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" remained unused in Gotenhafen until the end of the war. As the Red Army advanced on the city, the remaining crew took the ship out to the entrance of the harbor and sank the vessel as a blockship on 27 March 1945. In 1947, the Polish government ordered the ship be removed, and initial salvage operations began. The ship was sealed and refloated on 12 September 1951 then completely scrapped, though it is believed that some of her steel was used in the construction of Polish merchant vessels. She was the largest ship raised at the time. Norway offered to return the turret from Trondheim in 1979, though the offer was rejected. The gun turret was instead preserved as a museum in Norway.