SS Gneisenau (1935)

SS Gneisenau

History
Nazi Germany
Namesake	August Neidhardt von Gneisenau
Owner	Norddeutscher Lloyd
Builder	Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG
Launched	1935
Fate	Sunk 2 May 1943
Notes	Refloated 12 July 1950 and scrapped
General characteristics
Type	Ocean liner
Tonnage	18,160 GRT
Length	198.9m
Beam	22.5m
Draught	12.5m
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)

SS Gneisenau was a 18,160 GRT Norddeutscher Lloyd ocean liner that was launched and completed in 1935. Like several other German ships of the same name, she was named after the Prussian Generalfeldmarschall and military reformer August Neidhardt von Gneisenau (1760–1831).

Gneisenau was the second of three sister ships built for NDL, with the sisters being the Potsdam (later Empire Fowey) and the Scharnhorst. DeSchiMAG in Bremen built Gneisenau.^{[citation needed]}

Gneisenau was launched in Bremen on 17 May 1935.^[1]

Gneisenau's maiden voyage began on Friday 3 January 1936.^[2]

Until the outbreak of World War II, she worked NDL's express service between Bremen and the Far East. At 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)^[3] she was among the fastest ships on the route.^[4]

On 2 May 1943, Gneisenau was mined in the Baltic Sea, capsized, and sank. The wreck was raised on 12 July 1950 and scrapped in Denmark.^[5]

References[]

Sources and further reading[]

• Harnack, Edwin P (1938) [1903]. All About Ships & Shipping (7th ed.). London: Faber and Faber. p. 549.
• Rothe, Claus (1987). Deutsche Ozean-Passagierschiffe 1919 bis 1985. Berlin: VEB Verlag für Verkehrswesen. ISBN 3-344-00164-7.^{[page needed]}
• Talbot-Booth, E.C. (1942) [1936]. Ships and the Sea (7th ed.). London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. pp. 405, 518.

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