German Battleship Gneisenau.
Scharnhorst Class WWII battleship of the German Kriegsmarine.

SCHARNHORST's sister ship GNEISENAU was laid down on May 3 1935, launched on December 8 1936 and commissioned on May 21 1938, some seven months before SCHARNHORST. Both ships were capable of carrying 38cm/15" guns but were fitted with 28cm/11" guns as the larger calibre guns were not ready.

The sisters claimed three Royal Navy vessels, the carrier GLORIOUS and destroyer escorts ACASTA and ARDENT, in June 1940,

GNEISENAU was torpedoed while in Brest harbour in April 1941, damaged by shrapnel from raids on Brest in December 1941, and hit twice by heavy bombs in night attacks on Kiel in February 1942. The cumulative effect would require more than a year to repair. Plans to fit 38cm/15" guns were abandoned in early 1943. Instead GNEISENAU's 28cm/11" guns were re-sited at coastal batteries in occupied Norway and the Netherlands.

GNEISENAU was scuttled in 1945 at Gotenhafen (Gydnia) docks in Poland to obstruct the harbour entrance as the Red Army advanced. The remains of the wreck were re-floated in September 1951 and demolished. [NF]

• 24 sprues, hull, superstructure and decks
• Photo-etch handrails, ladders, radar parts etc
• Includes 2 Ar 196 seaplanes
• L: 1175mm W: 150mm
• 1:200 scale plastic model kit from Trumpeter, requires paint and glue