SMS Wittelsbach
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 SMS Wittelsbach |
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| Construction data | |
| class | Wittelsbach class |
| Ship type | Ship of the line |
| Shipyard |
Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven construction no .: 25 |
| Building name | New ship of the line C |
| Launch | 3rd July 1900 |
| Commissioning | October 15, 1902 |
| Whereabouts | Struck off the list of warships on March 8, 1921, broken up in Wilhelmshaven in 1921/22. |
| Technical specifications | |
| Displacement | Construction: 11,774 t Maximum: 12,798 t |
| length |
KWL : 125.2 m over all: 126.8 m |
| width | 20.8 m |
| Draft | 8.04 m |
| Propulsion system |
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| Machine performance | 15,530 PSi |
| speed | 18.1 kn |
| Driving range | 5,000 nm at 10 kn |
| Armament |
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| Armor | |
| crew | 683 men |
SMS Wittelsbach , named after the German aristocratic family Wittelsbach , launched in 1900 at the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven , was the first of five liners of the Wittelsbach class of the Imperial Navy named after them .
In 1901 the sister ships Wettin were launched at Schichau in Danzig , Zähringen at the Germania shipyard in Kiel , and Swabia also at the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven and Mecklenburg at AG Vulcan in Stettin .
Technical specifications
The Wittelsbach- class ships were 127 m long, displaced around 11,775 tons, and were supposed to run 18 knots.
The manning was 33 officers and 650 NCOs and men. When used as a squadron flagship , a staff of 13 officers and 66 NCOs were also on board.
As with the previous Kaiser Friedrich class , the armament consisted of four 24 cm, eighteen 15 cm and twelve 8.8 cm rapid-fire cannons as well as twelve 3.7 cm revolver cannons and six torpedo tubes .
commitment
The Wittelsbach was from her commissioning on 15 October 1902 to 1916 almost continuously in fleet service. During her tests, she ran into the Great Belt on December 13, 1902 on a trip from Wilhelmshaven to Kiel around Cape Skagen in thick fog . Despite efforts by Prince Heinrich , the Emperor Charlemagne , tugs and auxiliary ships as well as lightening of the ship, the Wittelsbach was not released again until December 20th.
Service in Peace
After a stay in the shipyard in Kiel, the Wittelsbach joined the 1st Squadron on March 1, 1903 as the flagship of the 2nd Admiral. On October 1, 1904, she became the flagship of the 1st Squadron, which consisted of four ships of the Wittelsbach class and four of the Kaiser Friedrich class. In September 1908, Silesia and Hanover joined the association. The latter took over the function of the Wittelsbach's flagship . This was temporarily the flagship of the 2nd Admiral before it was decommissioned on September 20, 1910 and replaced by the large-line ship Posen .
On November 16, 1911, the Wittelsbach was put back into service as the parent ship of the Reserve Division of the North Sea. In May 1912 she then moved to Kiel in order to perform the same function in the Baltic Sea. In addition to the usual exercises, she transported a Frithjof statue to Balholmen from July 5 to 7, 1913 , which the crew erected there and which the Emperor, who was present with his yacht Hohenzollern , handed over to the Norwegian King Haakon VII on July 31 . After the usual duties in the training squadron, the instructor at the Naval Academy, Captain Eberhard von Mantey , temporarily took over command for the sick commander on June 23, 1914 . With the outbreak of war shortly afterwards, this became a permanent change of command.
War effort
With the mobilization, the Wittelsbach became the flagship of the fourth squadron of the high seas fleet, which was mainly used in the Baltic Sea. The squadron under the previous inspector of the ship's artillery, Vice Admiral Ehrhard Schmidt , included the sister ships Wettin , Zähringen , Swabia and Mecklenburg , as well as the Braunschweig and Alsace .
On August 26, 1914, after the news that the small cruiser Magdeburg had run aground, the association advanced into the eastern Baltic Sea for the first time, but broke off the advance on the 28th at Bornholm , as the Magdeburg had meanwhile blown up. The next advance took place from September 3rd to 9th under the Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Sea Forces (OdO), Grand Admiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia , on the armored cruiser Blücher with the seven ships of the line, five small cruisers and 24 torpedo boats. The small cruiser Augsburg met the Russian armored cruisers Bajan and Pallada north of Dagö on September 6th . Your attempt to get them to pursue them in the direction of the Blücher failed. The Russians withdrew into the Gulf of Finland and there was no battle.
From September 11 to 20, the squadron was briefly relocated to the North Sea. Another foray into the eastern Baltic Sea of the two reserve squadrons (IV./V.) With the OdO, Prince Heinrich, on board the Braunschweig on September 22nd was prematurely canceled due to the threat of submarine threats. In addition to exercises in the Baltic Sea, the ships of the squadron were also used in outpost and security service in the North Sea, mainly on the Elbe estuary and the Jade estuary . The Wittelsbach was stationed there from December 4, 1914 to April 2, 1915, when it went to the shipyard in Kiel.
At the beginning of May 1915, the VIII. Division with the Wittelsbach , the Wettin , the Swabians and the Mecklenburg under Vice Admiral Schmidt made another advance in the Baltic Sea, which led to Utö and the lightship Kopparstenarne , but led to no enemy contact. On this advance, the ships led a blind third chimney in order to simulate ships of the more powerful Braunschweig class . From May 27 to July 4, 1915, the Wittelsbach was used for the last time in the outpost service in the North Sea, until the IV. Squadron finally left the area of the high seas and was permanently subordinated to the OdO.
The IV. Squadron was called in in August 1915 in the Baltic Sea for an enterprise against the Gulf of Riga , which should support the advance of the army on Riga . The head of the IV. Squadron, Vice Admiral Schmidt, took over the management of this company, to which the I. Squadron and the I. and II. Reconnaissance Groups from the North Sea were assigned. The Wittelsbach ran aground when leaving Danzig-Neufahrwasser on July 10, but was released again under its own power and followed the squadron. After two advances to the north of Gotska Sandön, there were two unsuccessful attempts to break into the Gulf of Riga through the mined Irben Strait. On the first attempt, the Wittelsbach was supposed to lead the burglary unit if necessary, on the second it stayed behind in Libau . After completion of the company, she stayed in Libau and took part as the flagship of the new squadron chief Vice Admiral Friedrich Schultz with her four sister ships in an advance towards Gotland from 9 to 11 September 1915 . The last operation took place on October 7th and 8th together with the Alsace to secure the deployment of two mine barriers.
On November 10th, the Wittelsbach moved from Libau to Kiel and was anchored off Schilksee as part of the newly formed Baltic Sea standby division . On February 1, 1916, she became a military training ship for recruits in Kiel for a short time with a reduced crew. On August 24, 1916, she was decommissioned and in 1917 moved to Wilhelmshaven as a ship.
After the end of the war, the Wittelsbach was used from June 1, 1919 as a mother ship for shallow minesweepers in the Baltic Sea until July 20, 1920.
Whereabouts
On March 8, 1921, the Wittelsbach was deleted from the list of warships. On July 7, 1921, the ship was sold for 3,561,000 Reichsmarks and scrapped in Wilhelmshaven.
Commanders
| October to December 1902 | Sea captain Johannes Wallmann |
| December 1902 to January 1904 | Sea captain Johannes Stein |
| January 1904 to September 1905 | Sea captain Raimund Winkler |
| September 1905 to September 1908 | Sea captain Maximilian von Spee |
| September 1908 to September 1910 | Frigate captain / sea captain Alfred Begas |
| October 1911 to May 1912 | Sea captain Max Hahn |
| May to September 1912 | Sea captain Richard Lange |
| September 1912 to June 1914 | Sea captain Ehler Behring |
| June 1914 to January 1916 | Sea captain Eberhard von Mantey |
| January to August 1916 | Corvette Captain Friedrich Lüring (reduced crew) |
| June 1919 to? 1919 | Captain Botho Schepke |
| ? 1919 to March 1920 | Captain Edmund Pauli |
| March 1920 | Corvette Captain Helmuth Mühlau |
| March to July 1920 | unknown |
literature
- Gröner, Erich / Dieter Jung / Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945. Volume 1. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1982. ISBN 3-7637-4800-8
- Hildebrand, Hans / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships. Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present. Volume 8. Hamburg 1985.
- Roberts, John / HC Timewell / Roger Chesneau (Ed.) / Eugene M. Kolesnik (Ed.): Warships of the World 1860 to 1905 - Volume 1: Great Britain / Germany . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1983. ISBN 3-7637-5402-4
