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Gefr. Otto Ordung sailor on Battleship Gneisenau, 21 yr old, KIA in a British Air Attack on 26 Feb 1942, RARE and Fine

On the night of 26 February, the British launched an air attack on the ship; one bomb penetrated her armored deck and exploded in the forward ammunition magazine, causing serious damage and many casualties. The repairs necessitated by the damage were so time-consuming that it was determined to rebuild the ship to replace the nine 28 cm guns with six 38 cm guns in double turrets. The 28 cm guns were removed and used as shore batteries. In 1943, Hitler ordered the cessation of conversion work, and on 27 March 1945, she was sunk as a blockship in Gotenhafen (Gdynia) in German-occupied Poland. She was eventually broken up for scrap in 1951.