There were two ships of the same type, the Gneisenau and the Scharnhorst, which, like the pocket battleships, posed some problems of classification, some considering them as battlecruisers, the others as battleships. Their protection was that of the classic battleships, but their high speed (32 knots) corresponded better to the definition of the battle cruiser, while their main artillery (9 pieces of 280 mm, as on the Graf Spee) was less powerful than that of the battleships of the time. The secondary artillery consisted of the same 150 mm guns that fitted the pocket battleships, but the fourteen-piece 110 mm anti-aircraft artillery was much more powerful. With regard to the light D.C.A., the Germans had had the good sense, from the beginning, to adopt the Bofors (but with a caliber of 37 mm, instead of 40 mm) and the heavy machine gun of 20 mm, well before let the Allies do the same.
To achieve the high speeds planned, the steam turbine was used instead of the diesels of the previous Graf Spee-type buildings. Their greatest defect was a small radius of action, which did not however prevent them from carrying out successful raids on the routes of the Allied convoys. They always suffered from the poor design of the blockhouses as well as the unreliability of the high-pressure heating circuits. Nevertheless, their high speed posed a heavy threat to the Allied Marines, and if their armament did not allow them to attack a battleship, they remained formidable opponents.
The Scharnhorst resembled pocket battleships , with a straight bow and a cowlless funnel, her silhouette was rather sinister and ugly. However, she was soon to be modified, as well as that of the surviving pocket battleships, to be closer to that of the Gneisenau, which had received a gibber stem and a funnel cowl during construction.
While neither the pocket battleships nor even the Sharnhorst and Gneisenau could claim equality with foreign battleships, the Germans made a serious effort by building the Bismarck and her brother, the Tirpitz, in order to possess ships of the line that did not yield nothing to anyone.
GNEISENAU
Normal movement , 31,800t; at full load,
38,900 t
Length 235 m overall
Width 30.48 m at main beam
Average draft , 8.23 m
Propulsion 3 lines of turbine shafts, 160,000 hp,
Vitesse 32 knots
Protection
breastplate belt , 127-330 mm;
bridges , 50-108 mm;
turrets , 248-370 mm
Artillery 9 pieces of 280 mm, 12 of 150 mm, 14 of 110 mm, 16 of 37 mm AA
L.T tubes . 6 × 533 mm torpedo tubes
Aviation 4 aircraft, 2 catapults
Launched December 8, 1936 at the Deutsche Werke shipyards in Kiel