SMS Gneisenau - Construction

Construction

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 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 they were found to be too weak for service with the battle fleet; instead they were deployed overseas, a role in which they performed well.

Gneisenau was 144.6 meters (474 ft) long overall, and had a beam of 21.6 m (71 ft), a draft of 8.4 m (27 ft 7 in). The ship displaced 11,616 metric tons (11,433 long tons; 12,804 short tons) standard, and 12,985 t (12,780 long tons; 14,314 short tons) at full load. Gneisenau's crew consisted of 38 officers and 726 enlisted men. The ship was powered by coal-fired triple expansion engines that provided a top speed of 23.6 knots (43.7 km/h; 27.2 mph)

Gneisenau's primary armament consisted of eight 21 cm (8.2 inch) SK L/40 guns, four in twin gun turrets, one fore and one aft of the main superstructure, and the remaining four were mounted in single wing turrets. Secondary armament included six 15 cm (5.9 inch) SK L/40 guns in MPL casemates, and eighteen 8.8 cm (3.45 inch) guns mounted in casemates. She was also equipped with four 44 cm (17 in) submerged torpedo tubes. One was mounted in the bow, one on each broadside, and the fourth was placed in the stern.