SMS Prinzregent Luitpold
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The SMS Prinzregent Luitpold , named after the Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria (1821–1912), was a large-line ship of the Kaiser class of the German Imperial Navy .
Built at the Germania shipyard in Kiel (building no. 167) was found in August 1913 in service in 1918 Scapa Flow interned and on 21 June 1919 scuttled there . In 1931 the wreck was lifted and in 1933 it was scrapped.
technology
The Prinzregent Luitpold was the last ship in service of a total of five units of the Kaiser- class battleships developed between 1907 and 1909 .
Compared to the other ships of this class, however , the Prinzregent Luitpold had something special. Based on a study carried out by the Reichsmarineamt in 1909, it was to be equipped with a double-acting diesel engine instead of the turbine drive working on the medium shaft by order of Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz . A 6-cylinder two-stroke diesel engine with 12,000 WPS from MAN Nuremberg (SN 1200/6) was planned, which would have enabled the ship to reach a (marching) speed of 12.0 kn if operated alone . The diesel engine of the same power built by the Germania shipyard was intended for the central shaft of the Kronprinz liner , later for the replacement of Kaiser Friedrich III , whose completion was stopped in 1917.
Advantages of this combined drive system were seen in:
- The drive is ready for use more quickly (no steam generation required)
- Lower fuel consumption than turbine drive, thus increased range
- Less need for machine personnel
- Less noticeable exhaust smoke
- Less total space required (no boiler for steam generation)
- Lower manufacturing and labor costs
- Technical and therefore strategic lead over other nations.
On the other hand, the disadvantages were:
- Lower efficiency than turbine engines
- Large overall height of the engines, therefore unfavorable deck openings required
- More vibrations than with turbine engines
- Different fuels, possibly logistical problems
When the Prinzregent Luitpold was commissioned, the engine developed by MAN was not yet reliably operational. As a result, the engine could not be installed and the machine and boiler room provided for it remained empty during the entire operating time of the Prince Regent Luitpold . The middle drive shaft and propeller were also not installed.
The drive ultimately built into the Prinzregent Luitpold therefore only consisted of two sets of Parsons turbines with associated gearboxes and 14 water-tube boilers (instead of 16 on the sister ships).
Due to the lack of drive power of the middle engine, the Prinzregent Luitpold was the slowest ship in the Kaiser class, although this could be compensated for by the diameter of the two propellers increased to 4.0 m (compared to 3.75 m in the sister ships).
The diesel engines did not become reliably operational until the end of 1917, but came too late to be installed.
The delayed engine development also had an impact on the design of the subsequent König class . Additional diesel engines were initially planned for this as well; in fact, large diesels could only be used much later in the armored ships of the Germany- class of the Reichsmarine.
history
Calls
After commissioning, the Prinzregent Luitpold was used in the fleet service of the high seas fleet . Until 1917 she was a squadron flagship in the III. Squadron, replaced on March 14, 1917 by SMS Friedrich der Große , which in turn was replaced as a fleet flagship by SMS Baden .
In 1916 she took part in the Battle of the Skagerrak like all ships of her class (except SMS König Albert ) . It remained undamaged there, did not suffer any combat damage in the further course of the war and thus did not suffer any personnel losses.
Mutiny of 1917
At the beginning of August 1917, due to inadequate supply of the ranks as well as poor and sometimes harassed leadership by the officer corps, there was refusal to obey and mutiny on the Prince Regent Luitpold and the sister ship Frederick the Great . After the crackdown, five people involved were sentenced to death and two of them, Max Reichpietsch and Albin Köbis , were executed while the others were pardoned .
Whereabouts
After the armistice in November 1918 , the Prince Regent Luitpold was interned with most of the deep-sea fleet in Scapa Flow . On June 21, 1919, she was self- sunk there , as the victorious powers decided that the interned ships should not be released again. It was lifted in 1931 and broken up in Rosyth, Scotland, in 1933 .
Commanders
| August 1913 to February 1917 | Sea captain Karl Heuser |
| February 1917 to December 1918 | Sea captain Karl von Hornhardt |
| December 1918 to June 1919 | Lieutenant Captain Jobst von Reiche |
Known crew members
- Walter Lohmann (1878–1930), during the First World War as first artillery officer on board, from 1920 head of the maritime transport department in the general naval office of the Reichswehr Ministry
- Gerhard Wagner (1898–1987), was Rear Admiral Commander Naval Forces Baltic Approaches (COMNAVBALTAP) from 1961 to 1962
See also
literature
- Breyer, Siegfried: Battleships and battle cruisers 1905–1970. JF Lehmanns Verlag Munich 1970, ISBN 3-88199-474-2 .
- Breyer, Siegfried: The battleships of the Kaiser class. Marine-Arsenal Volume 25, Podzun-Pallas-Verlag GmbH Friedberg, ISBN 3-7909-0492-9 .
- Gröner, Erich / 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. 49 f .
- Koop, Gerhard / Klaus-Peter Schmolke: The ships of the line of the Nassau to König class. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1999, ISBN 3-7637-5995-6 .
Web links
- Photos by SMS Prinzregent Luitpold
- Chronological lists of the commanders of German capital ships (English)
- The Propulsion of SMS Prinzregent Luitpold (English)
- Picture of the diesel engine SN 1200/6 under construction in: https://hochhaus-schiffsbetrieb.jimdo.com/neu-die-latte-kapitel-4/