Brandenburg class (1891)

Brandenburg class

The Elector Friedrich Wilhelm

Ship data country  German Empire Ottoman Empire   Ship type Ironclad Construction period 1890 to 1894 Launch of the type ship June 30, 1891 Units built 4th period of service 1893 to 1933

Ship dimensions and crew length 115.7 m ( Lüa ) 113.9 m ( KWL ) width 19.5 m Draft Max. 7.9 m displacement Construction: 10,013 t Maximum: 10,670 t   crew 568 to 591 men

Machine system machine 12 cylinder boilers 2 standing 3-cylinder compound machines 1 rudder Machine performance 9,686 hp (7,124 kW) Top speed 16.9 kn (31 km / h) propeller 2 three-leaf 5.0 m

Armament 4 × Rk 28.0 cm L / 40 2 × Rk 28.0 cm L / 35 (a total of 352 shots) 6 × Sk 10.5 cm L / 35 (600 shots) 8 × Sk 8.8 cm L / 30 (2,000 shots) 12 × Rev 3.7 cm 6 × torpedo tube ⌀ 45 cm (2 in the bow, 4 in the sides, above water, 16 rounds) Armor Belt above the waterline: 300–400 mm Belt below the waterline: 180–200 mm Deck : 60 mm Command tower: 30-300 mm Barbettes : 300 mm Domes: 50–120 mm Battery: 42 mm

The Brandenburg -class was a class of four battleships of the German Imperial Navy that represented the pinnacle of German armored shipbuilding. Contrary to the usual practice of German naval tradition, the class is not named after the type ship Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm , but after the second ship, the Brandenburg , launched. The four ships arrived in 1891 and 1892 from the stack . They were created before Alfred Tirpitz took office as State Secretary of the Reichsmarinamt and formed the basis of the battleships required by him in the naval laws .

The Brandenburg class was available from 1893 and was used in 1900/01 in the wake of the Boxer Rebellion in East Asia . In 1910 the Ottoman Navy bought two of the ships. During the First World War , all four ships were used, whereby the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm was sunk in 1915 by a British submarine. The Weißenburg was the last ship of the class to be scrapped as Torgud Reis in Turkish service in 1956.

history

development

Leo von Caprivi, 1880

In 1884, after one year of service as head of the Admiralty , Lieutenant General Leo von Caprivi submitted a memorandum to the Reichstag on the further development of the Imperial Navy. In this he took the view that armored ships should form the core of the fleet in the long term. The battle fleet should also serve as a support for the ships on foreign service, if necessary be ready for armed intervention and thus indirectly support German diplomacy. So he wrote:

"Without the background of armored battleships, without the security of being able to find, if necessary, extensive support in a assembled, combat-ready ocean-going fleet, the political service ships would not be guaranteed in the long run that they would appear in line with the global position of the German Empire."

- Leo von Caprivi : Memorandum of March 1884

However, this goal subordinated von Caprivi to the increased development of the coastal defense forces. He saw the main task of the fleet in relieving the army in a two-front war against France and Russia, which he constantly feared. In addition, there was the torpedo weapon , which promised a great effect against ironclad ships, especially in the coastal apron. Under the direction of Alfred Tirpitz, it had been rapidly developed, which led to its overvaluation not only by the head of the Admiralty. Accordingly, the Navy procured a larger number of the comparatively cheap and quick-to-build torpedo boats .

In 1886, considerations about building new ironclad ships were resumed as the old ships from the late 1860s and early 1870s had to be replaced. A questionnaire prepared on behalf of Caprivis by the director of the Admiralty's Naval Department, Rear Admiral Max von der Goltz , which contained 13 questions on the basic design of future armored ships and was distributed to all relevant departments, served as the basis for further development . At the same time, Alfred Dietrich , head of the construction department, determined the possible size of the armored ships. Their dimensions were mainly limited by the locks in the ports in Kiel and Wilhelmshaven , especially the old Wilhelmshaven entrance . On March 18, 1886, Dietrich published a memorandum on the problems of ironclad building and possible solutions, including the results of the questionnaire. He stated the main dimensions of the ships to be built at around 98 m in length, 19.2 m in width and 7.5 m in draft with a displacement of 8,500 t. In addition to sketches for the required installation of four individual 30.5 cm guns, Dietrich also described a cruiser-like design with seven 26 cm guns, some of which, like the Oldenburg, were to be housed in casemates .

By order of Caprivis, Dietrich compiled a list of seven conceivable ironclad designs of different sizes by June 8, 1886. This included proposals for one heavy and two smaller battleships, two armored cruisers and two coastal armored ships . The heavy battleship and a coastal tank design became relevant for further development. In a memorandum presented on June 14, 1886, von Caprivi pointed out the latter as being urgently needed to defend the mouth of the Elbe and the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal , which was then being planned. Ten units of the coastal armor, known as “larger armored gunboats”, were to be built and available until the canal was completed. Due to this requirement, the eight ships of the Siegfried class were built by 1896 .

In parallel to the development of the coastal armored ships, the preparatory work for the future class of deep-sea armored ships continued. The Oldenburg , the last German ironclad to date, served as the basis for further construction . An important point for the new design was the testing of the guns developed by Krupp , also in order to develop suitable armor protection for the ships. The question of the caliber and the position of the heavy artillery also had to be clarified. The main armament should initially be attached to the individual mountings required in 1886 , but this should be reduced to a caliber of 28 cm and provided with armored domes. In addition, there was still a draft for a casemate ship . When calculating the weight distribution again, Dietrich came to the conclusion that if two guns were combined on a common mount, a third such gun turret could be installed on the ships without exceeding the weight limit of around 10,000 t.

Drawing of the Russian Ekaterina II.

For the placement of the guns, the possibility of a "Russian setup" based on the model of the Ekaterina II was examined, in which two gun turrets were housed side by side on the forecastle . This gun setup was implemented on the Siegfried class. Likewise, for the deep-sea armored ships, an arrangement of the heavy artillery in the midships line, as had been given to the French Amiral Baudin class . Another possible installation of two guns on the fore and aft as well as two individual side guns failed due to the total weight of the ironclad, the "Russian variant" due to the dockability prevented by the width. Placing three gun turrets in the midship line turned out to be the most practicable solution, even if the ability to fire with at least three guns both forward and astern, which was required in 1886, had to be dispensed with.

The ultimately valid construction documents for the new armored ship class were drawn up by August 1889. Ships with a displacement of around 10,000 t and six 28 cm guns as main armament were built, which were housed in three twin towers in the midship line. Mainly this artillery line-up, to which the Imperial Navy only returned 20 years later with the König class , partially led to the classification of the Brandenburg class as a direct forerunner of the dreadnoughts . However, comparable contemporary ships or designs also existed in other navies.

construction

The decision to build two new ironclad ships was made at the beginning of 1888. One of them should be applied for with the budget 1889/90, the second, however, not until 1892/93. Initially, the Admiralty did not dare to submit a larger submission to the Reichstag or even to create a fleet program designed for a longer period of time. However, this changed when Wilhelm II came to power and Caprivis resigned as head of the Admiralty a few weeks later. Following his inaugural trip to Russia , Sweden and Denmark , the emperor ordered the budget to be changed again in 1889/90 and to include not just one but four new armored ships in it. These were planned to replace the Großer Kurfürst , which sank in 1878, and the outdated Friedrich Carl , Kronprinz and Hansa , so there was no provision for a numerical expansion of the fleet. The four ships should form the core of the fleet. A more extensive construction plan , as it was only implemented in 1898 with the Fleet Act, was also not associated with the requirement. The amended budget was presented to the Reichstag at the end of 1888 and initially discussed controversially. Several speakers referred to von Caprivi's memorandum from 1884 and his statement that failed experiments should be avoided. After a positive recommendation by the budget commission, the first installment of 800,000 marks each  for all four ships was approved.

The Elector Friedrich Wilhelm before her launch with already partially completed structures, June 1891

Two private and one state shipyards were commissioned to build the ships. Originally, the Kaiserliche Werft Kiel was supposed to build one of the armored ships, but the shipyard was rebuilt at that time and was therefore canceled for the construction of larger ships. The Stettiner AG Vulcan as the most efficient German shipyard at the time received two construction contracts, one each to the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven and the Kiel Germania shipyard . The four ships which the household names A to D were given were, in March and May 1890 keel laid. The new building A (later Brandenburg ), carried out by AG Vulcan, was to be completed more quickly so that deficiencies in the construction of the other three ships that were discovered during testing can be incorporated. The shipyards estimated the construction costs to be between 11.2 and 12.4 million marks.

The required speedy completion of the new building A by June 1892 could not be met, and the construction of the three other ships was also delayed considerably. The reason for this was the slow delivery of the tank material by Krupp and the Dillinger Hütte . The heavy artillery produced by Krupp was also delayed in delivery. The modification of the medium artillery from the initially intended 8.7 cm cannons to the newly developed 10.5 cm rapid loading cannons brought further construction delays with it. The changes made and the construction delays ultimately led to an increase in construction costs to between 15.8 and 16.1 million marks per ship. On June 30, 1891, the new building D in Wilhelmshaven was ready for launch and became the type ship of the class under the name of Elector Friedrich Wilhelm . The Wörth was finally put into service on October 31, 1893 as the first new ironclad. Contrary to the tradition of German naval history, the class was not named after the type ship, but the Brandenburg , which was launched as the second ship . This was originally intended to be the type ship of the class, but this prevented the aforementioned construction delays.

Ships of the class

Surname	Shipyard	Keel laying	Launch	Commissioning	Decommissioning	Whereabouts
Elector Friedrich Wilhelm	Imperial shipyard , Wilhelmshaven	March 24, 1890	June 30, 1891	April 29, 1894	-	Sold to Turkey in 1910 , sunk in the Dardanelles by E11 on August 8, 1915 .
Brandenburg	AG Vulcan , Szczecin	May 21, 1890	September 21, 1891	November 19, 1893	December 20, 1915	Wrecked in Gdansk in 1920 .
Weissenburg	AG Vulcan, Szczecin	May 23, 1890	December 14, 1891	October 14, 1894	1933	Sold to Turkey in 1910, broken up in 1956.
Wörth	Germania shipyard , Kiel	March 3, 1890	August 6, 1892	October 31, 1893	March 18, 1916	Wrecked in Danzig in 1919.

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  Elector Friedrich Wilhelm already in Turkish service as Barbaros Hayreddin , you can see the four gun ports on the battery deck

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  Brandenburg on November 23, 1893. The flag of Brandenburg was typically flown in a large top, but has given way to the imperial standard. The only three side gun ports when commissioned are visible.

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  Weißenburg , the side spars of the torpedo protection nets are clearly visible

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  Wörth on December 18, 1893 on the 24-hour measurement run. The ship has not yet received its heavy artillery.

commitment

1894 to 1900

The four Brandenburg- class ships were intended to be the core of the German fleet. The coastal defense had experienced a considerable strengthening with the construction of torpedo boats and the coast armor of the Siegfried class and should be supported by the development of the offensive force. How exactly the ships should be used in combat was still unclear in the Imperial Navy at the time of their construction. Shortly before his replacement in 1888, von Caprivi had issued questions relating to future tactics to various naval agencies and commanders, but their final evaluation was not carried out. It was not until 1892 that Tirpitz developed a new combat tactic adapted to combat with steam-powered armored ships on the orders of the Kaiser. Up until this point in time, the mêlée , free hand-to-hand combat between the ships, had been seen as the inevitable end point of any ironclad battle. The course of the Battle of Lissa had a major influence on this view . The ram thrust was seen in many navies, including the German, as an important tactic, the ram spur sometimes even as the main weapon of the ironclad. These tactical guidelines were also the basis for the development of the Brandenburg class. Their gun placement was ultimately unsuitable for artillery combat at the beginning of a battle, in which the ships were supposed to run directly towards the enemy units, as only two of the six heavy guns could fire ahead.

Wörth works as an icebreaker. Such missions occasionally occurred in winter.

It was not until the “Dienstschrift IX” published in 1894 that the Imperial Navy had combat tactics and naval strategy that emphasized the offensive. Instead of the breakthrough battle, in which the enemy should be rammed if possible, the navy returned to line combat tactics , which was very beneficial to the Brandenburg -class gun deployment. In addition, the fleet was divided into squadrons of two divisions, each with four ironclads. Accordingly, after the commissioning of all four ships , the Brandenburg class formed the 1st division of the maneuvering squadron, the 2nd division consisted of the ships of the Sachsen class .

Contrary to previous practice, the ships of the maneuver squadron remained in service during the winter. The Elector Friedrich Wilhelm took over the function of the fleet flagship until 1900 . During the following years, the training of the crews formed the focus of the ships' service, which they performed largely together in the division.

Use in East Asia

→ Main article : Boxer Rebellion

In the course of 1900 there were increasing attacks on Christians and foreigners in China . The Imperial Navy pulled together the ships of the East Asia Squadron and other ships from other sea areas in Chinese waters. On July 4, the Brandenburg -class ships , which at that time were doing exercises in the Baltic Sea, also received the order to leave for East Asia. The dispatch of the units, called ships of the line since the beginning of 1899 , was mainly for political reasons. The Reich government wanted to achieve the strongest possible German presence in the dispute with China. The criticism of various naval command posts was not taken into account.

Brandenburg and Weißenburg (on the right in the picture) on July 26, 1900 in Port Said

The necessary fuel supply during the journey to China and back was provided by British coal stations, where however the prices were significantly increased. The stay in Chinese waters lasted until early June 1901, interrupted only for overhauls in Nagasaki and Hong Kong during the winter. An early return of the ships of the line had been requested by the Admiral's staff and by Tirpitz, but was not done because of the feared loss of prestige. Since the end of the international mission was in sight, the ships started their homeward journey on June 1st and arrived in Wilhelmshaven on August 11th.

The use of the ships of the line in China had been without direct military success. Nevertheless, the Imperial Navy was able to gain valuable experience. The Kaiserliche Werft Kiel was not adequately equipped for the rapid mobilization of several ships. The lack of maintenance options was particularly noticeable on the return journey. The technical condition of the boiler and machine system deteriorated through long-term use, which, together with the inevitable vegetation, led to increased fuel consumption and lower speeds. The climatic conditions during the East Asian mission also turned out to be a further problem. Although the Brandenburg class was very well ventilated for its time, in hot or tropical areas the air temperature inside the ship hardly fell below 30 ° C, which resulted in several heat strokes . The first officer of the Brandenburg , Corvette Captain Maximilian von Spee , wrote accordingly in a letter: "These ships are more suitable for the North Pole than for the tropics."

modification

The ships returned from East Asia were initially used for normal service in the fleet. Starting with the Wörth , all four ships of the line were converted between 1902 and 1905 at the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven. This had been in discussion since 1896 and was intended to serve especially to strengthen the middle artillery. The background to this was the view that a rapid series of volleys from the middle artillery would cause more damage to enemy ships than the heavy artillery firing at a low rate of fire. For the same reason, the Kaiser Friedrich class, which was under construction from 1895, received only four 24 cm caliber rapid loading cannons, but with 18 15 cm guns, compared to the Brandenburg class, a massively reinforced medium artillery.

Drawing of the Brandenburg class after its renovation

Discussions about converting the Brandenburg class continued until it began in 1902. Among other things, the request arose to expand the central 28 cm turret and install several 15 cm guns in its place. This view was also given by the French trade journal Le Yacht . However, this did not come to fruition. In the course of the naval laws , a continuous expansion of the navy had been ensured, the financial means for conversions remained limited, especially since the conversion of the Siegfried class was still ongoing . In the Brandenburg class, the coal bunker was enlarged to increase the range and the extensive removal of the wood built inside the ship (so-called deforestation and replacement with non-combustible sheet metal), which corresponded to the experience of the sea ​​battle off Santiago de Cuba . The existing wooden planking of the decks was retained, however. The armament of the ships was only slightly changed. To reinforce the middle artillery, two more 10.5 cm guns came on board, which were also set up in the still poorly protected battery deck. In addition, the existing six torpedo tubes were removed and replaced by two tubes located under water. A stern torpedo tube should only be installed in the event of mobilization. A more extensive renovation, such as the installation of new water tube boilers , was not carried out due to the high costs.

More peace time

Elector Friedrich Wilhelm in the final state of construction in the Imperial Navy, winter 1910.

After their modernization, the ships belonged to the 2nd Squadron for a short time and then formed the newly established reserve formation of the North Sea. The parent ship of the formation remained in service with the full crew and undertook various training trips, both alone and in the association of the training and test ships. The other units acting as auxiliary ships were located on the north pier of the equipment port in Wilhelmshaven and were only maintained by a guard and cleaning team. Due to its age and the technology that has since become obsolete, it was not used in the Imperial Navy after 1911 until the outbreak of the First World War .

With the amendment to the Fleet Act in 1908, the planned service life of the liners fell from 25 to 20 years. The ships of the Brandenburg class were due for replacement from 1910, calculated from the first installment. Three König- class ships and the Baden were built as replacement structures.

Service in the Ottoman Navy

After the defeat in the Turkish-Greek War , the Kingdom of Greece sought to expand its navy in the first decade of the 20th century. This was achieved in 1909 with the purchase of the third armored cruiser of the Italian Pisa class , which was later named Georgios Averoff . The shipyard Cantiere Navale Fratelli Orlando in Livorno had put the ship up for sale after the Regia Marina canceled the construction contract for cost reasons. The Ottoman Empire was also interested in the new building, but was unable to pay the required down payment. The Ottoman Navy was therefore looking for ships that could take on the Georgios Averoff . Corresponding inquiries in the United Kingdom were unsuccessful, which is why the Ottomans turned to the German Empire, with which they had good military relations.

Lithographic representation of some Ottoman warships, including the Barbaros Hayreddin and the Torgud Reis , the cruiser Mecidiye and the torpedo boat Muavenet-i Milliye .

As a counterweight to the Greek naval armament, the Ottomans saw a modern armored cruiser and three turbine-powered destroyers as necessary. The Reichsmarineamt complied with the latter request by handing over the torpedo boats S 165 to S 168 , which were included in the equipment and which corresponded in size and armament to the contemporary British destroyers. They were replaced in the Imperial Navy by identical boats and put into service in the Ottoman Navy under the names Muavenet-i Milliye , Yadigar-i Millet , Numune-i Hamiyet and Gayret-i Vataniye . However, the sale of an armored cruiser and especially the Blücher , which is also part of the equipment , did not materialize. The cruiser was already overtaken by the commissioning of the first British battle cruiser and therefore represented a ballast for the number of ships of the Imperial Navy stipulated by the naval laws. However, the number of available heavy reconnaissance forces was small. The ship was therefore needed in Germany, if only as an emergency solution until new battlecruisers were put into service. The Ottoman Empire was not prepared to pay the planned purchase price of 44 million marks, which corresponded to the new construction price of a Moltke- class ship , without receiving an equivalent value. The demands to have the Blücher run by German officers and to make all other warship purchases in Germany were also not acceptable to the Ottomans.

It was Kaiser Wilhelm who brought the old ships of the line in the form of the Kaiser Friedrich and Wittelsbach classes into the negotiations. Since both classes were newer and were even more in use than the Brandenburg class, this ultimately came into focus. On July 15, 1910, von Tirpitz wrote to Georg Alexander von Müller , the head of the naval cabinet , that it was not possible to hand in a Moltke- class ship, but that of two Brandenburg- class ships would be possible. Despite the age of the ships, von Tirpitz presented their sale as a "considerable sacrifice for the Imperial Navy", which he considered to be "justifiable with regard to [the] political advantage". As an advantage, the admiral cited that Turkey would receive "immediately two ships for a cheap price, each of which alone was far superior to the Italian cruiser". The Ottomans accepted this offer and bought the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm and Weißenburg, equipped with the more modern nickel steel armor, for 9 million marks per ship. Of this purchase price, one million marks plus the transfer costs of 250,000 marks were to be paid in cash upon arrival of the ships in Constantinople. The liners left Wilhelmshaven on August 14 and reached the Dardanelles via Algiers on August 28 . During the voyage, 24 officers as well as 38 NCOs and crews of the Ottoman Navy were briefed on the ships. The official handover to the Ottoman Navy took place in front of Tschanak on September 1st . The Elector Friedrich Wilhelm was given the new name Barbaros Hayreddin in honor of the corsair Khair ad-Din Barbarossa , and the Weißenburg became the Torgud Reis , named after the corsair Turgut Reis . The Turkish population was mostly positive about the purchase, but there was also some criticism of the high purchase price. This flowed into the imperial budget as general income and did not directly benefit the Imperial Navy.

Ottoman seamen on board the Barbaros Hayreddin during the First Balkan War

The two ships were used in 1911 for exercises and a round trip in the eastern Mediterranean. During the Italo-Turkish War , the armored ships were not actively used, as the Italian Navy was clearly superior to the Ottoman Navy. The condition of the ships deteriorated noticeably in a short period of time, which, in addition to the age of the ships, was mainly due to the lack of technical expertise of the engineers and crews. The hatches of bulkheads that were actually planned to be watertight could no longer be closed, the aiming optics of the guns and the ammunition lifts were partially dismantled, the on-board telephones defective and more, which is why the ships were overhauled from May 1912. With the outbreak of the First Balkan War in October 1912, the work had to be interrupted. On December 16, 1912 and January 18, there were battles with Greek ships, during which the Barbaros Hayreddin received heavy hits.

After the war, the Ottomans were also offered the two remaining Brandenburg- class ships for sale by the German Empire . For the same reason, talks with Greece had already taken place before the war and were broken off after the Greek mobilization. The Ottoman Navy ultimately refused, because at that time they had their own capital ship, the Reshadije, under construction in Great Britain.

First World War

Hagen with camouflage painting in 1915 as part of the VI. Squadron, to which Brandenburg and Wörth also belonged for a short time

With the beginning of the First World War, the two ships remaining in Germany were put back into service, assigned to the newly formed V Squadron under Vice Admiral Max von Grapow and used in the outpost service. The shortage of personnel in the Imperial Navy led in February 1915 to the withdrawal of the V Squadron from service at the front and a reduction in crews, and between the end of 1915 and spring 1916 the ships were finally decommissioned. In the following months, the Kaiserliche Werft Danzig expanded a large part of the existing nickel steel plates as well as the guns of the Brandenburg and Wörth . Some of the 28 cm cannons were intended for shipping to Turkey. While the Wörth was no longer used, the Brandenburg served as a distillation ship for fresh water in Libau until February 1918 after a corresponding conversion .

The Torgud Reis in 1915

The two Ottoman ships received German commanders after Goeben and Breslau arrived in the Dardanelles in early August 1914. These had to ensure the training of the Turkish teams and the preparation of war readiness. Both ships were in poor technical condition, and the level of training of the crews was very low. In the spring of 1915 they intervened in the Battle of Gallipoli . On August 8, 1915, the Barbaros Hayreddin was sunk by the British submarine E11 , where 253 men of the crew lost their lives. The Torgud Reis subsequently served mainly as a training ship . Towards the end of the war, the general lack of coal prevented further use of the ironclad.

Whereabouts

In the course of 1919, the German Navy removed its two Brandenburg- class ships from the list of warships. The Wörth was supported by a Dutch company that Brandenburg bought by the Civil Engineering GmbH Gdansk. Both ships were scrapped in Gdansk on behalf of the buyers until 1920.

The Torgud Reis was decommissioned in August 1918, but was added to the Turkish Navy as still usable and remained in service until 1933. In the first months of 1936 the gun turrets, including their turntable mounts and domes, were dismantled and set up as coastal batteries for the Dardanelles on land. The eighth tower was rebuilt near Gölcük in Kocaeli , the other two in the “Torgud Reis Battery” near Tschanak. The guns that last fired a shot in 1956 still exist today. The demilitarized Torgud Reis was scrapped in 1956.

technology

The four ships of the Brandenburg class had a hull made of Siemens-Martin steel in transverse and longitudinal frame construction . This was divided by twelve watertight transverse bulkheads to increase safety against sinking and had a double floor over 48 percent of its length . Because of the bell-shaped curvature of the ship's hull, which was similar to that of French warships, the units of the class received the British nickname "the whalers of the sea." The ships were 113.9 m in the construction waterline and 115.7 m long, with one Width of 19.5 m without and 19.74 m with torpedo protection nets . The design displacement was 10,013 t. With maximum payload, the armored ships displaced 10,670 t, their draft was 7.6 m forward and 7.9 m aft.

Weißenburg in 1898 with raised chimneys and old headlight platforms

The electrical equipment on board the armored ships was operated with a voltage of 67 V. For the power supply, three were generators on every ship that of two-cylinder - compound machines were powered and together 72.6  kW rendered. A fourth generator was added during the renovation, which increased the output to 96.5 kW. Only the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm received three generators with a total output of 108 kW.

In addition to the 575 light bulbs installed to illuminate the interior of the ship , the two, and from the late 1910s three spotlights, were the largest electrical consumers on board the ships. The searchlights, each with an output of around 10 kW and a mirror diameter of 90 cm, were initially placed on platforms on the lower part of the masts, but dazzled the ship's command there. Therefore, they were moved to the Marse of the battle masts. The 20.15 m long battle masts served on the one hand as a lookout and platform for revolver cannons. On the other hand, the optical and later telegraphic signaling devices as well as the cargo booms for the dinghies and for the coal takeover were attached to them.

drive

The main engines of a Brandenburg- class ship

The Brandenburg -class units were powered by steam engines. The necessary boiler system consisted of twelve transverse cylinder boilers, which were divided into four boiler rooms. With a total of 36 firing systems and a total heating surface of 2,291 to 2,358 m², which varies slightly depending on the manufacturer , they generate the necessary steam pressure of 12  atmospheres . Each of the 2.92 m long and 1.99 m radius measuring boilers was able to convert a maximum of 6 t of steam per hour, for which up to 750 kg of coal were required.

Two chimneys, which originally protruded 18.8 m, or 20.1 m in the case of the ships built by the Szczecin Vulcan, over the grate of the boiler, provided for the extraction of the flue gases . The short structure of the chimneys, however, easily led to the ship's command being impaired by smoke gases that enveloped the command post. The increase in the chimneys to a uniform 23.4 m shortly after the ships were put into service eliminated this problem.

The two triple expansion machines were housed individually in separate machine rooms. Each machine had three cylinders with a diameter of 900 mm, 1,400 mm and 2,200 mm and a stroke of 1,000 mm. The 5.6 m high and 156 t heavy machines acted via shafts on a three-bladed bronze propeller with a diameter of 5 m. The machines were designed for 10,000  PSi . During the test drives, the four ships achieved this value, with the power fluctuating between 9,686 PSi for the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm and 10,228 PSi for the Wörth . The maximum speed of the Brandenburg class was 16.5  knots , but the Brandenburg, as the slowest ship, only reached 16.3 knots, while Elector Friedrich Wilhelm and Wörth both achieved 16.9 knots.

Normally the ships carried 650 t of coal with them, but the supply could be increased to 1050 t. This led to a maximum range of 4,300  nm at a cruising speed of 10 kn. In addition, around half of the boilers were equipped for additional tar oil firing , for which 110 t of tar oil could be bunkered in the double floor. The tar oil firing was only a little more efficient than the coal firing, the fuel for it was more expensive to procure.

Armament

The main armament of the Brandenburg class consisted of six rifled ring cannons of caliber 28 cm, which were set up in pairs in three turrets. The guns of the front and rear turrets had 40  caliber lengths , while the central turret only had L / 35 guns. Originally, the ships were to be equipped exclusively with the short guns developed in 1886 for coastal defense. In 1889, the Navy initially ordered eight cannons with which a ship could be put into service. Since the longer gun was already under construction at Krupp, the Imperial Navy did not order the missing 16 guns until after their appearance in 1891. Equipping the central towers with the longer gun would only have been possible with an elaborate redesign of the superstructure to provide the necessary swivel range to ensure, and therefore failed.

The 28 cm guns could be increased up to 25 ° and had a maximum range of 14.6 km. Each of the 11.93 m (L / 40) long barrel weighed 29.55 t with the breech . The guns were stored in center pivot mounts C / 92 (year of construction 1892), which were based on the MPL C / 88 and C / 90 developed for the Siegfried class. They were inhibited in their return movement by two brake cylinders located on the side of the upper mount and after the shot ran back independently from the sliding path that rose towards the rear into the shooting position. However, this system required very large nicks in the turret domes so that the maximally raised tubes did not hit the domes when fired. Through the notches, projectiles could easily penetrate the towers and kill their crew, as happened on the Barbaros Hayreddin in 1913 .

Since the heavy artillery was not yet a rapid-fire artillery, the projectile and propellant charge were stored separately. Both HE shells and full projectiles were used , 60 of which were carried. Ammunition and propellant charge were transported on special loading wagons and reached the barette via two separate elevators from the ammunition chamber in each tower . There, circumferential rails made it possible to drive the loading wagon to any point, which allowed the guns to be loaded even with the turret pivoted. The projectile and propellant charge were lifted in front of the pipes with a crane and inserted manually. Overall, the entire reloading process took a relatively long two to three minutes. The fire control for the heavy artillery initially took over each tower individually. After commissioning, the ships were given a central fire control system, with a telephone and telegraph system in addition to the speaking tube connecting the control stations to the towers. Each tower was manned by 15 operators.

A torpedo is taken on board; in the center the front port broadside torpedo tube is visible

Initially, only eight 8.7 cm cannons were planned as medium artillery, and from 1890 8.8 cm L / 30 rapid loading cannons (Sk). With the appearance of the 10.5 cm L / 35 Sk one year later, an additional six of these guns were installed in the battery deck. This resulted in major changes to the ammunition chambers and elevators, which led to construction delays. Two more 10.5 cm cannons were added during the conversion. The 10.5-cm-Sk could fire their 14 kg grenades with a tube elevation of 30 ° up to 10.8 km. The 8.8 cm guns were placed on the superstructure. With a barrel elevation of 20 °, the 1.6 ton guns had a range of 7.3 km. In addition, there were twelve 3.7 cm caliber revolver cannons based on the Hiram Maxim patent , which, like the 8.8 cm cannons, were mainly intended for use in defense against torpedo boats.

In addition to the cannons, there were originally six torpedo tubes with a diameter of 45 cm on board the ships, two of which were attached to both sides of the deck and could be pivoted individually, and two more were installed above water in the bow. With the renovation, this number was reduced to two torpedo tubes built into the sides. As ammunition reserve, the ships carried 352 rounds for the heavy artillery (292 shells and 60 full rounds), 600 to 1,184 rounds for the 10.5 cm and 2,000 to 2,384 rounds for the 8.8 cm cannons, as well as 16, later only five torpedoes.

As with almost all contemporary ships, the bow shaped into a ram post was used as a further weapon . This had proven its effectiveness during the naval battle of Lissa as well as in accidents in peacetime and for a long time was considered the main weapon in the expected Mêlée alongside the torpedoes.

Armor and protection

Weißenburg after its launch; the belt armor is not yet installed and the corresponding recess in the fuselage is clearly visible

The ships of the Brandenburg class should be protected with compound armor in accordance with the time . Dillinger Hütte and, for the first time, Krupp received the order to manufacture the armor material. The Essen company had already dealt with the use of nickel steel, primarily for the manufacture of guns, in advance. The armor plates made of such a material consisted of steel mixed with nickel , which was enriched with carbon on the side facing away from the ship and hardened in an oil bath . The nickel steel plates performed significantly better than the conventional compound plates in fire tests in February 1892, which is why the armor of the ships should be made with the new material as much as possible. Since the construction of the Brandenburg and Wörth had progressed too far, only a few parts of the armor could be made from nickel steel for both. The other ships consistently received the more modern armor material in the strength of the compound armor and were thus significantly better protected.

The belt armor extended the entire length of the ship around 80 cm above the waterline and in the middle of the ship up to 1.70 m below it. Above the waterline it consisted of 300 to 400 mm of armor material, below the plates tapered to 180 to 200 mm. The armor plates were lined with teak in such a way that a continuous thickness of 600 mm resulted. The armored deck resting on the belt armor consisted of two bolted individual plates and was 60 mm thick, the inclined parts (slopes) of the deck 65 mm. The domes of the gun turrets received armor composed of three individual plates, which measured 120 mm on the side slopes and 50 mm on the ceiling. The barbeds were protected with 300 mm armor on a 210 mm thick wooden base. The battery deck was only slightly armored at the sides with 42 mm, an internal partition across the ship to protect against splinters was omitted. The command tower received side protection made of 300 mm armor steel. It was armored with 30 mm on the floor and ceiling. During the conversion, a 30 to 120 mm armored aft command post was added to all ships. The ammunition elevator shafts of the 8.8 cm guns were given 200 mm armor, while those of the 10.5 cm guns remained unarmored. The ammunition elevator of the front tower above the armored deck received armor corresponding to the barbeds.

The Weissenburg's aft torpedo protection nets are brought on board

As a further protective measure, the ships had torpedo protection nets, the design of which was tested for the first time on the Siegfried . They consisted of “grummets”, 10 to 13 mm thick steel rings with a diameter of 80 mm, which were held together by smaller rings with an inner diameter of 14 mm and a material thickness of 6 mm. The nets, attached to spars on either side of the hull, reached six meters into the water. They were intended to protect stationary ships from torpedo attacks in the harbor and in the roadstead and were placed in brackets on the upper edge of the ship's side during the journey. Due to the inadequate durability of the galvanizing , the protective nets were so worn out in 1897 that they were removed from the ironclad ships without replacement. In addition to the high cost of new nets, their difficult handling and the constant risk of getting caught in the screws were reasons for their permanent removal.

crew

The crew of a Brandenburg -class ship originally had a nominal strength of 568 men. It consisted of 38 officers and 530 NCOs and men. On the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm , set up as a flagship, space was also provided for a staff of 9 officers and 54 lower ranks. Depending on the use of the ships, the actual crew strength could differ significantly from the target strength. At the time of her sinking, there were a total of 622 people on board the Barbaros Hayreddin , including 40 officers and 28 engineers.

The crews and NCOs were housed in large common rooms and slept in hammocks . The deck officers and the lower officers mostly shared a chamber that was 2.5 × 2.55 meters as standard and received natural lighting by means of a porthole . The commander's premises were on the starboard side of the aft superstructure and, in addition to the bathroom and bedroom, also included a study and a dining room. On the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm , set up as a flagship , the commanders' rooms were severely restricted in favor of those of the commanding officer. In addition, specially equipped rooms were reserved for the Emperor, but in the course of the renovation, since the Kaiser Wilhelm II was already a naval flagship at that time , they were redesigned as an officers' mess.

criticism

The ironclad ships were considered to be very good seagoing ships that were easily greedy and easy to maneuver. They were generally characterized by soft movements, but tended to pound each other at high speed levels , taking over a lot of water.

Even as the largest German warships of their time, the Brandenburg -class units were relatively small in international comparison, which was criticized in naval circles even during construction. In addition, the parallel development of the British showed Royal Sovereign class already clearly in the direction of from 1895 to the Majestic class occurring unit battleships , the more put on a rapid fire of the reinforced central artillery and the armored protection in accordance with scale distributed than in Brandenburg - Class was the case. The combat tactics developed by Tirpitz and the introduction of large-caliber rapid-fire guns also promoted the rapid obsolescence of the armored ship class. Regardless of this, the ships were still important for the Imperial Navy, as they put an end to a multi-year standstill in the construction of heavy units, significantly increased both the self-image and the external perception of the Navy and formed a homogeneous tactical association.

literature

• Gröner, Erich / Dieter Jung / Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945 . tape 1 : Armored ships, ships of the line, battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, gunboats . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7637-4800-8 , p. 36 f .
• Hildebrand, Hans H. / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships . Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . 10 volumes. Mundus Verlag, Ratingen (licensed edition by Koehler's Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg, approx. 1990).
• Koop, Gerhard / Klaus-Peter Schmolke: Ship classes and ship types of the German Navy . tape 10 : The armored ships and ships of the line of the Brandenburg, Kaiser Friedrich III, Wittelsbach, Braunschweig and Germany classes . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 2001, ISBN 3-7637-6211-6 .
• Nottelmann, Dirk : The Brandenburg class . The climax of German armored shipbuilding . ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2002, ISBN 3-8132-0740-4 .
• Strohbusch, Erwin : German Navy . Warship building since 1848 . In: Guide to the German Maritime Museum . 2nd improved edition. No. 8 . German Maritime Museum, 1984, ZDB -ID 551539-7 .
• Schmidt, Jürgen W .: The devastating accident on the Brandenburg liner on February 16, 1894 . Technical causes and judicial penalties . In: German Shipping Archive . tape 30 , 2007, ISSN  0343-3668 , p. 323-346 .

Web links

Commons : Brandenburg class  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

1. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 196.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 10.
3. ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 1, pp. 74 f.
4. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 14.
5. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 11 ff.
6. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 14 ff.
7. ↑ ^{a b} Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, pp. 18-22.
8. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 32.
9. ↑ ^{a b c d} Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 5, p. 173.
10. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 17.
11. ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 5, p. 172.
12. ↑ ^{a b} Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 22.
13. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 23.
14. ↑ ^{a b} Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 35 ff.
15. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p} Gröner: The German warships. Vol. 1, 1982, p. 36.
16. ↑ Gröner: The German warships. Vol. 1, 1982, p. 37.
17. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 36.
18. ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 5, pp. 171-192.
19. ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 2, pp. 108-111
20. ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 8, p. 62 ff.
21. ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 8, pp. 96-100.
22. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 26.
23. ^ Uhle-Wettler, Franz: Alfred von Tirpitz in his time . ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 1998, ISBN 3-8132-0552-5 , p. 64 .
24. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 25 ff.
25. ↑ ^{a b} Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 28.
26. ↑ Uhle-Wettler: Alfred von Tirpitz in his time. 1998, p. 72 f.
27. ↑ ^{a b} Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 5, p. 175.
28. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 59.
29. ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 5, pp. 186-189.
30. ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 5, p. 189.
31. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 61.
32. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 66.
33. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 62.
34. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 47.
35. ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 5, p. 26.
36. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 68 f.
37. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 70 f.
38. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, pp. 72-76.
39. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 80.
40. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 77.
41. ↑ Gröner: The German warships. Vol. 1, 1982, pp. 50 and 52.
42. ↑ ^{a b c d} Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 80 ff.
43. ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 5, p. 191.
44. ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 2, p. 99 f.
45. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 83.
46. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, pp. 84-87.
47. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, pp. 85-93.
48. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 89.
49. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 93 f.
50. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, pp. 94-103.
51. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, pp. 104-114.
52. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 113 ff.
53. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 116 ff.
54. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 103.
55. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 119 ff. According to Koop / Schmolke, the ship was already broken up in 1952, cf. Koop / Schmolke: Ship class and ship types of the German Navy. Vol. 10, 2001, p. 65.
56. ↑ ^{a b} Koop / Schmolke: Ship classes and ship types of the German Navy. Vol. 10, 2001, p. 55.
57. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 154.
58. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 164.
59. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 125f.
60. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 148.
61. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 150f.
62. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 151f.
63. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 150.
64. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 131.
65. ↑ ^{a b} Koop / Schmolke: Ship classes and ship types of the German Navy. Vol. 10, 2001, p. 58 f.
66. ↑ ^{a b c} Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 132f.
67. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 140.
68. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 135.
69. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 37 f.
70. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 138.
71. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 139.
72. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, pp. 142f.
73. ↑ ^{a b} Koop / Schmolke: Ship classes and ship types of the German Navy. Vol. 10, 2001, p. 54.
74. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 145 ff.
75. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 158ff.
76. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 113.
77. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 168ff.
78. ^ Nottelmann: The Brandenburg class. 2002, p. 195f.

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on March 24, 2012 in this version .