Bavaria class
 the Bayern
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The Bayern class was a four-unit class of large-line ships built during the First World War as the last of this type of ship for the Imperial Navy . She was an evolution of the king class , but the Imperial Navy was in the main armament of the Bayern class of caliber 30.5 cm to 38 cm above. Of the 180 m long and 32,200 t heavy ships named after German states, only the Bavarians and the Baden , intended as a fleet flagship , were completed and put into service in 1916. The construction of the Saxons and Württemberg , which was delayed due to a lack of labor and low priority, had to be stopped at the end of the war. The Bayern sank in Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919 , the Baden sank as a British target ship on August 16, 1921 and is now at the deepest point in the English Channel near Cherbourg .
history
draft
The development of the fifth class of large-line ships of the Imperial Navy began in 1910. At this point in time, the first experience could be gained with the Nassau- class ships that were just put into service . The new class should consist of four units. According to the planning laid down in the Fleet Act, three of these were to replace the old Wörth ( Brandenburg class ), Kaiser Friedrich III. and Kaiser Wilhelm II. ( Kaiser Friedrich -class ), the fourth ship designed as an extension.
The heavy artillery posed the greatest challenge in the planning. As early as 1907, the Reichsmarineamt had dealt with the possible use of triplet towers . Other navies were also making similar considerations at the time. Triple towers were used for the first time on the Italian capital ship Dante Alighieri , launched in 1910 , the plans of which were also drawn up from 1907. The Austro-Hungarian battleships of the Tegetthoff class also received four triple towers. In favor of this turret variant, the fact that the deck structure - the armored area between the foremost and the most aft turret - could be shorter, which saves armor and thus weight. It was also possible to accommodate all of the heavy artillery in front of and behind the superstructures in the midship line . With the same number of tubes, this resulted in more favorable stroking angles for all guns than was possible with the four previous German large-line ship classes. The middle tube of a triple tower was difficult to supply with ammunition due to the limited space, which increased the loading time and thus reduced the rate of fire of the tower. In addition, due to the larger diameter of a triple tower, significantly larger deck openings would have been necessary, which would have been detrimental to the strength of the hull. If a triple turret had failed, the ship would also have lost more combat value than a twin turret of the same caliber. From the German point of view, these disadvantages could not be outweighed by the advantages, which is why the Imperial Navy ultimately stuck to the twin towers.
The second serious aspect of the main armament was its caliber. While the Nassau class was still armed with 28 cm guns, the Helgoland class, which was still under construction, had switched to a 30.5 cm caliber. The British Royal Navy reacted to the German caliber increase by equipping the Orion class, which had begun in 1909, with 34.3 cm guns. The previously built British dreadnoughts were also 30.5 cm in caliber. The 34.3 cm projectiles, however, proved to be only slightly more powerful than the German 30.5 cm grenades. Therefore, the German Kaiser and König classes also received 30.5 cm guns. In the course of the development of the new large-line ship class, the weapons department under Rear Admiral Gerhard Gerdes again examined a possible increase in caliber in 1910 . This was due to the increasingly better armor protection of capital ships. Initially, a caliber of 33.7 cm, 34 cm and also 35.5 cm was considered. In August 1911, Alfred von Tirpitz commissioned the investigation of 35 cm, 38 cm and even 40 cm as the caliber of heavy artillery. On January 6, 1912, Kaiser Wilhelm II finally stipulated the armoring of the new class of ships with 38 cm guns. With this big leap in caliber, the German Reich took the lead in international developments for the first time. A short time later, the Royal Navy put similarly armed battleships under construction with the - much faster completed - Queen Elizabeth class .
construction
After the construction plans for the new class had been drawn up, the Imperial Navy awarded the construction contracts for the replacement Wörth (later Baden ) and the new T (later Bavaria ) building on April 1 and 3, 1913 . The other two ships followed in November 1913 and on August 12, 1914 after a slightly changed design, which was around 2 meters longer and 300 tons heavier and for the replacement Kaiser Friedrich III. (which later became Saxony ) provided for a mixed steam / diesel drive. All construction contracts went to private shipyards. The construction costs were 49 to 50 million marks per ship. On December 20, 1913, the F. Schichau shipyard in Gdańsk began building the Wörth replacement . The type ship of the class, however, was the new T , which began around a month later and was launched on February 18, 1915 as Bavaria , giving the class its name. The construction of the ships suffered from the outbreak of the First World War. While the delays in completing the Bayern were minor, they were already increasing in the case of Baden . The last two ships of the class were still launched, but their continued construction was only carried out sporadically and ultimately stopped. The reasons for this were varied. The drafts during the war resulted in an increasing labor shortage and the supply of materials was difficult. The repair of existing units and the construction of new submarines and smaller warships also had priority over the completion of the heavy ships.
Ships of the class
| Surname | Shipyard | Keel laying | Launch | Commissioning | Whereabouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMS Bayern | Howaldtswerke , Kiel | January 22, 1914 | February 18, 1915 | March 18, 1916 | Self-sunk on June 21, 1919, lifted in 1934 and then scrapped |
| SMS Baden | F. Schichau , Danzig | December 20, 1913 | October 30, 1915 | October 19, 1916 | Sunk as a target ship on August 16, 1921 |
| SMS Saxony | Germania shipyard , Kiel | April 7, 1914 | November 21, 1916 | not completed | Wrecked in 1921 |
| SMS Württemberg | AG Vulcan , Hamburg | January 4, 1915 | June 20, 1917 | not completed | Wrecked in 1921 |
The Baden in See, you can see the white rings on the towers, which serve as flight detection.
The unfinished Saxony in the construction port, the gun turrets are provided with protective roofs.
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commitment
The Bavaria- class ships were intended for use in the deep-sea fleet . The strategic planning of the Imperial Navy was based on a fight against enemy ships in the southern North Sea , i.e. relatively close to the German bases. During the First World War, however, there were only a few fights between German and British associations in the North Sea, in which neither of the two Bavaria- class ships that had come into service was involved. The Bavarians had not been able to take part in the Skagerrak Battle due to their extensive test voyage and served with other ships during the Albion operation as cover against possible attacks by heavy Russian units, especially those of the Gangut class . During this mission, she received a severe mine hit in the forecastle, which sank to the forward gun turret due to the penetrated water. The Baden was already intended as a fleet flagship when it was built and equipped with the necessary additional rooms for the fleet chief and his staff. In March 1917 she replaced the Frederick the Great as a naval flagship. The Baden served as such until the end of the war, without coming into contact with combat during the advances. On August 18, 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Grand Duke of Baden embarked on the Baden to inspect the fortifications of Heligoland in association with the Hindenburg , the Karlsruhe and several torpedo boats.
Whereabouts
The terms of the armistice provided for the delivery of the modern ships of the deep-sea fleet. The unfinished battle cruiser Mackensen appeared on the list of ships to be interned , but Baden was missing. The naval flagship had been overlooked. The mistake was noticed after a short time, and the Baden also ran to Scapa Flow in early January 1919. There, in June, both the Bavarians and the Baden , as well as the rest of the internment association, were prepared for self-immersion . This was done in secret so as not to let the incapacitated ships fall into the hands of the Royal Navy in the event of the failure of the peace negotiations . While the Bavaria was sinking successfully, British aid ships set the Baden aground and made it floatable again. The ship ultimately went down as a target ship during shooting attempts by the Royal Navy.
technology
The ships of the Bavaria class had a hull made of steel and provided with transverse and longitudinal ribs. This was divided into 17 watertight compartments by bulkheads . The ship's bottom was designed as a double bottom over 88% of the hull length . Bavaria and Baden had a design displacement of 28,530 t. In operational condition, both ships displaced 32,200 t. The total length of the hull was 180.0 m , with the waterline at the construction displacement being calculated at 179.4 m. At their widest point, the ships measured 30.0 m. The maximum draft was 9.39 m forward and 9.31 m aft. The Saxony and Württemberg , built according to modified plans , deviated only slightly from these dimensions.
| Comparison of the different dimensions of the original and the modified design | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| overall length | Waterline | Construction displacement | Maximum displacement | |
| Bavaria and Baden | 180.0 m | 179.4 m | 28,530 t | 32,200 t |
| Saxony and Württemberg | 182.4 m | 181.8 m | 28,800 t | 32,500 t |
The existing on the ships electrical equipment was charged with a voltage of 220 V operated. There were eight generators on board for the power supply . These were driven by diesel engines and had an output of 2400 kW . Since the ship remained unfinished, the generator motors built for the Saxons were ultimately used as drive motors on the SM U 151 , SM U 156 , SM U 157 and Bremen .
Propulsion system
Different drive concepts were planned for the ships of the Bayern class. While Bavaria , Baden and Württemberg were to receive a pure steam turbine drive , a combined steam / diesel drive was planned for the Saxons . However, the propulsion system was actually only installed on the two completed ships.
The Bavaria and Baden each received 14 water tube boiler of the type naval Schulz. Of these, eleven were coal-fired and three oil-fired. Each coal-fired boiler was heated by two furnaces, the oil-fired boilers with one burner each . The boilers had a total heating surface of 7660 m² and generated a steam pressure of 16 atmospheres . The number of coal-fired boilers was to be reduced to nine in Württemberg and to six in Saxony because of the combined steam / diesel drive, while the number of oil boilers remained the same. The boilers were housed in nine boiler rooms , three of which were next to each other.
The machine system consisted of three sets of steam turbines from different manufacturers. Brown Curtis steam turbines manufactured by Turbinia Co. in Berlin were installed on the Bayern . This design should also be used on the Sachsen , but here only two sets for the outer shafts. The Baden received Parsons turbines manufactured near Schichau . AEG Vulcan turbines were planned for the Württemberg and were also to be delivered directly by the shipyard. The turbine sets, distributed over six engine rooms, drove three three-bladed screws , each 3.87 m in diameter. According to the design calculations, the power of the propulsion system should be 35,000 hp for the first two ships , and 48,000 hp for the Württemberg and 54,000 hp for the Sachsen . In fact, the machines in the two completed units were able to generate around 56,000 hp. In spite of this increased performance, however, only the Bavarians reached the intended maximum speed of 22.0 kn , while the Baden could only run 21.0 kn. The fuel supply of 3400 t of coal and 620 t of oil carried on board enabled the ships to reach a range of 5000 nm at a speed of 12 kn. At maximum speed, a steam route of almost 2400 nm was possible. The fuel supply should be 3100 t coal and 900 t oil on the Württemberg , 2700 t coal and 1300 t oil on the Saxony .
The marine diesel engine planned for the Saxons was to be supplied by MAN and had an output of 12,000 hp. The diesel drive brought several advantages: the diesel engine could develop its maximum output within a few minutes, while the steam boiler took several hours to heat up. In addition, the lower fuel consumption increased the range of the ship. In addition, both space and personnel could be saved. Development work for this engine began in 1910 at the MAN plant in Nuremberg. A six-cylinder, double-acting two - stroke engine was planned , which was initially to be installed on the Prinzregent Luitpold for a long-term test. The development of this engine continued until 1917, with some interruptions due to accidents and the war. The prototype was ready for acceptance at the end of March 1917 . The installation on the Prinzregent Luitpold was only to take place after the end of the war due to the long renovation time required for this, but ultimately it was not built, as was the construction of the model for the Saxons .
Armament
The main armament of the Bayern class was made up of eight 38 cm guns . The Schnellladekanonen (Sk) had a barrel length of 17.1 m, which corresponded to 45 caliber lengths . With an increase of 16 °, the guns could shoot up to 20.4 km. The maximum possible tube elevation was later increased to 20 °, which increased the range of the heavy artillery to 23.2 km. The projectiles, of which a total of 720 pieces were carried on board, each weighed 750 kg and left the gun with a muzzle velocity of 800 m / s. The propellant charge required weighed 277 kg and was divided into a pre-cartridge and a main cartridge - the latter was made of brass and sealed the combustion chamber from the gun's wedge lock. At a distance of 20 km, the shells could penetrate up to 336 mm of armor steel. It took about 23 seconds to reload the guns, compared to the 36 seconds required by the contemporary British BL 15 inch Mk I naval gun .
Two of these cannons were combined in a twin tower. All four turrets were in the midship line. Two each were set up in front of and behind the superstructures. The inner towers B and C were arranged elevated and could shoot over the outer towers. The towers mounted on the turntable mount C / 13 had an electric slewing mechanism (slewing speed 3 degrees / second) and were ball bearings . Their total weight was around 865 t, with each gun barrel alone accounting for 155 t.
The middle artillery consisted of sixteen 15 cm L / 45 Sk. Eight of these guns, equipped with a C / 06 center pivot mount , were located in casemates on both sides of the ships. The gun barrels were 7.1 m long and 5020 kg. Their range was 19.6 km at a 30 ° elevation. The projectiles, weighing 46 kg, left the barrel at a muzzle velocity of 890 m / s. Each gun could fire up to seven rounds per minute. For the middle artillery there were a total of 2560 rounds of ammunition on board the ships.
The original plan also provided for the installation of eight 8.8 cm L / 45 anti-aircraft guns . However, only two to four of these guns were actually installed. This did not happen until 1917. The flak could fire up to ten projectiles weighing 9.5 kg per minute. With a pipe elevation of 45 ° and a muzzle velocity of 890 m / s, the range was 11.8 km.
The armament was completed by five torpedo tubes with a diameter of 60 cm. These were attached under water. One tube was mounted in the bow, two were in each side. The ships carried a supply of 20 H8 torpedoes. After the heavy mine hit by the Bavarians , the side torpedo tubes on both ships in service were removed and the forward torpedo broad space was divided.
For the fire control , the ships received basic devices with an 8 m base line for optical distance measurement . The base units were located in the front part of the turrets, their lenses protruding laterally from the sloping turret walls. The Baden also had a direction indicator that stabilized the lateral direction of the guns with a gyrocompass system . In addition, there were two elevation and side aiming sights in each turret .
Armor
The side armor of the Bayern class consisted of the heavy belt, the citadel and the lighter casemate armor . The belt armor was 350 mm thick in the area of the citadel, from the front to the rear turret, but tapered to 170 mm below the waterline. At the stern of the ships, the belt armor was 120 to 200 mm thick, towards the bow it decreased to 30 mm. Due to the relatively poor protection of the fore ship, it could easily be flooded if hit. Since there were only a few pumps on board, it was difficult to drain water that had entered. The Baden received a more powerful pump system, which can carry up to 5,400 tn.l. Could draw water in the hour.
The citadel armor placed on the belt armor measured 250 mm throughout. The casemates and the screens of the central artillery were protected with 170 mm. In addition, there was a 20 mm thick splinter bulkhead between the individual casemates and at the end facing the ship's interior in order to protect the adjacent rooms in the event of hits in a casemate.
The armored bulkheads located inside the citadel were 170 to 350 mm thick. The longitudinal torpedo bulkheads , which ran at a distance of around 4 m from the outer skin, were provided with armor of 50 mm. They ranged from around 1 m above the armored deck to the double floor of the ships. A 30 mm thick fragmentation bulkhead ran lengthways up to the battery deck. Horizontal protection was provided by three light armored decks. The upper deck was armored over the casemates with 30 to 40 mm, the battery deck in this area with 20 mm, outside with 30 mm. The actual armored deck inside the citadel was 30 mm thick, as were the embankments inclined at an angle of 21 ° that connected the armored deck with the lower part of the belt armor. In front of the citadel, the armored deck was 60 mm thick, aft of it 60 to 120 mm thick.
The gun turrets were given 350 mm armor on their front. The rear was secured with 290 mm, the sides with 250 mm. The tower ceilings had armor of 100 to 130 mm, which increased to 200 mm on the side slopes. The bottom of the towers was given 70 mm armor protection. The front command tower had vertical armor from 60 to 400 mm and horizontal armor from 50 to 170 mm. The shaft under the command tower leading into the interior of the ship was secured with 70 to 200 mm. The aft control center, located between the aft chimney and tower C, had 170 mm vertical armor. Its ceiling was armored with 80 mm, the floor with 50 mm. The shaft under the control room had armor plates 80 to 170 mm thick.
The armor material was manufactured by the Essen company Krupp . Its total weight was 11,610 t per ship, which was around 40% of the design displacement. When British officers inspected the Baden , they said they were positive about the armor and the underwater protection of the ship, which "must have been able to withstand very heavy gunfire and serious underwater attacks."
crew
The crew of the Bayern class comprised a total of 1171 men. Of these, 42 were officers and 1,129 were non-commissioned officers and men . For service as the flagship, there was also space on the Baden for a staff of 14 officers and 86 men. In a report about the Baden , which appeared in the magazine Schiffbau after their elevation , the officers' chambers and a large part of the ship's rooms are described in terms of their size as "limited to the utmost". The officers and deck officer measured are described, however, "spacious and well equipped" than.
Comparison with contemporary ship classes
The following list contains a comparison with battleship classes of Germany's war opponents, which were also under construction between 1914 and 1916. The Queen Elizabeth- class could already be put into service a year before the Bayern , while no ship of the Borodino- class was completed.
| class | Length overall | width | Max. displacement | speed | Main armament | Belt armor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Queen Elizabeth (United Kingdom)  |
195.0 m | 27.6 m | 33,000 tn.l. | 24 kn | 8 x 38.1 cm | 102-330 mm |
|
Revenge (United Kingdom) |
189.1 m | 27.0 m | 31,200 tn.l. | 21.5 kn | 8 x 38.1 cm | 102-330 mm |
|
Pennsylvania (United States) .svg){kind=small} |
185.3 m | 29.6 m | 33,000 tn.l. | 21 kn | 12 x 35.6 cm | 203-356 mm |
|
Fusō (Japan)  |
205.1 m | 28.7 m | 30,998 tn.l. | 23 kn | 12 x 35.6 cm | 102-305 mm |
|
Caio Duilio (Italy) _crowned.svg){kind=small} |
176.1 m | 28.0 m | 25,200 tn.l. | 21.5 kn | 13 x 30.5 cm | 130-250 mm |
|
Borodino (Russian Empire)  |
228.6 m | 30.5 m | 38,000 tn.l. | 26.6 kn | 12 x 35.6 cm | 100-305 mm |
|
Bavaria ( German Empire ) .svg){kind=small} |
180.0 m | 30.0 m | 31,691 tn.l. | 22 kn | 8 x 38.0 cm | 30-350 mm |
Evaluation of the Bayern class
The characteristics of the large-line ships of this class are largely rated very positively in the specialist literature: Siegfried Breyer describes the design as exemplary for the fact that “the battleship as a ship type had reached its perfection” and the further development of the following two decades only “details , but no longer the design of the ship type itself ”. Erich Gröner attributes properties to the units of the Bavaria class as "very good, calm seagoing ships" that would have had good maneuvering and turning properties. However, the ships were "very greedy ". Gary Staff describes the ships as carriers of a “ considerable technical advance ” (German: “considerable technical progress”) and “ particular success ” (German: “special success”).
literature
- Siegfried Breyer: Battleships and battle cruisers 1905–1970 . JF Lehmanns Verlag, Munich 1970, ISBN 3-88199-474-2 , p. 300-302 .
- Erich Gröner , Dieter Jung, Martin Maass: armored ships, ships of the line, battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, gunboats . In: The German warships 1815–1945 . tape 1 . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7637-4800-8 , p. 52-54 .
- Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships. Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . Mundus Verlag, Ratingen (no year, approx. 1990; 10 volumes; licensed edition by Koehler's Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg).
- Gerhard Koop, Klaus-Peter Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class . In: Ship classes and ship types in the German Navy . tape 7 . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1996, ISBN 3-7637-5954-9 .
- Erwin Strohbusch: Warship building since 1848 . German Maritime Museum, Bremerhaven 1984.
- Axel Grießmer: ships of the line of the Imperial Navy 1906–1918. Constructions between arms competition and naval law . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1999, ISBN 3-7637-5985-9 , pp. 124 ff .
- Heinrich Evers: Warship building. A textbook and auxiliary book for the Navy . Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1940.
- Philippe Caresse: Le corps de bataille de la Marine allemande . 1st edition. Tome 1. Editions lela Presse / Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Monde No.10, Outreau, France 2008, ISBN 2-914017-48-0 , p. 143-155 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Koop / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. P. 32.
- ↑ a b c d Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 2, p. 46.
- ^ Breyer: Battleships and battle cruisers 1905–1970. P. 397.
- ^ A b c Breyer, Siegfried: Battleships and battle cruisers 1905–1970. P. 300.
- ↑ a b According to Koop / Schmolke, Württemberg should also receive a marine diesel engine, cf. Koop / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. P. 26.
- ↑ a b c d e Gröner: The German warships. Vol. 1, p. 52.
- ↑ a b Koop / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. P. 11.
- ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz, Vol. 4, p. 165.
- ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz, Vol. 2, pp. 45–47.
- ↑ a b Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 2, pp. 26-32.
- ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz, Vol. 7, p. 97.
- ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz, Vol. 8, p. 120.
- ^ Co-op / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. P. 12.
- ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz, Vol. 2, p. 31.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Gröner: The German warships. Vol. 1, p. 53.
- ↑ a b Koop / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. P. 26.
- ^ Co-op / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. P. 153.
- ^ Co-op / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. Pp. 154-157.
- ↑ a b Koop / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. P. 18.
- ^ Norman Friedman: Naval Weapons of World War One. Guns, Torpedos, Mines and ASW Weapons of all Nations . Barnsley, Seaforth Publishing 2011, ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7 , p. 133
- ↑ a b Koop / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. P. 23.
- ^ Co-op / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. P. 33.
- ^ Breyer: Battleships and battle cruisers 1905–1970. P. 302.
- ^ Co-op / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. Pp. 21-25.
- ↑ a b c d e Koop / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. P. 13.
- ^ Co-op / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. P. 138.
- ^ Co-op / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. P. 137.
- ↑ The data follow the information provided by Siegfried Breyer.
- ^ Gary Staff: German Battleships 1914-18 (2), Kaiser, König and Bayern classes . Osprey Publishing, 2009, p. 44.
