1:700 German Gneisenau Battleship Kit
(31802)
ITEM# 77520

DESCRIPTION
The Gneisenau went into commission on 21st May, 1938. Ranking
with the Scharnhorst, she was the biggest and most powerful
battleship in the German Fleet of those days. Her displacement
had been announced to be 26,000 tons, but in fact her standard
displacement was 31,800 tons. The main armament consisted of nine
28 cm guns, which were smaller in calibre than those of the same
class ships possessed by other countries. The other armament,
however, was powerful enough and consisted of twelve 15 cm guns,
fourteen 10 cm AA guns, sixteen 37 mm AA machine guns, ten 20 mm
AA machine guns and six 53 cm torpedo tubes. She was protected
with strong armour and, in spite of her large displacement, had a
speed of 32 knots. All of these factors combined to make the
Gneisenau one of the first-rank high-speed battlecruisers in the
world.