to rebuildGneisenau to mount the six 38 cm guns originally planned, rather than repair the ship. The damaged bow section was removed in order to attach a lengthened bow, which would correct the decrease infreeboard that would have been caused by the heavier 38 cm guns.[61] On 4 April, the ship went toGotenhafen, escorted by the training shipSchlesien and the icebreakerCastor.[49] She was formally decommissioned on 1 July.[59] Her crew were paid off and redeployed to theU-boat arm.[62]
By early 1943, the ship had been sufficiently repaired to begin the conversion process, but Hitler, angered by the failure of German surface raiders at theBattle of the Barents Sea in December 1942, ordered the cessation of all work.[63]Gneisenau was disarmed and her 28 cm and 15 cm gun turrets were used in shore batteries.[59] Turret Caesar was installed inAustrått Fort near Trondheim as the coastal batteryOrlandet.[9]
Gneisenau remained unused in Gotenhafen until the end of the war. As theRed Army advanced on the city, the remaining crew took the ship out to the entrance of the harbor and sank the vessel as ablockship on 27 March 1945. In 1947, the Polish government ordered the ship be removed, and initial salvage operations began.[63][9] The ship was sealed and refloated on 12 September 1951 then completely scrapped,[49] though it is believed that some of her steel was used in the construction of Polish merchant vessels.[64] She was the largest ship raised at the time. Norway offered to return the turret from Trondheim in 1979, though the offer was declined.[9] The gun turret was instead preserved as a museum in Norway.[59]
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