An item reported that according to an official source the German battlecruiser Gneisenau (1) and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen (2) were fueled and provisioned and ready to leave Brest, France. Around 25 January would the battlecruiser Scharnhorst (3) also berthed at Brest be ready. During their stay at Brest for repairs were the ships continuous attacked by British aircraft. German camouflage and decoys prevented an accurate estimate of their readiness and damage caused by bombing.
Notes
1. Scharnhorst-class preceded by planned L20e α-class and realized Bayern-class preceded by Bismarck-class, laid down by Deutsche Werke, Kiel, Germany on 6 May 1935, launched on 8 December 1936, commissioned on 21 May 1938, decommissioned on 1 July 1942, scuttled as block ship on 23 March 1945 and broken up in 1951.
2. Of the Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruisers, preceded by Deutschland-class. Laid down by Germaniawerft, Kiel on 23 April 1936, launched on 22 August 1938, commissioned on 1 August 1940, decommissioned on 7 May 1945, surrendered on 8 May 1945, handed over to the USA and sunk on 22 December 1946 during nuclear tests.
3. Scharnhorst-class preceded by planned L20e a-class and realized Bayern-class succeeded by Bismarch-class, laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhemshaven, Germany on 15 June 1935, launched on 3 October 1936, commissioned on 7 January 1939 and sunk while in battle off the North Cape on 26 December 1943 by the British battleship HMS Duke of York with just 36 survivors of a crew of 1,968 men. Her sister ship was the Gneisenau. The Scharnhorst was to replace the old dreadnought Elsass and so she became first know in official documents and newspaper as the Ersatz Elsass and in the contracts as “D”.
Source
Map Room Papers (Roosevelt Administration), 1942 - 1945. U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee. Daily summary dated 14 January 1942 No. 35.
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