The Catastrophic Destruction of the German Battleship Gneisenau 

Edit: Two corrections, C turret at Austrått fortress is closer to Trondheim not Bergen. ALSO A BIG ONE, when discussing the end of the ship I describe the port as Danzig. It is actually the nearby port city of Gdynia. In my sources they use the German name for the city Gotenhafen and my stupid English speaking brain did not think to double check. Apologies for the mistake. Thanks for watching everyone! The story of the Gneisenau comes to an end. I decided to do a summary of her career in this one since it has been around 6 months since the last episode in the series and the end of her career. I hope you all enjoyed.

As an Englishman, I have to say that I found your pronunication very good indeed! the German names I couldn’t fault and the fact that you pronounced Harwich exactly as an Englishman would really impressed me. I’ve watched some videos by an Englishman, whose mangling of German and French pronunications make me wince! Nice video sir!

Thank you for this, the Geneisenau is often overlooked. 'Fast battleship' would be the most accurate description for her. ( though I admit my brain says "battlecruiser", lol.)

As a German speaking person, I call them battleships, as the Germans called them that and because this is what they are in my opinion. While they may have small guns for capital ship standards, battlecruisers tended to be classified as that because they had less armor than their contemporary battleships. This isn't the case for the Scharnhorst class, which had very good armor (at least as far as I'm aware, I'm not an expert on the class.). Battlecruisers weren't called battlecruisers because of their gun size, but for other reasons. It just makes more sense to me.

Thank you for this one! Always loved the stories of these two! Love the channel!

If the fate of the surviving Kriegsmarine ships is any indication, if Gneisenau's conversion had been allowed to continue, she probably would of been plagued by allied bombing raids and a shortage of workers and fuel as the Soviets advanced along the eastern front and still scuttled or at best moved to Norway to act as a defense against an allied invasion.

One thing you can say about the British and German navies , they were fearless , fighting to the death .

Carry on! Outstanding work, young man.

Thank you. Your presentation is very factual. Very substantive. Keep up the good work...we need such sites.

You included some impressive video footage and pictures I had not seen so far, although I am a navy enthusiast since the 80s. Great work! Beautiful ship class. Such a depressing site seeing Gneisenau's burn out hulk in the frozen see.

It's hard to classify these ships. A battleship is meant to fight in the main line of battle - these two were never intended to do so. A battlecruiser is a cruiser worth battleship sized guns and at their time they weren't anymore. So I think they are crazy overblown cruisers but really a class of their own. Oh and as a German: Your pronunciation is pretty good!

The harbor which Gneisenau ended up blocking was not Gdańsk (formerly Danzig) but Gdynia. You can see characteristic light tower of Gdynia harbor breakwater on the photo showing port side of scuttled ship. Raising and scrapping the wreck was a major salvage feat.

I have a degree in history and I've learned so much more from youtube than I ever did in college.

Very nice Video. I enjoyed watching this, and i learned a lot from it. Keep up the great work, and i cant wait for the next one.

THANK YOU! I learned something today . Keep 'em coming .

Well done description of this interesting ship. If the change to 15 inch guns had been carried out, I wonder how the Germans would have changed the barbettes to handle the larger guns.

Good job with this, I am impressed by your pronounciations of German orthography.

Interestingly, during WW2, the U.S. Navy designated "Lite Cruisers" as having main armament of 6 inches or less; "heavy Cruisers" as having main battery guns (greater) than 6 inches...

Austrått fort is in Ørland near Trondheim. NOT Bergen.

A nice video. A few clarifications. The upgrades to Gneisenau and Scharhorst had be discussed as possible pre-war but that was about all. No engineering work had been done. The damage of 26 Feb sparked the first real engineering work. The preliminary engineering work (which said yes we can do it and be done by the end of 1943) and detailed design was completed in a crazy fast amount of time to start work in under a month. She needed a new longer bow to support the heavier guns forward, structural modifications to the turret ring supports, additional electrical work (cabling and motors), modified turrets of the Bismarck design, and some structural changes to the superstructure so B turret could traverse. When the stop work was issued, all of the ship board work was complete to receive the new turrets. The 3 new turrets were complete. My speculation here is that these were items that had been started for the H class as being ready in under a year from scratch would be nearly impossible. The only thing I don't know the status of is the new bow as I have found nothing on it. The ship had been cut back for the new bow to be grafted on. I have assumed that the new bow structure was assembled some where else and was complete or nearly so when the stop work was issued as work on it could proceed in parallel. Of the three new 15 inch turrets, two of them were being installed as coastal defense in Denmark as the war ended.

It's like deja vu all over again. 😉 Great video, I'm glad it's still around.

You always do good work !

IMO they were definitely battleships, due to their armor plan, comparable or even superior, under some respects, to the Bismarck class. True, they were fast and outstandingly graceful and elegant, but that's not enough to consider them as battlecruisers!

Good stuff, man! I'd be inclined to say they were battlecruisers as they were fast and built for raiding and preying on lesser vessels. Their guns were downright puny compared to battleships their size. In my view, to be a battleship, you have to be primarily designed to tussle with other big capital ships, and these really weren't up to that. They'd have been annihilated by a Nelson or KGV without those larger guns they never got. The fact that Renown took on both Scharnhorsts and it was they who disengaged when it was clear they were outgunned is informative, although the British ship did have a sizeable escort. During the battle, the Scharnhorts behaved like battlecruisers, using their speed rather than firepower. Renown was officially designated a battlecruiser, and assigned to a battlecruiser squadron.

Only to add, and not as any kind of criticism: the story of the need to re-engineer the design of the bow of the 2 ships is very interesting, and very important part of the history of the class. In some of the videos inserted, we can see how much water the boe took, even after the re-enginnering!

Personally, I'd classify Scharnhorst and Gneisenau as Pocket Battleships, my reasoning for this is that Battlecruisers sacrifice their armor for bigger guns, but for Scharnhorst and Gneisenau it was the other way around.

Battlecruisers were a progression from the old armoured cruisers which had 4 decks while battleships had 5 decks. The Sharnhorst's had 4 decks but inspite of that I think they were a in class of their own between battlecruisers and fast battleships.

Well done young man, and thanks for doing all of this research .

One correction: The rear C-turret was mounted at the Austraat Fort at Oerland, on the northside entry of the Trondheimsfjord. I grew up 1 kilometer away and have detailed knowledge of it. ( The position was wrongfully mentioned to be near Bergen - which was the location of the B-turret, to be scrapped after WW2. The C-turret is restored and now a museum )

Very good work you doing well done. One of those what ifs but suppose she had not been bombed in dock she would of been able to sail to Norway in 1942 and might have seen more action in Norwegian waters

I grew up in the 70's thinking of the class as battleships. Now, understanding the guns as only 11" and the US building the Alaska class of very heavy cruisers with 12" guns, I prefer to think of the class as battlecruisers. OK, because of issues in Congress, they refused to refer to the Alaska's as battlecruisers, but that's effectively what they were. If anyone wishes to continue to call the Scharnorst class battleships, then it's up them.

I find the "What is a battlecruiser" discussion very interesting as it's such a vague term that different nations defined differently and the overlapping of Fast Battleship/Battlecruiser/Large Cruiser terms. I have my own thoughts (see below) but I do concede there are so many ways to define it, and the term used by the nation that owned the ship is absolutely legitimate and I won't tell those with different opinions that they are wrong. For me, I go by the role, ie having high speed of 30 knts+, large calibre (ie armoured cruiser or bigger, 10in+) and to be intended to primarily engage cruisers, battle cruisers and commerce raiders, conduct commerce raiding of their own with the ability to engage escorting cruisers with relative impunity, be able to assist battleships in capital engagements but not be able to fight true battleships alone, either due to insufficient armour or gun power, or both. So a few examples: HMS Hood I do not consider to be a battlecruiser, she's a fast battleship, the Kongo's are battlecruisers not fast battleships, USS Alaska is a battlecruiser (Probably very controversial!), the rebuilt Conte di Cavour's are battlecruisers, the Deutschland's are just heavy cruisers, and yes in their 28cm guise I do consider the Scharnhorst sisters to be battlecruisers. The fact the two Scharnhorst's retreated from the engagement with Renown and declined to engage a convoy escorted by HMS Revenge due to her presence as an escort do, in my mind, provide evidence that they do fit the battlecruiser role I define. They also fit the traditional German battlecruiser design philosophy; smaller guns, higher speed and near peer armour to of-the-time battleships, all things that are traits of the Scharnhorst's. If Gneisenau had gotten the 38cm conversion I think she would have absolutely been a fast battleship.

Nice job.

I've heard them referred to as "Pocket Battleships"...

I agree, it would be interesting to see how she would have looked with the 15" guns. So equipped, with her speed, she'd definitely have been a serious threat. However, I doubt it would have had much of an impact on events. The German surface fleet was, especially by 1943 virtually useless except as a means To tie up large amounts of Allied seapower. Just look at KMS Tirpitz. Even when she was badly damaged, the Home Fleet had to keep multiple Battleships and heavy Cruisers in theatre "just in case". The same for Scharnhorst.

German WW1 battlecruisers tended to have battleship-grade armor, but lower caliber guns. So I think its acceptable to call them battlecruisers, same as it is acceptable to call Hood a fast battleship, despite the first being designated as "schlachtschiff" and the other as "battlecruiser".

Flooding surviving magazines in dry dock must have been interesting. The floating dry dock picture was afterwards presumably?

Very late but I hope you fine it interesting. WW2 Scharnchorst class were the first ships in German (including Imperial fleet) navy officialy classified as battlecruisers (schlachttschiff). All previous constuctions from WW1 were officialy called large cruisers. Hovever Scharnhorst's class design makes them battleships. And fast, fast battleships. They managed to escape HMS Renown and she was credited for 31 knots! Anyway great material.

I don’t consider them battlecruisers, because battlecruisers would most likely have had heavier guns and thinner armor. I think they were battleships, though unusual for their era in their relatively light main batteries. In the end they proved much more effective than the heavy battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz.

There were many ships that defy standard classifications. Just like the Outrageous class were large light cruisers instead of battlecruisers, the British (derisive) nickname of pocket battleship, or light battleship, would be a more accurate classification of the Scharnhorst class.

Though they ( Scharnhorst & Gneisenau ) had the speed of battle cruisers, they had the armour of battleships. What causes the issue is the size of their main guns being "tweeners". One nice feature of the 11" guns were their elevation, able to fire at very extreme ranges. Personally I would classify them as battleships.

Regarding these ships classification, my vote would go for Battle Cruisers. They could out gun heavy cruisers and out run Battleships but did not have the weight of shot to match them. They were very fine ships though with beautiful profiles.

I would say they were battle cruisers as they were supposed to have 15in guns but never got around to it so had smaller guns

I call the WWII Scharnost class Battlecruisers because an 11" main battery does not a battleship make. However, rearming with 6x15" rifles (if it happened) would push it (in my view) into the battleship category.

02:09 Wow! What a great looking ship! She might have belonged to the Nazis, but she was a very impressive vessel.

My grand uncles was in the Waffen ss But Otto said he had two neighbors that served on the Sharnhorst during the dash

If I ever had two German Shepherds I would name them Scharnhorst and Gniesenau. 😂

She would have been a better balanced ship with 15 inch guns

I personally say battlecruiser, but her 15" refit wouldve turned her into a battleship

I thought the Gneisenau was sunk in Maximillum Von Spee's last stand in the falklands Sharnchorst and Gneisenau vs Incomparable and Informidable?? Idk the British ships with the "In" starts are hard to memorize but Gneisenau and Scharnhorst was sunk in the battle at Falklands...

Not related to the video but I do need an answer to this: Is "Pocket Battleship" a classification or is it just a nickname given to the Deutschland class cruisers?

I believe America considered them pocket battleships,that is to say a "light battleship" in tonnage and firepower compared say to Bismark or New Jersey.

Why would the ship have ammo on board while in Dry Dock?

they did not have either the armor protection or the guns to be called a battleship, so my thoughts are always towards battlecruiser ..its what they were designed as .... battlecruisers' description has been, more firepower than a cruisers and faster than most cruisers so they can hunt them down and kill cruisers ... never meant for taking on a battleship toe to toe ....not enough armor

Nice video....submarines were, I think, the way to go for Germany, given the geography of the North coast Baltic Sea and the subsequent air dominance of Britain. Too, if the naval enigma intelligance experience could have been more favorable and more done in the way of R. and D. in the way of the submarine warfare, things might have been different. I'm a firm believer that invasion of England in 1940 was distinctly possible, particularly if Hitler would have let his generals have their head in the battle of France, i.e. Dunkirk, his close air support and submarine advantage could have secured the channel long enough for the army to cross. Keeping the alliance with Russia in stasis until England was subsumed, and things could have been different. Germany winning in the 40's might have been terrible for the world then, but by now, as the pendulum swings, we might have a nicer world....who knows? Regardless I like your productions, and the non-bionic formate.

The reality is only Tirpitz/Bismarck where a real threat to the British Royal Navy, the other big German ships were a threat to commerce but could and would be hunted down and destroyed. Tirpitz and Bismarck were more problematical, well built, with big powerful guns, there destruction could not be guaranteed, both together would have been a formidable adversary.

IT still amazes me how many time gneisenau and scharnhorts have been bombed , shot , torpedoed and ran in to mines . over the course of their life spans . and still got by for the most part of the war.

They were good looking ships. Better armoured than the Bismark class.

Please teach this breathing preparation... ( I learned it, by happenstance and experimentation, during my last two PFTs, in 1977, while serving in the USMC. It wasn't taught, anywhere.) Even, to begin a day; and, especially, to prep for anything strenuous (as before a test, a speech, exercising, a game, chaos, battle, etc.). Like while dressing for a game... ... First, breath out, completely... ... Then, take a deep deep breath, and hold it as long as you can; while, even, taking in more air, before finally letting it go... ...Then, let your body calm, until you breath normal, again. Do a deep breath, at least 6 times in a row, before a jog, or a race, for instance; or, occasionally, while getting ready for work; and, occasionally, throughout your day. Just, get used to it. Make it's part of your normal day; especially, if you're physically or mentally active... Or, like me... Aging. Such, stretches your chest, and lungs, wide open, so you take in far more air than usual, thereafter, with each following breath. It makes one feel like, when coming out again after a halftime... Ready! I had always struggled with my breathing, during the quarterly Physical Fitness Test, 3 mile runs. I always finished, about middle of the pack, (Run = 18:00 minutes being a perfect score). However, the evening before my second to last PFT, by chance, I had been swimming, and practicing my water treading, to help battle my fear of water, in light of my particular occupation, as a hit-the-beach Marine. Naturally, I noticed a marked difference, in my breathing, during my run, the next morning. First, my lungs weren't burning, or fighting to catch a second breath, as per usual, at the beginning. It made the entire run easier; and - dare I say - more comfortable. And, it really improved my time. Anyway, for my last PFT, I remember, I did - exactly - 5 deep, held breaths, at the line, before beginning the PFT run/race, that next morning. (I probably swam some, the evening before, too.). I even started the run, at a walk, with all other runners taking off in the usual racers sprint, fighting for the lead. I was the last guy off the starting line. I crossed the finish line, with about 100 yards between me and the second man behind me. While, easily passing all the sprinters, at the beginning... one by one... ... And, not having to struggle for breath, like they - all - were. And, at the end, I was able to really turn it on, for about the last 50+ yards. I earned myself a 4 day Pass from it. Thusly, any team leader should teach this; and, to then, shout "breathe", occasionally, to do exactly this; especially, at crucial points before, and in a game, etc. Again, please pass it on. I teach it to anyone who will listen. In fact, it should be empirically tested; and, taught in schools... In sports... In war...!.. (Imagine, running through a jungle, with your wounded buddy hanging over your shoulders.). As I said, it isn't, or wasn't taught, as late as recently. However, I suspect, news of this practice is spreading. I also tell folks in sports, that they must teach it to their competitors, along the way, (after winning their dreams)! I also learned, it helps for calming you, before a speech, presentation, and the like. (I think the calming comes from a slight build up of CO2, in the body. While, it doesn't take long to clear it out, with deeper breathing, thereafter. I suspect, also, it will definitely help those of us, who forget to breath, while entering high stress situations.). Oh, too, it seems to help with falling asleep, if it's done several times, at bedtime. Please test it out, and give me some feedback. Thanks. John Semper Fidelis...!...

How ironic that the Japanese had the biggest fleet of the Axis, yet it was the German ships how became more deadly and Historical.

You lose the air dominance, you lose, the every other aspect of the battle and war. The minute the skies cleared for the Battle of the Bulge, the great German tanks were done.

I put the Scharnhorsts in the same league as the Alaska class. Far larger and heavier armored than any cruiser, yet too lightly armed to be a line-of battle battleship. Perhaps light battleship is a good term to use.

I'd call them targets.

As with all Nazi surface ships (the fabulous S boats excepted) they were poor designs and usually undergunned. One could hardly call a ship with little 11" guns a "battleship" in the truest sense. All US Navy fast battleships had 16" guns standard and even the Alaska class cruisers outgunned Scharnhorst/Gneisenau with their 9 12" guns.

✌

I am a furious corrector😊

Schlachtschiff Scharnhorst

By Labor Day, we can use a neutral objective logistics liaison Matrix non-profit NGO, for comprehensive contingencies-management capabilities, to mechanize and empower direct democracy, in a republic.

I can't believe the amount of heat that creators have to put up with for not having the correct pronounciation. I take it that the people who make those comments speak every single language on earth flawlessly... right?.... jc get a life!

If German Admiralty had included the Tirpitz the Gneisnau and the Sharnhorst with the Bismarck and Eugene the entire episode would have been devastating to Britts. Being overcautious was really what sank the Bismarck

Son. What if I told you, there's a system, you young folks should develop, and use, to mechanize and empower pure direct demos-kratia within a republic, like ours. I ain't joking. I'm betting, you could have us well on our way, within hours! With respect! Semper Fidelis... Standing by...

One bomb and she blows up, bad armor design I suppose. Weak.

Two remarks. The Germans referred to their battleships as females (DIE Scharnhorst, DIE Gneisenau). Referred to as a male was however the Bismarck (at a personal wish or request of Capt. Lindemann GN). Second remark regards final resting place of the Gneisenau - it was NOT Gdańsk (Danzig), but Gdynia (Gotenhafen). The Germans intended to put out of use the main entrance to the said Polish port by placing in it what was left from once proud Gneisenau in sunken condition. The Poles however raised and scrapped the wreck of her, using parts of her outfit to advantage. E.g. the HORN of the 'steel Marshall' changed its place of service from the German warship into famous Polish dail training ship DAR POMORZA. As well of use to us Poles had been for some time one of the motor launches of the Gneisenau. ♍🇵🇱👍🇬🇧😊

Traducteur : en français : catastrophique !!! 👎

Just shows like Seydlitz German warships also exploded due to powdered and ammunition storage issues.

Fo’c’sle? No. Fo’c’s u. Haha

All in all - the German Surface Fleet was a failure. All the world's surface fleets were dominated by Air Power in WWII. So, while the Germans did have some success with their Capital Ships doing commerce raiding - Commerce Raiding is a poor use of Capital Ships. Submarines do a much more effective job. It can be argued that it could have done more than it did but given that the Germans simply didn't have a port that was not vulnerable to British Bombers - it just wasn't viable after a certain point. Since it had built one - their Surface Fleet could serve as a Fleet In Being - requiring he British to spend their resources on containing it - but that's about all it was good for. So - putting any more time/effort/money into it was by then a waste of time. Now - IF - they had worked up their Navy and sent it to sea as a single fleet - with the aircraft carrier to protect it from enemy aircraft - THEN - they might have done something with it. However, by the time the _Gneisenau_ was being repaired - no - by then it was a waste of resources. .

And what about the time when both of them found a convoy that had a Nelson class as escort... lmfao... german simping detected

We here are NOT pro noun NAZI's. We will not be offended by word usage. Free Speech is a wonderful thing. Have a good day.

England. The death of a wonderful piece of machinery in 12 minutes. I think not.

Battlecruiser. Not battleship

The Germans considered them battleships because of the near battleship price they cost and would have been shot if they referred to them as less than battleships. But as far as their role they were definitely battlecruisers and easily the best battlecruisers of ww2. Lutzow was also a battlecruiser just less armored as sharnhorst class and 3 less 11" guns.