Germany class (1904)
 The Pomeranian
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The Germany class was a class of ships of the line of the Imperial Navy . Stacked from 1903, she was the last class of unit ships of the line in the Imperial Navy. Although outdated, the units of the class took part in the 1916 Skagerrak Battle , the Pomerania was lost. Three ships were taken over into the Reichsmarine under the terms of the Versailles Treaty . The Silesia and Schleswig-Holstein took still active on World War II in part.
Design and construction features
The ships were very similar to the previous Braunschweig class . With a maximum displacement of just over 14,000 t, they were smaller than contemporary ships from other sea powers.
As their main armament, they carried four 28.0 cm guns in two twin turrets in the front and stern arrangement that was customary at the time . In contrast to the ships of the line from other nations, no semi-heavy intermediate caliber was introduced in the Germany class, the standard 17 cm caliber medium artillery was retained . The 14 guns were all set up in casemates . 20 8.8 cm guns for defense against torpedo boats and 6 underwater torpedo tubes (one in the bow, one in the stern and two each in the broadside) completed the armament.
The armor had been reinforced somewhat compared to the Braunschweig class. The side armor at the height of the waterline was 240 mm amidships above the propulsion system and main artillery and tapered to 140 mm towards the lower edge. In front of and behind this central tank citadel, which was closed off by tank transverse bulkheads 170 mm thick, the armor of the waterline was 100 mm thick. Above the side armor, the citadel had a 170 mm armor that also protected the middle artillery. The armored deck in the citadel was approximately level with the waterline and was 40 mm thick with side embankments of 67 mm that stuck to the underside of the side armor. Outside the citadel, the horizontal armor was one deck lower and had no embankments. The upper deck over the casemates had an armor of 30 mm. The towers of the heavy artillery had armor up to 280 mm and rested on barbettes with armor of 250 mm. The protection of the front command post was up to 300 mm thick, the aft command post up to 140 mm thick. There is different information about the existence of torpedo bulkheads as underwater protection.
It was driven by three triple expansion engines, fed by twelve coal-fired steam boilers , generating 17,000 hp and acting on three shafts. In contrast to the previous class, the boiler system had been standardized and now consisted exclusively of narrow-tube marine water boilers of the Schultz-Thornycroft type. The speed was calculated to be 18 kn and was exceeded by 0.5 to 1.1 kn during the test drives of all five ships. In 1915 the boilers received an additional oil firing.
Already at the time of their completion it was criticized that all ships of this class were completed, although the " Dreadnought Revolution", which made all standard ships of the line obsolete, fell during their construction period .
history
During the First World War , the ships mostly belonged to the 2nd Squadron and provided outpost and security service. Under Rear Admiral Franz Mauve , all ships of the class took part in the Skagerrak Battle together with the Hessen of the Braunschweig class, although they were out of date. They were also referred to as "five-minute ships" because of their low chances of survival. Driving at the end of the German battle line, they came under fire only a little during the daytime battle. During the night, however, they were attacked by British torpedo boat destroyers , whereby the Pomerania received a torpedo hit, exploded and sank.
From 1917 the remaining ships were taken out of active fleet service and used as living, training or guard ships. Hanover , Silesia and Schleswig-Holstein were taken over into the Reichsmarine and mainly used as training ships. They were rebuilt several times. Silesia and Schleswig-Holstein were still in service at the outbreak of World War II and took part in the German invasion of Poland , with Schleswig-Holstein firing the first shots of the Second World War on the Westerplatte near Danzig . The Silesian supported the end of the war, German forces against the Red Army .
Whereabouts
- Pomerania sank on June 1, 1916 after a British torpedo hit while marching back from the Battle of the Skagerrak.
- Germany was deleted in 1920 andscrappedin Wilhelmshaven until 1922.
- Hanover was canceled in 1935 andscrappedin Bremerhaven from 1944 to 1946.
- Schleswig-Holstein wassunkin Gotenhafen in 1936 and afterbeing bombedon March 21, 1945.
- Schlesien wassunkoff Swinoujscie in 1935 and after being hit by a mine on May 4, 1945.
literature
- Breyer, Siegfried: Battleships and battle cruisers 1905–1970 . Manfred Pawlak Verlagsgesellschaft, Herrsching, ISBN 3-88199-474-2 .
- 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. 42-46 .
- 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).
- Jane's Battleships of the 20th Century , Harper Collins Publishers, London 1996, ISBN 0-00-470997-7 .
- Breyer, Siegfried: The ships of the line of the Germany class , Podzun-Pallas, Wölfersheim-Berstadt 1999, Marine-Arsenal Volume 45, ISBN 3-7909-0682-4 .
- Breyer, Siegfried: The ships of the line SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN and SCHLESIEN , Podzun-Pallas, Wölfersheim-Berstadt 1992, Marine-Arsenal Volume 21, ISBN 3-7909-0463-5 .
