SMS Kronprinz (ship, 1914)
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 The SMS Crown Prince Wilhelm in Scapa Flow, 1919 |
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| Construction data | ||
| Ship type | Large-line ship | |
| Ship class | King class | |
| Construction designation: | Replacement Brandenburg | |
| Builder: |
Germania shipyard in Kiel, construction number: 182 |
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| Keel laying : | 1912 | |
| Launch : | February 21, 1914 | |
| Completion: | November 8, 1914 | |
| Building-costs: | 45 million marks | |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk in Scapa Flow itself on June 21, 1919. | |
| Ship dimensions | ||
| Displacement : | Construction: 25,796 t maximum: 28,600 t |
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| Length of the waterline : Length over all: |
L HCS = 174.7 m L oa = 175.4 m |
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| Width: | 29.5 m | |
| Draft : | 9-9.19 m | |
| Side height : | front: 14.4 m aft: 12.18 m |
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| Technical specifications | ||
| Boiler system : | 3 oil-fired boilers 12 coal-fired boilers |
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| Machinery: | 3 sets of direct-acting Parsons steam turbines |
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| Number of propellers: | 3 three-leaf Ø 3.8 m | |
| Shaft speed: | 256 / min | |
| Drive power: | Construction output: 31,000 PSW test drive: 46,200 PSW |
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| Speed: | 21 kn | |
| Driving range: | 8,000 nm at 12 kn 4,000 nm at 18 kn |
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| Fuel supply: | 3,000 tons of coal and 600 tons of heating oil | |
| Crew: | 41 officers and 1,095 men | |
| Armor | ||
| Belt armor: lower passage |
front: 120 mm middle: 350 mm aft: 180 mm |
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| Belt armor: upper aisle |
front: 120 mm middle: 180 mm aft: 130 mm |
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| Deck: | horizontal: 60 mm slopes: 100 mm |
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| Towers : | Front / sides: 300 mm, ceiling: 110 mm |
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| Front control station: | horizontal: 150 mm vertical: 300 mm |
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| Control station aft: | horizontal: 50 mm vertical: 200 mm |
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| Casemates : | 170 mm shields: 80 mm |
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| Armament | ||
| Sea target guns: | 10 × 30.5 cm L / 50 900 shots, 162 hm 14 × 15 cm L / 45 2240 shots, 135 hm 6 × 8.8 cm L / 45 |
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| Flak : | 4 × 8.8 cm L / 45 2500 rounds |
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| Torpedo tubes 50 cm: | 4 sides, 1 bow all under water |
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The SMS Kronprinz , renamed SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm on June 15, 1918 , was a large-line ship of the Imperial Navy during World War I and the fourth and last ship of the König class . The renaming took place on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the throne of Kaiser Wilhelm II after the auxiliary cruiser Crown Prince Wilhelm was confiscated by the USA in April 1917.
Construction and technology
The ship was launched on February 21, 1914 at the Germania shipyard in Kiel . It displaced 25,800 tons and had a main armament of ten 30.5 cm guns in five twin turrets.
Calls
It served in the III. Squadron of the high seas fleet , which originally consisted of the four sister ships of the König class and four ships of the Kaiser class , and took part in various combat operations , such as the Skagerrak Battle on May 31/1. June 1916, where it sailed fourth on the battle line and was the only ship in its class not damaged. In the Battle of the Skagerrak, Felix Graf von Luckner , who later became known as the commander of the auxiliary cruiser Seeadler , was tower commander of the eighth 30.5 cm twin gun turret "E". It was the only ship in the deep-sea fleet that had been fitted with the new, thicker tubular mast at the front in 1915, which its sister ships and the naval flagship Friedrich der Große and Kaiser only got installed afterwards (1916/1917).
From November 5 to 6, 1916, the Crown Prince was involved in an advance to Hornsriff and was torpedoed by the British submarine J1 on November 5 . The hit caused a water ingress of 250 tons. From November 6 to December 4, 1916, the ship was repaired in the Kaiserliche Werft Kiel .
On March 5, 1917, during association exercises in the German Bight with the sister ship Großer Kurfürst , the Crown Prince was accidentally rammed into the starboard side at the height of the second 30.5 cm double tower (tower B), which resulted in a water ingress of 600 tons. The repairs were carried out from March 6 to May 14, 1917 in the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven .
During the fighting in October 1917 for the Baltic Islands ( Operation Albion ), the Crown Prince fired at on October 12, 1917 from 5:45 am as part of the III. Squadron of Vice Admiral Paul Behncke , which at that time consisted of the four sister ships of the König class and the Bavaria (with the König as the flagship), together with the association's flagship Moltke (Vice Admiral Ehrhard Schmidt ) the Russian battery No. 46 (four 15- cm guns) on Cape Ninnast (Estonian Ninase) on the east side of Tagga Bay to support the main landing of German army troops on the north side of the island of Ösel . Trenches can still be seen there today (2011).
After passing the Irbenstrasse , the Crown Prince and the King anchored at Michaelsturm (Latvian Mikkeltornis, a lighthouse that still exists today) and after the advance continued on October 16 at 4:30 p.m. in the Gulf of Riga, they were torpedoed by the British submarine C27 with two torpedoes attacked that did not hit. At night, due to the risk of mines, anchors were again made south of Moonsund on the open sea.
During the battle in Moon Sound on October 17, 1917, the two German ships of the line were taken under fire by the two old Russian ships of the line Slawa and Graschdanin at 8:12 a.m. and were surprised to find that they could not return fire because of their range was not sufficient because the pipe elevation was too small. The shorter 30.5 cm guns of the old Russian ships of the line achieved a 30 degree tube elevation, whereas the tube elevation of the modern 30.5 cm L / 50 guns of the German ships, which after the conversion from 13.5 degrees to 16 Degree was increased, still only 204 hectometers (20.4 km) allowed firing range. When the German ships of the line dodged south and then - to surprise the Russians - pushed back north towards Moonsund at high speed, only firing the four bow guns, the König fired at the Russian ship of the line Slawa and the Crown Prince at 10:13 from 10:17 am the Russian ship of the line Grahdanin and the Russian armored cruiser Bajan . The Grahdaness was hit twice by the Crown Prince and the Bayan once.
On October 18, 1917, the Crown Prince had slight and on October 26, 1917 considerable ground contact. The repairs were carried out from October 28 to November 2, 1917 in the Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and from November 24, 1917 to January 8, 1918 in the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven.
On April 23, 1918, she took part in the last advance of the deep sea fleet to the northern latitude of Utsire (Norway).
Downfall
After the end of the war, Crown Prince Wilhelm was interned with the rest of the ocean-going fleet in Scapa Flow and sunk there by its own crew on June 21, 1919 . The ship capsized and has been about 35 meters deep since then. A lifting, as it was done with most of the other ships, did not succeed with the Crown Prince Wilhelm . Only a few parts were blown off the ship and recovered. The wreck is a popular destination for scuba divers . The stern coat of arms of the ship is exhibited in the International Maritime Museum Hamburg .
Commanders
| November 1914 to August 1915 | Sea captain Gottfried Freiherr von Dalwigk zu Lichtenfels |
| August 1915 to November 1916 | Sea captain Constanz Feldt |
| November 1916 to August 1918 | Sea captain Bernhard Rösing |
| August to December 1918 | Sea captain Otto Seidensticker |
| December 1918 to June 1919 | Lieutenant Captain Hans Becker |
Known crew members
- Werner Ehrhardt (1898–1967), was from 1957 to 1960, as Rear Admiral of the Federal Navy , first commander of the command of naval training (KdoMarAusb).
literature
- Siegfried Breyer: The battleships of the König class (= naval arsenal. Bd. 26). Podzun-Pallas, Friedberg (Dorheim) 1994, ISBN 3-7909-0505-4 .
- Siegfried Breyer: Battleships and battle cruisers. 1905-1970. License issue. Pawlak, Herrsching 1988, ISBN 3-88199-474-2 .
- Erich Gröner , Dieter Jung, Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945. Volume 1: Armored ships, ships of the line, battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, gunboats. Bernard & Graefe, Munich et al. 1982, ISBN 3-7637-4800-8 .
- Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships. Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present. Volume 5. Koehler, Herford 1982, ISBN 3-7822-0236-8 .
Web links
Coordinates: 58 ° 53 '32 " N , 3 ° 9' 53.7" W.