SMS Rheinland
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| Construction data | ||
| Ship type | Large-line ship | |
| Ship class | Nassau class | |
| Construction designation: | Replacement Württemberg | |
| Builder: |
AG Vulcan , Stettin, construction no .: 287 |
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| Keel laying : | June 1, 1907 | |
| Launch : | September 26, 1908 | |
| Completion: | April 30, 1910 | |
| Crew: | 40 officers and 968 men | |
| Building-costs: | 36.92 million gold marks | |
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| Ship dimensions | ||
| 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: | 123 rpm | |
| Drive power: | 27,498 PSi | |
| Speed: | 20.0 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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The SMS Rheinland was a large-line ship ( battleship ) of the Imperial Navy . It was named after the Prussian province of Rhineland .
history
The Rheinland was planned as a replacement for the more than 25-year-old armored ship SMS Württemberg of the Saxony class , which is about to be retired, in the naval budget. Just like their sister ships Westfalen , Nassau and Posen , which also replaced outdated ironclad ships and were all named after Prussian provinces.
Construction and construction
The Nassau- class is often understood as a typical "answer building" for the British HMS Dreadnought and the American South Carolina class . However, this is not true. The plans for the four ships of this class 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 the Rhineland were built 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; on the other hand, there were six forward and aft. On the other hand, you had a so-called fire reserve. I.e. had the towers on one side of the ship been destroyed in the battle , those on the other side could have been used after a turning maneuver or in the mêlée . However, this reserve became obsolete with increasing combat distances, as the towers in Feuerlee were also endangered by falling projectiles.
One reason for this unfavorable set-up was the fact that the Rheinland 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 "exaggerated 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 when firing over the ends of the ship, the resulting gas pressure could damage the lower, overfired tower. Only when planning the later Kaiser class were these concerns dispelled.
Another reason was that Alfred 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 installation of the bilge keels made the ship's movements much quieter, which also had a positive influence on the accuracy of the guns - at the same time, the ship's speed was reduced by 0.8 knots.
commitment
First World War
The Rhineland has participated 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 15.2 cm shell hits from the medium artillery . Ten dead and 20 wounded were mourned on the ship.
List of missions
- 6-20 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
- February 22 - April 11, 1918: Participation in the Finland intervention
Stranding and recovery at the Finland company
The Rheinland left the port of Eckerö on April 11, 1918 at 4 a.m. to march to Reval . At 07.30 am, the ship ran in the fog due to a strong current displacement at 59 ° 51 ' N , 19 ° 55' E at approx. 15 kn on an underwater rock near the lighthouse of Lagskär , whereby two crew members died. Two thirds of the ship sat up and the draft was just 6.75 m in front instead of 8.75 m and only 7.20 m in the aft instead of 8.66 m, ie it protruded 2 m higher out of the water than with normal operational displacement.
After the navy initially considered entrusting the salvage to a civilian company, after an extensive assessment by the naval construction officer Horst Ahnhudt of the Kaiserliche Werft Kiel , it decided to carry out the recovery on its own. The recovery time was estimated at 10 to 12 weeks. For this purpose, all accessible flooded rooms were first drained and largely sealed with concrete and leak pads. The pressure of the ship on the rock was approx. 4,000 t, the loss of lift 3,600 t, ie the difference between the ship's weight and buoyancy was 7,700 t. In order to lift the ship only half a meter, a lifting force of approx. 1,500 t was required, which resulted in a total weight of 9,200 t. As a result, the additional reserves could only be achieved through leak sealing, lightening and lifting boxes. The first lighter was 2,921 tons: 1,758 tons of coal, 657 tons of ammunition, 381 tons of inventory and 85 tons of crews with utensils. The workshop ship Bosnia provides valuable help , later the crane ship Viper , a former armored cannon boat of the Waspe class , arrived and began dismantling the armor plates, guns and turrets. A total of around 6,400 tons were lifted. Six floating boxes with a lifting force of 650 tons each - a total of 3,900 t - came from Werft AG Weser , but this was not sufficient for the ship's weight of around 6,300 t after deducting the lightened weights. Therefore, four more floating tanks had to be built with a lifting force of 750 tons each. These arrived in Mariehamn on June 16, 1918 and were immediately attached to the damaged vessel. The floating began on July 7th and the Rhineland was released on July 8th .
Whereabouts
After the emergency repairs in Mariehamn , the liner was transferred to Kiel with tug assistance on July 24, 1918 . In view of the severity of the damage and the general situation, no restoration was undertaken. On October 4, 1918, it was decommissioned and used as a residential ship. As spoils of war awarded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Versailles , the Rhineland had to be delivered as ship F and was transferred to the Netherlands for scrapping on July 29, 1920.
Commanders
| Rank | Surname | Command time |
|---|---|---|
| Sea captain | Albert Hopman | April 1910 - August 1910 |
| Corvette Captain | Wilhelm Bunnemann | September 1910 |
| Sea captain | Albert Hopman | September 1910 - September 1911 |
| Sea captain | Richard Engel | October 1911 - August 1915 |
| Sea captain | Heinrich Rohardt | August 1915 - December 1916 |
| Sea captain | Johann von Lessel | December 1916 - August 1917 |
| Corvette Captain | Theodor von Gorrissen i. V. | August 1917 - September 1918 |
| Sea captain | Ernst Toussaint | September 1918 |
| Frigate captain | Friedrich Berger | September - October 1918 |
literature
- Breyer, Siegfried: Battleships and battle cruisers 1905-1970. JF Lehmanns Verlag, Munich 1970. ISBN 3-88199-474-2
- Grießmer, Axel: ships of the line of the Imperial Navy 1906-1918. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1999. ISBN 3-7637-5985-9
- Gröner, Erich / Dieter Jung / Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945. Volume 1. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Munich 1982. ISBN 3-7637-4800-8
- Koop, Gerhard / Klaus-Peter Schmolke: Ship classes and ship types of the German Navy. Volume 9. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1999. ISBN 3-7637-5994-8
