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
On 6 February, the two ships refueled from the tanker "Schlettstadt" south of Cape Farewell. Shortly after 08:30 on 8 February, lookouts spotted convoy HX 106, though it was escorted by the battleship . Lütjens' orders prohibited him from engaging Allied capital ships, and so the attack was called off. "Scharnhorst"s commander, "KzS" Hoffmann, however, closed to in an attempt to lure "Ramillies" away from the convoy so that "Gneisenau" 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 by "Scharnhorst", the pair accounted for 25,784 GRT of Allied shipping.