SMS Markgraf
 Model of the Margrave
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The battleship SMS Markgraf was the third large battleship of the King class , which by the Imperial Navy was commissioned.
history
The Margrave was launched on June 4, 1913 at AG Weser in Bremen and was put into service on October 1, 1914. In the Skagerrak battle from May 31 to June 1, 1916, the ship, together with the other units of the König class, formed the 5th Division of III. Squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Paul Behncke . Since the 5th Division was at the head of the German fleet, with the exception of the battlecruisers , it was most exposed to enemy fire. The Margrave drove third on the battle line and received five hits that killed eleven men of the crew. She was at AG. Vulcan was repaired in Hamburg and was ready for use again on July 20, 1916.
From October 11th to 19th, 1917, the Margrave , together with the other ships of the König class, was deployed against the Russian Baltic Fleet off the Baltic Islands . The Margrave was not present at the battle in Moon Sound , in which the Russian ship of the line Slawa was sunk . On the march back from the Baltic Islands, it was hit by a mine on October 29, 1917 and was repaired from November 6 to 23 in the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven .
For the remainder of the First World War, the Margrave , like most other capital ships, was mostly in Wilhelmshaven .
In 1918 she took part in the last advance of the deep sea fleet against the Norwegian Utsire . On October 30, 1918, she was one of the ships that took part in the Kiel sailors' uprising .
Whereabouts
The Margrave was after the First World War transferred along with other warships of the Imperial Navy to the UK and in Scapa Flow interned. When it became clear that the victorious powers would not surrender the seized ships, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered the deep-sea fleet to sink itself on the morning of June 21, 1919 .
The Margrave sank only around 5 p.m. as the last of the German capital ships. That is why it was the preferred target of the now hastily rushing British who shot the unarmed Germans with rifles in a very undisciplined manner (without orders from the admiral, who was on a training voyage with his battleships). A British guard tried to prevent the Margrave's crew from sinking by fire. The commandant, Korvettenkapitän Walter Schumann, and Oberbootsmannsmaat Hermann Dittmann were killed. Both were buried in the Royal Naval Cemetery by Lyness .
The wreck lies keel up at a depth of 47 m off the island of Cava and was partially scrapped after 1962.
Commanders
| October 1914 to August 1915 | Sea captain Hermann Nordmann |
| August 1915 to October 1916 | Sea captain Karl Seifering |
| October 1916 to August 1917 | Sea captain Friedrich Behncke |
| August 1917 to November 1918 | Sea captain Hermann Mörseberger |
| November 1918 to June 1919 | Corvette Captain Walter Schumann |
Known crew members
- Ernst von Weizsäcker (1882–1951), naval officer and diplomat , State Secretary of the Foreign Office and brigade leader of the General SS
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 6. Koehler, Herford 1982, ISBN 3-7822-0237-6 .
Web links
- Photos of battleships of the King class (English)
- Description of the Skagerrak Battle (English)
- Chronological lists of the commanders of German capital ships (English)
Coordinates: 58 ° 53 '30 " N , 3 ° 9' 54" W.