SMS Nassau
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| Construction data | ||
| Ship type | Large-line ship ( battleship ) |
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| Ship class | Nassau class | |
| Construction designation: | Replacement Bavaria | |
| Builder: |
Imperial shipyard , Wilhelmshaven, construction no .: 30 |
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| Keel laying : | July 22, 1907 | |
| Launch : | March 7, 1908 | |
| Completion: | October 1, 1909 | |
| Crew: | 40 officers and 968 men | |
| Building-costs: | 37.4 million gold marks | |
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| Sister ships | ||
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SMS Westfalen SMS Rheinland SMS Poznan |
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| Ship dimensions | ||
| Measurement: | 10,351 GRT 6,379 NRT |
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| Displacement : | Construction: 18,873 t Maximum: 20,535 t |
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| Length: |
KWL : 145.6 m over everything: 146.1 m |
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| Width: | 26.9 m | |
| Draft : | 8.76 m | |
| Side height : | 13.25 m | |
| Technical specifications | ||
| Boiler system : | 12 marine boilers (coal / oil firing) |
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| Machinery: | 3 standing 3-cylinder triple expansion steam engines |
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| Number of propellers: | 3 four-leaf 5 m | |
| Shaft speed: | 124 min −1 | |
| Drive power: | 26,244 PSi | |
| Speed: | 20 kn | |
| Driving range: | 8,300 nm at 12 kn | |
| Fuel supply: | 2,700 tons of coal and 160 tons of oil | |
| Armor | ||
| Belt armor: | front: 80 mm middle: 300 mm aft: 90 mm |
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| Side armor: | front: 100 mm middle: 170 mm aft: 120 mm |
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| Deck: | 55-80 mm | |
| Towers : | 90-280 mm | |
| Casemates : | 160 mm (shields: 80 mm) | |
| Control center (front): | horizontal: 80 mm vertical: 400 mm |
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| Control center (aft): | horizontal: 50 mm vertical: 200 mm |
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| Armament | ||
| Sea target guns: | 12 Sk - 28 cm L / 45 in six double towers (204 hm , 900 shots) 12 Sk - 15 cm L / 45 (168 hm, 1,800 shots) 14 Sk - 8.8 cm L / 45 (until 1916) |
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| Flak : | 2 - 8.8 cm L / 45 (from 1915) | |
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Torpedo tubes 45 cm: |
1 bow, 1 stern, 4 sides (all under water) |
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SMS Nassau was the first large line ship ( battleship ) of the Imperial Navy of the German Empire. It was named after the then Prussian province of Hessen-Nassau .
history
The Nassau was planned as a replacement for the more than 25-year-old Bayern armored corvette of the Saxony class , as was its sister ships Westfalen , Rheinland and Posen , which also replaced outdated armored corvettes and were all named after Prussian provinces.
Construction and construction
The Nassau class is often understood as a typical "answer building" to the British HMS Dreadnought and the American South Carolina class . However, this does not correspond to the facts, because the plans go back to 1904. The Imperial Navy, like the British and American, had long recognized that the problems of coordinating guns of different calibers could be solved by switching to a battleship with a uniform gun caliber . In addition, the naval battle near Tsushima in May 1905 made it clear that in future conflicts the cannons would have to be expected to have a considerably larger firing range. At that time assumptions were based on an average combat distance of approx. 2000 to 3000 meters, while at Tsushima the fight took place at 7000 to 8000 meters.
The six turrets of Nassau were installed in a hexagonal arrangement . This had the disadvantage that with a total of twelve gun barrels of 28 cm caliber only eight could fire at the same time to the sides; forward and aft there were only six. On the other hand, there was a so-called fire reserve: if the towers on one side of the ship had been destroyed in battle , those on the other side could have been used after a turning maneuver or in the mêlée .
One reason for this unfavorable set-up was the fact that the Nassau and her three sister ships had to be equipped with conventional piston steam engines. The overall height of the machines made it impossible to install the central turrets on the center line of the hull, from where they could have fired on both sides. A so-called "excessive final statement", i.e. H. In front of and behind the engines, such as in the South Carolina class, in which one tower could fire over the other, was discarded because it was feared that the resulting gas pressure could damage the lower, overfired tower when firing over the ends of the ship. These concerns were only dispelled when the later Kaiser class was being planned.
Another reason was that Admiral von Tirpitz attached great importance to strong all-round fire power, as he still considered close combat between battleships to be possible. In order to keep the width of the fuselage within limits, lateral single turrets were initially planned, but these were replaced by double turrets in the final design, as the ratio between the firepower and the weight of the turrets and armor would otherwise have been too unfavorable. The resulting large distance between the outer wall of the hull and the torpedo bulkhead improved the stability against underwater hits by mines and torpedoes .
Because of the large fuselage width was assumed at first, to bilge keels to dispense. During the tests it turned out, however, that there was a synchronicity with the swell of the North Sea on certain courses , which caused violent rolling movements (around the longitudinal axis) of the ship. The subsequent attachment of the bilge keels made the ship's movements much quieter, which also had a positive influence on the accuracy of the guns.
commitment
First World War
SMS Nassau was involved in many companies of the Imperial Navy in the North Sea . The highlight was her participation in the Skagerrak Battle , in which she was damaged by two medium artillery shell hits and a collision with the British destroyer HMS Spitfire . Eleven dead and 16 wounded were mourned on the ship.
After a subsequent stay in the shipyard to repair the damage, the SMS Nassau was operational again on July 10, 1916.
In 1917 there was a sailor mutiny against the continuation of the war, with Joseph Götz playing a key role .
List of missions
- 6 to 20 August 1915: advance into the Riga Bay
- March 5-6, 1916: Unsuccessful advance into the Hoofden
- March 25-26, 1916: Repels a British attack on the airship hangars in Tondern
- April 24, 1916: Remote backup of the Great cruiser , the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft fired.
- May 31, 1916: Battle of the Skagerrak
- August 18-19, 1916: Unsuccessful advance into the North Sea
- April 23, 1918: Advance into the sea area off Stavanger
- August 1918: Participation in the Schlussstein company planned
Whereabouts
According to the terms of the Versailles Treaty , the Nassau had to be removed from the fleet list on November 5, 1919 and delivered to Japan on April 7, 1920 as a reparation ship B. Since the Japanese had no use for the ship they were awarded, they sold it in June 1920 to a British scrap company, which had it scrapped in Dordrecht .
Commanders
| Rank | Surname | Command time |
|---|---|---|
| Sea captain | Contactor | October 1909 - September 1910 |
| Sea captain | Gisberth Jasper | September 16, 1910 - September 30, 1912 |
| Sea captain | Ludolf von Usslar | October 1, 1912 - August 25, 1915 |
| Sea captain | Max Köthner | August - November 1915 |
| Sea captain | Robert Kuehne | November 1915 - February 1916 |
| Sea captain | Hans Klappenbach | March 1916 - January 1917 |
| Sea captain | Victor Reclam | January 1917 - November 1918 |
| Sea captain | Hermann Bauer | November 6 - December 20, 1918 |
literature
- Erich Gröner, Dieter Jung, Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945. Volume 1, Bernard & Graefe, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7637-4800-8 .
- Siegfried Breyer: Battleships and battle cruisers 1905–1970. JF Lehmanns Verlag, Munich 1970, ISBN 3-88199-474-2 .
- Roger Chesneau, Eugene M. Kolesnik: Warships of the world 1860 to 1905. Volume 1: Great Britain and Germany. Bernard & Graefe, Koblenz 1983, ISBN 3-7637-5402-4 .
- Axel Grießmer: ships of the line of the Imperial Navy 1906–1918. Bernard & Graefe, Bonn 1999, ISBN 3-7637-5985-9 .
- Regulation of the Imperial Navy - DE No. 371,116 - Ship customer SMS Nassau - 1913.
- Robert Gardiner (Ed.): Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921 . Conway Maritime Press, London 1985, ISBN 0-85177-245-5 , pp. 145 (English).