SMS Gneisenau
"Gneisenau" was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, Germany in 1904, under construction number 144. She was launched on 14 June 1906, and commissioned into the fleet nearly two years later on 6 March 1908. The ship cost the German government 19,243,000 goldmarks. The ship had been designed for service with the High Seas Fleet, though it was found to be too weak for service with the battle fleet; instead it was deployed overseas, a role in which it performed well.
German battleship Gneisenau
"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.