The Imperial Navy - SMS Gneisenau - Photo Collection

SMS Gneisenau was a large cruiser of the Imperial Navy and belonged to the so-called Scharnhorst class.

The ship was built at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen and was launched on 14.06.1906. The construction costs amounted to 19,243,000 marks.

The ship had a length of 144.6 m and a beam of 21.6 m with a draught of 8.37 m.

The crew comprised approx. 764 to 840 men.

The armament of SMS Gneisenau consisted of:

8 quick-firing 21 cm guns (700 rounds)

8 quick-firing 15 cm guns (1,020 rounds)

18 quick-firing 8.8 cm guns (2,700 rounds)

4 torpedo tubes with a diameter of 45 cm (11 torpedoes)

According to www.militaer-wissen.de the ship had the following commanders:

SMS Gneisenau, like her sister ship (SMS Scharnhorst), belonged to the German cruiser squadron that was stationed in Tsingtau.

At the outbreak of the First World War the aforementioned cruiser squadron was not in Tsingtau. Because of Japan's entry into the war a return to that port was no longer possible.

The commander of the cruiser squadron in East Asia (Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee) assembled the ships under his command at the German Marianas (island group in the western Pacific/Oceania).

Initially the light cruiser Emden was sent off for an independent cruiser campaign in the Indian Ocean.

Now the cruiser squadron intended to try to reach the homeland. On the way there the enemy was to be damaged as much as possible.

On November 1, 1914 the Battle of Coronel already took place.

In this engagement the German cruiser squadron sank two British cruisers.

This event is described in the Marine Encyclopedia (Jürgen Gebauer/ Egon Krenz, 1998, p. 54) as follows: "The German cruiser squadron under the command of Maximilian Count von Spee encountered on that day off the Chilean coast a British force under Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock. The German squadron, consisting of the cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau as well as the light cruisers Leipzig and Dresden, was superior to the British, especially since the obsolete British battleship Canopus, as the main firepower of Cradock's force, did not arrive on the scene in time. Spee succeeded, by a decisively conducted and tactically skilful blow — with the full exploitation of superior firepower (centralized fire control) bringing about the decision — in destroying the British force without notable own losses and damage. While the British armored cruisers Good Hope and Monmouth were sunk, the modern light cruiser Glasgow and the auxiliary cruiser Otranto managed to escape to the south and reach the Falkland Islands. 1,400 British seamen, among them Admiral Cradock, lost their lives."

The stricken Monmouth was located and sunk around 9 p.m. by SMS Nürnberg. None of the crew were rescued. The commander of Glasgow reported in retrospect: "Throughout the whole engagement off Coronel perfect discipline and coolness prevailed under the distressing circumstance of having to endure considerable fire without being able to reply effectively. The men behaved just as if they had combat experience. There were no signs of indiscriminate firing; when the target became invisible, the gunlayers ceased fire of their own accord. The fighting spirit of the officers and crews remained entirely unaffected by the severe setback that had befallen them ... (quoted after Warner, Great Sea Battles, p. 259)."

"The victory of the German cruiser squadron in the engagement at C. had only tactical significance, since the precarious overall situation of the cruiser squadron, cut off from supplies, had not changed. Besides coal there was a shortage of ammunition for the main calibers (21.0-cm guns) of the large cruisers. In the engagement more than half had been expended. Spee decided to push with all ships into the Atlantic Ocean and, in coordination with the Admiralty staff, to attempt a breakthrough to Germany ...." (Marine Encyclopedia, p. 54).

In Valparaíso (03.11.1914) the German cruiser squadron replenished its supplies, continued southwards and set course for the Falkland Islands. Count Spee had received the following dispatch: "Meeting lines (with German coal steamers) in the Atlantic Ocean all compromised due to heavy guarding of all sea lanes. Cruiser warfare in the Atlantic Ocean now only possible in groups. Karlsruhe and Kronprinz Wilhelm have been ordered to join. There is the intention to gather all forces and to have them break through to the homeland in groups" (quoted after: Geoffrey Bennett, The Sea Battles of Coronel and the Falklands ..., p. 137). On the Falkland Islands the radio stations were to be destroyed. Meanwhile, however, the British Admiralty had reacted and dispatched two battlecruisers (Invincible and Inflexible) under Admiral Sturdee to the relevant sea area in the South Atlantic. They arrived there on 07.12.1914.

When the German cruiser squadron reached the Falkland Islands, it encountered the British ships. Fire was opened by Canopus, which lay at anchor as a guard ship in the inner harbor of Port Stanley. It was an obsolete warship, but with enormous firepower. It was armed with 30.5 cm and twelve 15.2 cm guns. Canopus had not taken part in the naval battle at Coronel because, due to its low speed, it had been left behind by the coal steamers. This gave the British battlecruisers time to get ready. They had been anchored to take on coal. They pursued the German ships, which tried to escape to the east, and after fierce and hours-long fighting sank SMS Scharnhorst (at 4:17 p.m.) and SMS Gneisenau (at 6:02 p.m.). The latter scuttled herself after expending all ammunition.

A survivor of SMS Gneisenau later described the sinking of the ship as follows: "The commander had given three cheers for His Majesty, whereupon the ship was abandoned by the crew. I slid down the outside wall on the port side from the bridge, but came into the water on the starboard side because the ship suddenly capsized. When I came to the surface I saw the bow appear upside down about 25 m from me. On the torpedo discharge tube there were four men who were waving and singing. With them the ship soon disappeared forever into the depths. Near me there were people hanging to floating objects who sang the flag song and other patriotic songs. A man gave three cheers for the sunken Gneisenau, which were repeatedly taken up by the drifting seamen. In my estimation there were about 270 to 300 people in the water. The number of floating corpses increased during the good, albeit cold hour that we swam in water of 4⁰ C. I clung with 12 other people to a hammock and a round wooden beam 30 cm in diameter and 4 m long. We were all taken aboard a boat from Inflexible." (quoted after Geoffrey Bennett, The Sea Battles of Coronel and the Falklands ..., p. 181).

The German light cruisers had been ordered to break off; however, only SMS Dresden was actually able to escape. SMS Nürnberg (at 7:27 p.m.) and SMS Leipzig (at 8:35 p.m.) were sunk. In total over 2,000 German seamen perished. SMS Dresden, however, survived the naval battle only by a few months. She was finally sunk on 14.03.1915 at the Chilean island Más a Tierra.

Oliver Warner, Great Sea Battles, 1963, pp. 252 ff.