SMS Bavaria (1915)
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SMS Bayern was a large-line ship of the Imperial Navy and type ship of the ship class named after her. It was named after the Kingdom of Bavaria . The name predecessor was the SMS Bayern , a Panzerkorvette the Sachsen class .
history
The construction contract for the ship, which goes by the household name of the Liner T , was awarded to Howaldtswerke in Kiel on April 3, 1913 . The shipyard laid the new building on January 22, 1914 in Kiel . The ship, which was the first German liner to be equipped with a three-legged mast during construction, was ready for launch on February 18, 1915 . Thirteen months later, on March 18, 1916, the Bayern could be put into service. The necessary test drives extended to four months, which is why the ship could not take part in the Battle of the Skagerrak . On July 15, it entered its service in the III. Squadron in Wilhelmshaven. The Bavarian King Ludwig III also visited there on July 25th . the ship.
From August 7th to 16th, 1916, the Bayern served briefly as a fleet flagship . Together with the battleships SMS Markgraf and SMS Großer Kurfürst , Bavaria formed the "Rapid Division" of the 1st Reconnaissance Group during the first naval advance after the Skagerrak Battle from August 18 to 20. After a few smaller missions, she took part in the operation against the Baltic Islands on October 12, 1917 . Before the Soelo-Sund ( Ösel ), Bayern received a mine hit in the amount of the front torpedo broad space . As a result, around 1,000 t of water penetrated the forecastle, which dipped up to the front 38 cm tower. The damage could be repaired in the Tagga Bay with on-board resources . However, this provisional leak protection broke on the way home, and the forecastle again filled with around 1,000 t of water. In Kiel, where Bayern arrived on October 31, the damage was repaired from November 3 to December 27. The torpedo broad space was rebuilt and subdivided. In addition, the number of underwater torpedo tubes has been reduced from five to one. During this work, which received Bayern four of the originally planned eight 8.8-cm L / 45 - Fla-guns .
The Bavarians suffered a grounding in front of the mouth of the Jade on April 15, 1918 , but could take part in the naval advance from April 23 to 24, 1918. From September 23rd to the beginning of October the ship was the flagship of the III. Squadron. Bavaria was also ready for the large fleet advance planned for the end of October by the entire ocean-going fleet . Because of the mutinies on the SMS Helgoland and the SMS Thuringia this was finally given up and the III. Squadron released to Kiel. There the mutiny expanded into the November Revolution.
Whereabouts
The Bavaria was one of the ships whose internment was demanded by the Entente in the armistice agreement . Together with a large part of the ocean-going fleet, she began the ferry trip to the Firth of Forth on November 19, 1918 . From there the III. Squadron continued to Scapa Flow on November 26th . Since it was unclear whether the German government would sign the Versailles Treaty , the commander of the internment association, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter , gave the order to scuttling on June 21, 1919 . The Bayern sank at 14:30.
The wreck of the Bayern was sold to Cox & Danks Ltd. on November 3, 1933 for 750 pounds . sold. During the recovery work , the hull appeared on July 18, 1934 from a depth of 40 m and sank again about half an hour later. The ship was finally lifted on September 1st. The Bayern was first towed to Lyness . From April 26th to April 30th, 1935, the tugs Zwarte Zee , Witte Zee and Ganges brought the ship to Rosyth , where the dismantling work began on June 5th.
The four large turrets are still on the seabed today and can also be dived. The towers broke when the ship attempted to lift in July 1934 from their anchorage. They pose a great danger to divers as they lie upside down in the sand. Many divers have lost their orientation when diving in due to the thrown up mud.
Commanders
| March 18 to December 23, 1916 | Sea captain Max Hahn |
| December 24, 1916 to August 10, 1918 | Sea captain Heinrich Rohardt |
| August 11 to December 10, 1918 | Sea captain Hugo Dominik |
| December 12, 1918 to June 21, 1919 | Captain Albrecht Meißner |
literature
- Breyer, Siegfried: Battleships and battle cruisers 1905–1970 . JF Lehmanns Verlag, Munich 1970, ISBN 3-88199-474-2 , p. 300-302 .
- 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. 52-54 .
- Hildebrand, Hans H. / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships . Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . tape 2 : Biographies from Baden to Eber . Mundus Verlag, Ratingen, S. 45–47 (Approved licensed edition by Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg, approx. 1990).
- Koop, Gerhard / Klaus-Peter Schmolke: Ship classes and ship types of the German Navy . tape 7 : The ships of the line of the Bayern class . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1996, ISBN 3-7637-5954-9 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Co-op / Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Bavaria class. P. 84.
- ↑ a b Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Vol. 2, p. 46.
- ↑ a b c d Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz, Vol. 2, p. 47.
- ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz, Vol. 3, p. 48.
- ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz, Vol. 3, p. 49.
- ↑ a b Koop / Schmolke, p. 85.
- ↑ Wreckage - turrets SMS Bayern ( Memento from September 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ The wrecks of Scapa Flow ( Memento from May 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
