Editing Channel Dash (section)

===Subsequent operations===

{{see also|St Nazaire Raid}}

{{Location map+ |Germany |width=150 |float=right |caption={{centre|[[German Bight]] and Baltic coast (1990 German borders)}}|places=
{{Location map~ |Germany |lat=53.516667 |long=8.133333 |label=[[Wilhelmshaven]] |label_size=80 |position=bottom |marksize=6}}
{{Location map~ |Germany |lat=53.922222 |long=8.722222 |label=[[Elbe]] |label_size=80 |position=left |marksize=6}}
{{Location map~ |Germany |lat=53.896389 |long=9.138611 |label=[[Brunsbüttel]] |label_size=80 |position=right |marksize=6}}
{{Location map~ |Germany |lat=54.333333 |long=10.133333 |label=[[Kiel]] |label_size=80 |position=right |marksize=6}}
}}
''Gneisenau'' entered a [[Dry dock#Floating|floating dry dock]] at Kiel and was hit twice by RAF bombers, on the night of {{nowrap|26/27 February.}}{{sfn|Roskill|2004|p=161}} One bomb hit the battleship on her forecastle and penetrated the armoured deck.{{sfn|Williamson|2003|p=18}} The explosion ignited a fire in the foremost magazine, which detonated, throwing the forward turret off its mount.{{sfn|Breyer|1990|p=34}} The damage prompted the German Naval Staff to rebuild ''Gneisenau'' to mount the six {{cvt|38|cm|in}} guns originally planned, rather than repair the ship and the damaged bow section was removed to attach a longer one.{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|1985|pp=150–151}} By early 1943, the ship had been sufficiently repaired to begin the conversion but after the failure of German surface forces at the [[Battle of the Barents Sea]] in December 1942, Hitler ordered the work to stop.{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|1985|p=153}} On 23 February, ''Prinz Eugen'' was torpedoed by a British submarine off Norway and put out of action until October; then spent the rest of the war in the Baltic. On 28 March, the British raided St Nazaire in [[Operation Chariot]] and destroyed the ''Normandie'' dock, the only one in France capable of accommodating the largest German warships. ''Scharnhorst'' participated in [[Operation Zitronella]] against [[Spitzbergen]] on 8 September 1943 and was sunk at the Battle of the North Cape on 26 December.{{sfn|Roskill|1960|pp=80–89}}