SMS Heimdall , was the fourth ship of the Siegfried class , a class of eight coastal armored ships of the Imperial Navy . The ships were originally classified as armored ships IV class, but were operated as coastal armored ships from 1899.
On November 2, 1891 began Imperial Shipyard in Wilhelmshaven with the construction of the battleship IV. Class U . Almost nine months later, on July 27, 1892, the new building was ready for launch. He was baptized by Kaiser Wilhelm II in the name of a god from North Germanic mythology . The further expansion of the ship dragged on until the spring of 1894.
commitment
Peace time
The Heimdall was first put into service on April 7, 1894 to carry out test drives. These revealed severe defects in the boiler system. The ship therefore had to be returned to the shipyard for several months, where improvements were made. From November 1st to December 15th the test drives could be continued and completed. Then the Heimdall was moved to Kiel and assigned to the reserve division of the Baltic Sea. Until April 1895, only a part of the intended crew was on board the ship. After the crew was replenished to the required strength, the Heimdall undertook exercises in the Baltic Sea in the association of the Panzerschiff Division and took part in the inauguration of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal on June 21 . Since the dispatch of ships to Morocco and East Asia had become necessary, the Heimdall had to be taken out of service on July 5 to meet the need for officers and men .
The Heimdall was put back into service on August 8, 1897. The ship joined the II. Squadron formed for the autumn maneuvers, which consisted of a total of six Siegfried- class units . The squadron was under the command of Paul Hoffmann , whose flagship was the Hildebrand . On September 8, the Heimdall suffered a serious accident in Danish waters, which was repaired by the Kaiserliche Werft Kiel . The ship was decommissioned on September 24th. Heimdall was also reactivated for the autumn maneuvers in 1898 and 1900 .
In 1901 and 1902, the Kaiserliche Werft Kiel carried out a renovation on the Heimdall , which the other units of the Siegfried class were also subjected to. The ship was cut in the middle and extended by an 8.4 m long section. In addition, the original boiler system was replaced by eight marine boilers . The ship received a second chimney, which, together with the extension, significantly changed its appearance. Changes to the armament were also made. The six 3.7-cm - machine guns were removed, the number of 8.8-cm rapid-loading cannon increased this to ten. Three of the four existing four 35 cm torpedo tubes were also replaced by 45 cm diameter ones. The conversion made it possible to significantly increase the ship's coal supply and thus its range, as well as increasing engine performance and top speed.
The Heimdall was put back into service on July 15, 1902 to take part in the autumn maneuvers as part of the temporarily formed II. Squadron. The Heimdall was also used for the maneuvers in the following year . The ship was used for the last time in peacetime in 1909. For the autumn maneuvers, all reserve ships were activated and combined into a reserve fleet under Vice Admiral Hugo Zeye . The coastal armored ships of the Siegfried class formed the III. Squadron under Hugo Pohl , who was promoted to Vice Admiral on September 5 . Squadron flagship was the Hildebrand . After the end of the maneuvers, the Heimdall was decommissioned on September 17.
First World War
After the outbreak of the First World War , Heimdall was reactivated on August 12, 1914. Together with her sister ships she belonged to the VI. Squadron under Rear Admiral Richard Eckermann . After individual and association exercises, the Heimdall took over the coastal protection and outpost service on the Jade and Weser estuaries on September 19 . On December 23, 1914, she rammed the large-line ship Kaiserin in the roadstead of Wilhelmshaven , but she did not suffer any major damage. From June 15, 1915 Heimdall was stationed on the Ems . The commandant of the coastal armored ship, Captain Rudolf Bartels , also became chief of the coastal defense division of the Ems and the oldest sea commanding officer on the Ems, with which he was in command of the coastal waters there. With the dissolution of VI on August 31. Geschwaders also belonged to the Heimdall itself of the coastal defense division of the Ems. In this association, the ship was also used as a target ship . On February 24, 1916, the now completely outdated Heimdall was detached from the association, now known as the Ems Coast Guard Flotilla, and decommissioned in Emden on March 2 . In addition to the low combat value of the coastal armored ship, the tense personnel situation of the Imperial Navy was a reason for the decommissioning.
Whereabouts
The Heimdall was disarmed in 1916 and even until the war ended in Emden as a barge used initially for the IV. Unterseebootsflottille and in December 1917 the Vorpostenflottille the Ems. The ship was removed from the list of warships on June 17, 1919. The plan to convert the Heimdall into a lifting ship did not materialize. In 1921 the ship was scrapped in Rönnebeck .
Friedrich der Große , launched in 1912, was built to replace the Heimdall . The large-line ship served as a fleet flagship during the Skagerrak Battle .
Gröner, Erich / Dieter Jung / Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945 . tape1 : Armored ships, ships of the line, battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, gunboats . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7637-4800-8 , p.34-36 .
Hildebrand, Hans H. / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships . Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . tape4 : Ship biographies from Greif to Kaiser . Mundus Verlag, Ratingen, S.102-104 .
↑ The designation of the lower officer ranks was not determined until January 1, 1900 in the way that is still used today. The rank of lieutenant in the sea corresponded to a first lieutenant in the sea in 1895.
↑ The rank of frigate captain was only introduced in 1898.
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