history
This German coastal gun battery on the island of Fanø used four main guns, installed late 1944. It was manned by the 2./518 MAA (Marine-Artillerie-Abteilung – Marine- Artillery Battalion). The late war coastal battery is named after the German battleship Genisenau which was named after Admiral Maximilian von Spee’s World War I cruiser Gneisenau, which in turn was named after Prussian General August Neidhardt von Gneisenau. It’s Danish name is Grådyb Batteryi (Eng. Battery Gray Depth).
M.K.B. 2./518 Marine Küstenbatterie Gneisenau
The Stützpunkt (Eng. Strongpoint) had two main gun bunkers, Regelbau M 184. The “M” means it is a special marine (German Kriegsmarine) designed bunker. These were large bunkers, 22,45 long x 18,70 wide meters and 8,08 meter high, they used 1780 cubic meters of concrete. It had a large circular opening on top to house the large guns. Next to the two M 184 bunkers was a unique Regelbau M 150 leitstand. This multi-layered fire control bunker had a 6 m-Raumbild-Entfernungsmesser – a 6 meter wide stereoscopic rangefinder. There were two M 145 ammunitions storage bunkers for 12,7 to 17 cm shells (Munitionsauffüllraum für 12,7 – 17cm Munition), one Regelbau R 621 personnel bunker for 10 soldiers and six R 656 personnel bunkers for 15 soldiers.
The 15 cm SK C/28 in Drh LC/34 coastal guns
Both guns placed on the M 184 gun bunkers are 15 cm SK C/28 in Drh LC/34. Originally Schlachtschiff guns (Eng. Battleship guns) used in the Deutschland class, the Scharnhorst class (Gneisenau) and as secondary armament for the Bismarck class ships.
The turret with its two guns could turn 360 degrees. The 15 cm gun had an elevation of +40 to -10 degrees, the length of the barrel was 8,20 meters. It fired a shell of 45,5 kilograms at max 23000 kilometers. A crew could fire 6 to 8 shells a minute. After 900 shots the barrel had to be renewed.
Depending on the armor thickness the complete mount weighed between 114 to 120 tons. In total 111 SK C/28 guns were employed in the coast from Norway to southern French in different set ups, on Fanø both guns came from the battleship Gneisenau.
Visit
The bunkers lies in the dunes, you can walk up to them but they are not accessible by wheelchairs. A guided tour can be booked. Just to the north is 10,5cm Sperrbatterie Gneisenau or Grådyb. This was the direct air defense of the coastal battery Gneisenau. The Feldmäßige und verstärk-feldmäßige gun and infantry positions were open concrete slabs and brick structures. There are no bunkers to be found here, only open gun positions. To the south lies Coastal Batterie H.K.B. Vesterhavsbad with a few F-Stand bunkers between both coastal batteries.
You have to park the car near the village and walk or take a bike to get near.
