WW2 German Death Card Sterbebild Kriegsmarine served Battleship'Gneisenau' 1942

ORIGINAL WW2 GERMAN DEATH CARD/STERBEBILD. MAIN TEXT DETAILS: Josef Hirsch - Machinist/Private in the kriegsmarine. Killed on 26th Feb 1942 at the age of 21 and 2 months. German War Graves Info: Born; 12th Dec 1920 in Pittenhart, Germany.

Place of Death; Kiel, German Port. Buried in the military cemetery in Kiel, Nordfriedhof.

Damaged by a magnetic mine on its previous outing the Gneisenau made it to the Kiel docks for repairs. Was completed by 26 February 1942, and she was scheduled to deploy to Norway on 6 March. Despite the fact that she was still in dry dock, her ammunition stores had been restocked and she was prepared for a short round of trials before her departure. That penetrated the armoured deck and exploded.

Red-hot bomb fragments ignited propellant charges in the forward turret and caused a tremendous explosion. The turret was thrown off its mount and the entire bow section was burned out. The crew partially flooded the magazine to prevent a more catastrophic explosion.

The blast killed 112 men and wounded 21 others. CARD SIZE: 107mm x 134mm (unfolded).

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. P+P is for Tracked/Registered as the postal price stated.

Questions or Enquiry's are always welcome. Thank you for your interest.. This item is in the category "Collectables\Militaria\World War II (1939-1945)\Other World War II Militaria". The seller is "dcl315" and is located in this country: GB. This item can be shipped worldwide.

Country/Region of Manufacture: Germany
Country/ Organization: Germany
Issued/ Not-Issued: Issued
Theme: Militaria
Type: Prayer Card
Conflict: World War II (1939-1945)
Service: Navy
Era: 1914-1945