SMS Württemberg (1878)
 SMS Württemberg before its conversion
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SMS Württemberg was the third ship of the Sachsen class , a class of four armored corvettes ,classifiedas ships of the line from 1899, of the German Imperial Navy . The keel of the ship designatedas Panzerschiff D was laid in November 1876 at Werft AG Vulcan Stettin . The launch took place on November 9, 1878, the commissioning on May 9, 1881.
Sister ships were the type ship SMS Sachsen as well as SMS Bayern and SMS Baden .
construction
Of the four armored corvettes planned according to the fleet construction plan of 1873, two each were awarded to the Kaiserliche Werft Kiel ( A and C ) and the AG Vulcan Stettin ( B and D ). Despite the order placed around five months later, the new building B was ready for launch ten months earlier than the later Bavaria , built by the Staatswerft, and thus became the type ship of the class under the name Sachsen . The construction output of the Stettiner Vulcan for the new building D exceeded the output of the Sachsen , because the ship, although laid down 29 months later, was ready for launch only six months after the Bayern and was even put into service before the Bayern . The fact that private shipyards were able to build new ships in a shorter time than the imperial shipyards was evident again and again in later shipbuildings - right up to the Scharnhorst -class battleships .
Material that was produced by German industry was to be used primarily in the construction of the ships. In the case of armor plates, a British make had to be used for the first two units, as the Dillinger Hütte commissioned with the production could not yet produce them in the required quality. This problem no longer existed when the Württemberg was built and the ship received German armor.
First years of service
The Württemberg was first put into service on May 9, 1881 in Swinoujscie for the transfer to the Kaiserliche Werft Kiel, where the final equipment and reinforcement should take place. It was then decommissioned after completion of the test and acceptance drives and remained in reserve status until April 1884. It was only at this point in time that it was put into service again in order to form the armored corvette division of the training squadron together with the other ships of the class. The ship remained in this association until September 30th. Afterwards, an active year alternated with a reserve year until 1892.
In 1892, the Württemberg was used as a replacement for the SMS Oldenburg, which had failed due to a machine accident . It was assigned to the I. Division and changed from autumn 1894 to the newly formed II. Division of the maneuvering squadron (from January 6, 1896 1st squadron). From then on, the I. Division was formed by the new Brandenburg- class ships . From December 9, 1895 to March 10, 1896 and in autumn 1897, the Württemberg temporarily served as a squadron flagship . An accident on December 6, 1897 led to the ship's premature decommissioning on January 15, 1898.
Remodeling and further service
The Württemberg went to repair the accident damage and for the already planned conversions in the shipyard Wilhelmshaven Imperial . The old tank was exchanged for a new Krupp tank and new machines and boilers were installed, making the ship lighter and faster. Outwardly the most striking feature of the renovation was the merging of the four chimneys arranged in pairs (because of which the ships of the Sachsen class were quickly nicknamed cement factories ) into a single one. The armament was not changed, however, so that the combat value of the ships could only be increased moderately.
After completion of the modernization work, the Württemberg was put back into service on October 8, 1899 and came back to the II. Division. After the I. Division (consisting of the ships of the Brandenburg class) had been detached to East Asia in the course of the Boxer Uprising in July 1900 , when they returned in 1901, the units of the Kaiser Friedrich class, which had meanwhile joined the fleet, drove to Spain for the to run towards returning ships. At the same time, the old ironclad ships, classified as ships of the line since 1899, made a trip to the north during which the Württemberg visited Ulvik from July 25th to 31st .
During the autumn maneuver, the ship was assigned to the II. Squadron in order to then become the parent ship of the II. Reserve Division. In addition to the usual training trips, the Württemberg was used for autumn maneuvers in 1902 and 1903 and took part in a trip to Norwegian waters in May and June 1903. On September 29 of the same year, the II. Reserve Division was disbanded and the ship decommissioned. Allocated to the Baltic station on January 2, 1904 , it remained in reserve until 1906.
Service as a torpedo training ship
In contrast to her sister ships, the active service as a warship did not end for the Württemberg . Previously considered torpedo training ship used cruiser frigate SMS Blücher had to be replaced. In the absence of suitable modern ships, the only slightly younger Württemberg was used . The ship was prepared for the new purpose, the armament changed and the barbeds of the heavy artillery that had become free were converted into living rooms and classrooms.
On September 26, 1906, one day after the Blücher had been decommissioned , the Württemberg entered service as a torpedo training ship. After a few test drives, the ship was relocated to the Flensburg-Mürwik base on October 14 , where the Imperial Navy torpedo station was set up. In April 1907, the first exercises were undertaken in the association of training and test ships.
In addition to her work as a torpedo training ship, the Württemberg was once again called in to the autumn maneuvers in 1909 as part of the reserve fleet. It was not officially reclassified from a liner to a training ship until March 28, 1911. In February 1912 she was used for the ice emergency service and was able to salvage four merchant ships.
In autumn 1914 the Württemberg was to be decommissioned and replaced by the large cruiser SMS Fürst Bismarck . The outbreak of the First World War made this planning obsolete. The Wuerttemberg became the flagship of the baggage train of the naval forces, but this feature only kept up in the spring of 1915, as it was necessary to include the school operation. Accordingly, the ship was used again as a torpedo training ship until it was decommissioned on February 1, 1919.
Whereabouts
After its decommissioning, the Württemberg was prepared as a residential ship as well as mother ship and workshop ship for mine clearing associations and used for the 6th Baltic Sea mine search semi -flotilla . This use ended on November 10, 1919.
On October 20, 1920, the Württemberg was removed from the list of warships, sold to the Hattinger Hüttenwerke and then scrapped in Wilhelmshaven.
The large-line ship SMS Rheinland , launched in 1908, was built to replace the ironclad .
Commanders
| May 9-16, 1881 | Corvette Captain Becks |
| April 22nd to September 30th, 1884 | Sea captain Hans von Koester |
| July 30th to September 29th, 1886 | Sea captain Friedrich von Hollmann |
| May 28 to September 21, 1888 | Sea captain Franz von Kyckbusch |
| May 2 to September 26, 1890 | Sea captain Alfred von Tirpitz |
| August 4 to September 27, 1892 | Sea captain Alfred Herz |
| September to November 1892 | Captain Erich von der Groeben |
| November 10, 1892 to October 16, 1893 | Frigate captain / sea captain Max von Fischel |
| October 1893 to September 1895 | Sea captain Curt von Maltzahn |
| October 1, 1895 to September 30, 1897 | Corvette captain / sea captain Karl Ascher |
| October 1897 to January 1898 | Corvette Captain Etienne |
| October 1899 to October 1900 | Sea captain Hugo Westphal |
| October 3, 1900 to March 20, 1901 | Sea captain Eduard Holzhauer |
| March 21 to September 24, 1901 | Sea captain Carl Friedrich |
| September 24, 1901 to September 27, 1902 | Frigate Captain / Captain of the Sea Otto Hoepner |
| October 1902 to September 29, 1903 | Frigate captain / sea captain Carl Schönfelder |
| September 26, 1906 to October 1907 | Sea captain Fritz Sommerwerck |
| October 1907 to September 1909 | Sea captain Johannes Nickel |
| September 30, 1909 to September 30, 1912 | Sea captain Felix Funke |
| October 1912 to August 1914 | Sea captain Georg von Ammon |
| August 1914 to April 1915 | Frigate Captain Reinhold Schmidt |
| April 1915 to February 1917 | Sea captain Wilhelm Adelung |
| February 1917 to January 1918 | Frigate Captain Heuberer |
| January 13 to February 9, 1918 | Sea captain Rudolf Bartels |
| February to November 1918 | Frigate captain / sea captain Herzbruch |
| November to December 1918 | unoccupied |
| December 1918 to February 1, 1919 | Lieutenant Schatteburg |
| April 3 to November 10, 1919 | unknown |
Known crew members
- Hellmuth Heye (1895–1970), was from 1961 to 1964 the second defense commissioner of the German Bundestag
- Franz Wieting (1876–1966), March 18, 1913 to August 5, 1914 First Officer (IO)
literature
- 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. 32 f .
- Hildebrand, Hans H. / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships . Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . tape 8 : Ship biographies from Undine to Zieten . Mundus Verlag, Ratingen, S. 115-119 .
- Regulation of the Imperial Navy - DE No. 426 - Supplementary inventory and material budget for SMS “Württemberg” as a torpedo escort ship - 1909