Gneisenau pictures- need help

[nicoo]

Hello fellows! Some time ago I bought 4 Gneisenau pictures. In the pictures below there are two ships I couldn't identify, can anybody identify them?





Thanks in advance!

[hucks216]

The ship in the first photo may be of one of the Admiral Hipper class (twin turrets, single funnel) but I am not 100% on that (Adm Hipper, Prinz Eugen, Blucher, Seydlitz, or Lutzow - although it won't be latter two as they were never completed, and one was sold to the USSR). These ships had a funnel cap fitted which I can not see in the photo but that may be due to the quality of the picture, and they had an aicraft position just in front of the after mast which I can see and the modified 'Atlantic' raked bow, soooo if I was a betting man my money would be on one of the Adm Hipper class.

The ship in the second picture is a light cruiser of the K class, either Konigsburg, Koln or Karlsruhe.

[nicoo]

Thank you Hucks! is there any way to differenciate one K class ship from another?

[hucks216]

Thank you Hucks! is there any way to differenciate one K class ship from another?

There is but not without a much more detailed photo of the K Class.
It does appear that the photo with the K Class cruiser was taken during or before 1940 however as on the 9th & 10th April 1940 both the Karlsruhe & Konigsberg were sunk, and the remaining ship Koln had her after set of torpedo tubes (visible along the deck just behind of the after funnel) removed in late 1940/early 1941 when she was allocated the role of a training ship (she was eventually sunk on 30th April 1945).
Gneisenau wasn't commisioned into service until May 1938 so the time frame for the photo is approx just 2 years.

[Torpedomaat]

Hello,
The first photo is not the Hipper class cruiser but the Scharnhorst.
Please look at the catapult on "C" turret, the shape of aftermast and the distance between the bridge and the funnel.

[hucks216]

Hello,
The first photo is not the Hipper class cruiser but the Scharnhorst.
Please look at the catapult on "D" turret, the shape of mainmast and the distance between the bridge and the funnel.

I was wondering what that 'smudge' was but wasn't sure, but I would concur with your assessment.

[nicoo]

you are right! I didn't know that Scharnhorst had an atlantic stem, yesterday I rechecked and indeed it was fitted during july-august 1939.

[nicoo]

here are the other two pictures I have. does anybody know where the ship is docked in the first picture?

[Jinx]

G'day to all

Congratulations with your purchase of these very nice photos! I'll try to assist you with a date and ID on them.

* The first photo of the thread is for sure the Scharnhorst. The relocated main mast suggest the photo was captured after August 1939 and the Caesar-turret catapults likewise indicate before March 1940 (Post-Nordmark) My best estimation would be "...Scharnhorst as seen during the Northern Patrol, 21-29 November 1939" hereunder presumably one of the first days of the sortie.

* The second photo surely displays the forecastle of the Gneisenau, evidenced by the abscence of a circular stowage bin at the st.bd. base of Anton-turret. (Scharnhorst was the only vessel of the class to have these) The bow anchors are placed in deck cluses which dates the photo after May 1939. Additionally, the top of turret Bruno has no air ID paint which further dates the picture after the Atlantic Cruise. (12 June - 26 July 1939) My best estimation of the second photo would be: "...Gneisenau as seen in early October 1939"

This would in turn also indicate that the K-class cruiser seen must be the Köln which, accompanied by nine destroyers, escorted the Flagship Gneisenau in Admiral Hermann Böhm's only war sortie during his short career as C-in-C of the Fleet (a brief foray up to the West Coast of Norway, 7-9 October 1939)

* The third photo (and maybe also the fourth) is for sure: "...Gneisenau as seen during a visit in the port of Las Palmas, Canary Islands, 4th July 1939"

The other vessel moored ahead of her would be the oiler Westerwald (later Nordmark) of the Dithmarchen-class. You can actually see the fuel lines being stretched between the two vessels at this photo. Another thing to be seen is the row of open cars filled with crew members at the pier. (These were taken for a trip around the island) A third detail of interest is the air ID on top of turret Bruno. (I previously mentioned the lack of air-ID at the second photo, which in turn dated this after the Atlantic cruise) At the third photo of yours, you can easily see why I used that reference for the other photo.

Kind regards

[nicoo]

Wow! I'm astonished by your knoweledge!
Thank you very much for identifying and dating these pictures which are a very important part of my collection.
Kind regards