SMS Hildebrand
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SMS Hildebrand was the fifth ship of the Siegfried class , a class of eight coastal armored ships of the German Imperial Navy . The Hildebrand , classified until 1899 as ironclad IV. Class, before and in the First World War used.
construction
Construction of the armored ship IV. Class R began on December 9, 1890 at the Kaiserliche Werft Kiel . The launch took place on August 6, 1892. The chief of the naval station of the Baltic Sea , Vice Admiral Eduard Knorr , christened the ship in the name of a hero from Germanic legends . The completion of the new building, which had facilities for a division staff and was intended for use as a division or squadron flagship , took until October 1893.
commitment
Peace time
1893 to 1900
On October 28, 1893, the Hildebrand could be put into service for the first time to carry out test drives. From December 13th to 16th, the ship was briefly used as a watch ship in Kiel. Due to boiler leaks, the test drives had to be broken off on April 6, 1894 and the ship had to go to the shipyard for repairs.
The Hildebrand was put back into service on August 1st. The ship was assigned four days later as the flagship of the Reserve Division of the North Sea. Rear Admiral Iwan Friedrich Julius Oldekop , the Inspector of the Second Marine Inspection, took command of the Reserve Division . In addition to the Hildebrand, its sister ships Beowulf and Frithjof belonged to the association . After exercises by the Reserve Division, the three armored ships joined the 2nd Squadron as 4th Division, which had been formed on August 19 under Rear Admiral August Thomsen for the duration of the autumn maneuvers. The flagship of the squadron was the Stein . After completing the maneuvers on September 21, the Hildebrand carried out the remaining test drives in the Baltic Sea until October 24. On October 27, the ship in Wilhelmshaven took over the function of the main ship of the reserve division of the North Sea.
In the first half of 1895 there were several individual trips and target practice, which was part of the normal service of an active ship. For the opening ceremony of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal on June 21, a second squadron under Rear Admiral Otto von Diederichs was formed, in which the coastal armored ships Hildebrand , Hagen , Heimdall and Frithjof formed a division. The Hildebrand took over the function of the division flagship again from June 11th to 25th, Rear Admiral Oldekop was again division chief. On August 1, the armored ship reserve division consisting of Siegfried , Beowulf , Frithjof and the Hildebrand , which in turn acted as the flagship, was formed. This belonged during the autumn maneuvers as 4th Division from August 19 to the 2nd Squadron under Rear Admiral von Diederichs. Head of division was still Rear Admiral Oldekop. After the end of the maneuvers on September 15, the Beowulf replaced the Hildebrand as the parent ship of the Reserve Division of the North Sea. The Hildebrand was decommissioned on September 27th in Wilhelmshaven, but still belonged to the Reserve Division as a ship.
The next commissioning took place on August 1, 1896. For the autumn maneuvers, the 4th Division of the 2nd Squadron was formed on August 9, consisting of the coastal armored ships Siegfried , Beowulf , Frithjof and the Hildebrand , which served as a division flagship . Head of division became the inspector of the Second Marine Inspection, and Captain Walther Koch. After the end of the maneuvers, the division was disbanded on September 15 and the Hildebrand decommissioned on September 22.
The Hildebrand was also reactivated for the autumn maneuvers of 1897 . This time the II. Squadron consisted for the first time only of ships of the Siegfried class. The Hildebrand served as both a division and a squadron flagship. The ship was put into service on August 3 and formed together with the Siegfried and the Beowulf the 3rd Division. On August 8th the 4th Division, which consisted of Frithjof , Heimdall and Hagen , who sailed as a division flagship , joined the squadron in Kiel . Chief of the 3rd Division and with it Squadron Commander was the Chief of Staff II. Marine Inspection, Rear Admiral Paul Hoffmann , Chief of Staff was Lieutenant Commander Hermann Jacobsen , flag lieutenant Hugo Louran . The maneuvers began on August 15th in Danzig Bay and ended on September 21st in Wilhelmshaven. The Hildebrand was taken out of service nine days later. The ship was not used for the autumn maneuvers of the following year.
On July 26, 1899, the Hildebrand was put back into service. From August 1, she served again as the flagship of the II. Squadron under Rear Admiral Hoffmann, which was again formed for the autumn maneuvers. The squadron consisted of the 3rd Division ( Hildebrand , Siegfried and Beowulf ) and the Aegir , Odin and Frithjof forming the 4th Division . The squadron's chief of staff was Corvette Captain Max Grapow , and the 4th Division was under the command of Rear Admiral Conrad von Bodenhausen . The actual maneuvers took place from August 16 to September 16. On September 22nd, the Hildebrand was taken out of service again.
In 1900 the active period for the ship began on March 26th. The Hildebrand joined the now renamed Reserve Coastal Armored Division of the North Sea as the second parent ship. In this role she replaced Beowulf . From March 31, training trips were undertaken. In May there was a trip together with the Frithjof , where Gudvangen and Bergen were called. For the autumn maneuvers, a second squadron consisting of Hildebrand , Siegfried and Frithjof (3rd division) and Aegir , Odin and Heimdall (4th division) was formed. Its boss became Rear Admiral Volkmar von Arnim on July 30th, and the chief of staff was initially Lieutenant Richard Eckermann , who was replaced by Corvette Captain Karl Dick at the beginning of August . Head of the 4th Division was again Rear Admiral Baron von Bodenhausen. After initially carried out association exercises, the maneuvers of the fleet followed from August 15 to September 15. The II. Squadron was disbanded on September 22nd, the Hildebrand decommissioned on October 2nd in Danzig . At the same time, the ship's affiliation to the reserve coastal armored division of the Baltic Sea changed.
modification
From May 1899 to October 1900, the Danzig Imperial Shipyard carried out an extensive renovation of the Hagen . Since the subsequent test drives of the ship brought positive results, the other units of the Siegfried class were also converted accordingly in the following years. The Imperial Shipyard in Danzig began work on the Hildebrand in the spring of 1901 . On June 16, the fuselage, which had been cut in the middle, was pulled apart and subsequently lengthened by an 8.4 m long section. This was largely completed by the end of 1901. The boiler system was also replaced and eight new marine boilers, a water-tube boiler designed by the Imperial Navy, were installed. By increasing the number of boilers, the ship also received a second chimney, which significantly changed its appearance in combination with the greater overall length. In addition, parts of the originally used armor made of composite steel on teak wood were replaced by one made of nickel steel from the Krupp company . In addition, three of the four were torpedo tubes replaced by those with 45 cm diameter, the number of caliber 88mm length / 30- quick-charging guns increased to ten and six 3.7-cm- machine guns therefor removed.
1902 to 1909
On July 1, 1902, the Hildebrand was put into service for the first time after its renovation. The ship replaced the Aegir , which had been decommissioned the day before and which was also sent to the shipyard for conversion, as the parent ship of the Baltic Reserve Division. On July 30th, the Hildebrand joined the Second Squadron under Rear Admiral Curt von Prittwitz and Gaffron, which was formed for the autumn maneuvers, as the flagship of the Second Admiral, the Inspector of the Naval Artillery Rear Admiral Carl Galster . The Baden served as the association's flagship . The maneuvers started on August 17 in the Baltic Sea were later continued in the North Sea. A severe storm forced the last exercises to be stopped on September 17th. The maneuver was officially ended the following day, and the 2nd Squadron was disbanded on September 21. The Hildebrand undertook several training trips in the Baltic Sea in the following months and visited Helsingborg among others . For the autumn maneuvers of 1903, a temporary II. Squadron was formed for the last time on July 4th under Rear Admiral Ernst Fritze . Squadron flagship was again the Baden . On July 30, the Hildebrand became the flagship of the Second Admiral, Rear Admiral Rudolf von Eickstedt , who worked in the construction department of the Reichsmarinamt . In addition to various reconnaissance and blockade exercises, a permanent voyage into Norwegian waters took place from August 31st from Wilhelmshaven, which ended on September 5th without calling at intermediate ports in Kiel. After the end of the maneuvers on September 12, the squadron was disbanded again.
According to a very high cabinet order of June 29th, the active battle fleet, consisting of two permanently active squadrons of eight ships each and the association of reconnaissance ships, was formed in autumn 1903. In 1907 it was renamed the Deep Sea Fleet . The reserve divisions of the North and Baltic Seas were disbanded for the II. Squadron, which existed continuously until August 1917, and their main ships formed the new squadron on September 22nd. Rear Admiral Fritze took command of the association and on the same day set his flag on the Hildebrand . Chief of staff was Corvette Captain Otto Wurmbach . Since the Hildebrand had to stay in the shipyard, Emperor Friedrich III , who actually belonged to the 1st Squadron, took over from October 8th . and from October 25th, the large cruiser Victoria Louise will take the role of flagship. On October 31st, Hildebrand was available again for this service. From November 23, the ship undertook a training trip to the eastern Baltic Sea together with the fleet. From December 1, a trip to the Skagerrak followed , during which Frederikshavn was called.
In May 1904, the fleet exercises in the North Sea. During the Kiel week the fleet was assembled in Kiel and was inspected by the British King Edward VII . On July 6, the active battle fleet ran out on its summer voyage. Initially, joint exercises were carried out in the German Bight before the fleet separated off Borkum . While the II. Squadron, the torpedo boats and the Friedrich Carl carried out further exercises, the I. Squadron and the reconnaissance ships came to Plymouth for a visit. On July 14th, the 2nd Squadron, the torpedo boats and the reconnaissance ships met in Den Helder . An originally planned visit to the German ships by Queen Wilhelmina did not take place. Dutch waters were abandoned on July 20th. The journey led along the English and Scottish east coasts across the Shetland Islands to the northern North Sea, where the individual associations called at various Norwegian ports on July 29th. The Hildebrand visited with the II. Squadron and the torpedo boats Bergen. The association left the port on August 6th and returned to Kiel with the entire fleet on August 12th.
The Hildebrand also continued to serve as the flagship during the autumn maneuvers that began in the Baltic Sea on August 29 . During the maneuvers there was a parade in front of Wilhelm II in front of Heligoland on September 6th . Also were together with the IX. Army Corps landing maneuvers carried out. The autumn maneuvers ended on September 15th. Two days later the Kaiser Friedrich III took over . the function of the squadron flagship. The Hildebrand retired, like the other coastal armored ships, from the 2nd Squadron. The ship ran to Danzig and was decommissioned there on September 23. For the next few years it belonged to the I. Reserve of the Reserve Division of the Baltic Sea.
A last activation of the Hildebrand in peacetime took place for the autumn maneuvers 1909. For this all reserve ships were put into service and combined into a reserve fleet under Vice Admiral Hugo Zeye , whose flagship was Swabia . The eight units of the Siegfried class formed the III. Squadron under Hugo Pohl , who was promoted to Vice Admiral on September 5 and whose flagship was the Hildebrand . The maneuvers that took place in the Baltic Sea and during which landing exercises were carried out off Aabenraa began on August 16. Before the end of the autumn maneuvers, the III. Squadron left the fleet on September 6 and ran to Gdansk, where it was disbanded on September 15. The Hildebrand was also decommissioned on the same day .
First World War
At the outbreak of the First World War , the coastal armored ships were reactivated and classified as VI. Squadron grouped under Rear Admiral Richard Eckermann. Second admiral was Rear Admiral Ehler Behring until August 22, 1914 , who was then transferred to the eastern Baltic Sea as a "detached admiral". The post of Second Admiral has not been filled. The Hildebrand was put into service on August 12th and served again as a squadron flagship. The association ran to Kiel on August 21, where exercises were carried out. On September 1st, Captain Herwarth Schmidt von Schwind took over the business of the squadron chief after Rear Admiral Behring had succeeded Captain Ernst von Mann as Chief of Staff of the high seas fleet.
The squadron was relocated to the German Bight in mid-September. There the ships took over the coastal protection and were divided between the estuary waters of the Elbe , Weser , Jade and Ems . On September 28th, the Hildebrand had to tow Hagen , which had got stuck in front of Voslapp . During the operation of the I and II reconnaissance groups against the English east coast on November 2 and 3, the squadron was on standby on the Outer Jade. On November 16, the association was spun off from the deep sea fleet and placed under the North Sea naval station . The squadron continued to be active in coastal protection and outpost service in the German Bight and was available to the deep sea fleet on request.
While trying to tow the aircraft mother ship Answald , the Hildebrand got stuck on the Jade on December 9th. On the following day, both ships were towed free by shipyard tugs. However, the Hildebrand had suffered considerable damage to the outer skin and the inner floor and therefore had to go to the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven for repairs on December 12th . The squadron chief, promoted to rear admiral on September 19, switched to the Aegir a day later , which took on the role of flagship until the squadron was disbanded. The Hildebrand was able to leave the shipyard on April 6, 1915 and was initially used on the Jade and later on the Elbe. When the squadron was disbanded on August 31, the ship was assigned to the Elbe port flotilla. Due to the shortage of personnel in the Imperial Navy, the now completely outdated Hildebrand was released from the port flotilla on January 9, 1916 and ran to Gdansk via Kiel. There the ship was finally decommissioned on January 16.
Whereabouts
After Desarmierung was Hildebrand as a barge in first to Libau , later to Windau towed. The ship remained there until the beginning of 1919. On June 17, 1919, it was deleted from the list of warships. The Hildebrand was then sold to the Netherlands for scrapping. During the transfer voyage, the ship stranded in a storm off Scheveningen on December 21 . The six men of the transfer team were rescued, but the ship had to be abandoned. The Hildebrand wreck was blown up in 1933.
The large liner Kaiser , launched in 1911, was built to replace the Hildebrand .
Commanders
| October 28, 1893 to April 6, 1894 | Corvette Captain Max Ehrlich |
| August 1 to September 1894 | Corvette Captain Hermann da Fonseca-Wollheim |
| September 1894 to July 1895 | Corvette captain / sea captain Oelrichs |
| August 27th to September 27th 1895 | Corvette Captain Georg Alexander Müller |
| August 1 to September 22, 1896 | Corvette Captain August von Dassel |
| August 3 to September 30, 1897 | Corvette Captain Georg Janke |
| July 26th to September 22nd, 1899 | Corvette Captain Pustau |
| March 26 to October 2, 1900 | Corvette Captain / Frigate Captain Hermann Lilie |
| July 1 to September 1902 | Corvette Captain von Witzleben |
| September 1902 to May 1903 | Corvette Captain / Frigate Captain Wilhelm Becker |
| May to July 1903 | Corvette Captain Paul Schlieper |
| July to October 1903 | Corvette Captain Wilhelm Becker |
| October 1903 to September 23, 1904 | Corvette Captain Christian Schütz |
| July 22 to September 15, 1909 | Corvette Captain Reinhold Fischer |
| August 12 to December 1914 | Corvette Captain Georg Hoffmann |
| December 1914 to February 1915 | Captain von Freudenreich |
| February to April 1915 | Frigate Captain Bunnemann |
| April to August 1915 | Frigate Captain Mysing |
| August 1915 to January 1916 | Frigate Captain Erich Graf von Zeppelin |
| January 1916 | Lieutenant Werner von Chappuis |
literature
- Erich Gröner / 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. 34-36 .
- Hans H. Hildebrand / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships . Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . tape 4 : Ship biographies from Greif to Kaiser . Mundus Verlag, Ratingen, S. 157-163 .
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 6 ′ 0 ″ N , 4 ° 15 ′ 0 ″ E