The class was the second class of dreadnought battleships to be built for the German (Imperial Navy). Constructed from 1908 to 1912, the class comprised four ships: , the lead ship, , , and . The design was a significant improvement over the previous ships; they had a larger main battery— main guns instead of the weapons mounted on the earlier vessels—and an improved propulsion system. The s were easily distinguished from the preceding s by the three funnels that were closely arranged, compared to the two larger funnels of the previous class. The ships retained the hexagonal main battery layout of the class.
The ships served as a unit in I Division, I Battle Squadron alongside the -class ships in II Division of the squadron. They saw combat during World War I, including the Battle of Jutland in the North Sea and the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic. All four survived the war, but were not taken as part of the German fleet that was interned at Scapa Flow. When the German ships at Scapa Flow were scuttled, the four s were ceded as war reparations to the victorious Allied powers in the sunken ships' stead. was taken by the US Navy and expended as a target during Billy Mitchell's air power demonstration in July 1921. and were allotted to Britain and Japan respectively, and broken up in 1921. was delivered to France in 1920, and was used as a target ship for the French navy. The ship was eventually broken up between 1923 and 1933.
Design The Triple Entente between the United Kingdom, France, and Russia had been signed in 1907. Germany had become significantly isolated—on the Continent, Germany was hemmed in by France in the west and Russia in the east, and the UK, with her powerful navy, was capable of blocking German access to the world shipping lanes. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz reacted to this development with the request for newer and stronger capital ships. His thoughts on the matter were, "The aim which I had to keep in view ... for technical and organizing reasons as well as reasons of political finance was to build as steadily as possible." His appeal came in the form of the proposed Second Amendment to the Naval Law, which was passed on 27 March 1908.
For the second class of German dreadnoughts, there was considerable debate as to what changes would be made from the first design. In May 1906, the (RMA, Imperial Navy Office) received word that the British were building battleships equipped with guns. As a result, the General Navy Department advocated increasing the caliber of the main battery from to . Tirpitz was reluctant to agree to this change, as he wished to avoid escalating the arms race with Britain.
Tirpitz's hesitation at increasing the armament of the new ships was lost when it became known in early 1907 that the United States Navy was building battleships with 30.5 cm guns. In March 1907, Tirpitz ordered the Construction Department to prepare a design with 30.5 cm guns and thick belt armor. Some dispute remained over the arrangement of the main battery. The two s being built for Brazil mounted the same number of guns, but in a more efficient arrangement. Superfiring turret pairs were placed on either end of the ship, with two wing turrets amidships. Tirpitz favored adopting this arrangement for the class, but the Construction Department felt two superfiring turrets could be easily disabled by a single hit. As a result, the hexagonal arrangement of the preceding s was retained.
The Naval Law stipulated that the lifespan of large warships was to be reduced from 25 years to 20 years; this was done in an effort to force the Reichstag to allocate funds for additional ships. The reduction necessitated the replacement of the coastal defense ships of the and classes as well as the s. The battleships that Tirpitz had failed to secure in the First Amendment to the Naval Law of 1906 were now approved by the Reichstag. The Naval Law also increased the naval budget by an additional 1 billion marks. After the four s had been replaced by the four s, three of the -class ships—, , —and the unique coastal defense ship were the next slated to be replaced. The -class ships—SMS , , , —were ordered under the provisional names and , respectively.
General characteristics
The -class ships were longer than their predecessors, at overall. The ships had a beam of and at full load a draft of . The ships were significantly heavier than the class; the -class ships displaced at a standard load, and at full load, nearly more than the earlier ships. The ships had 17 watertight compartments and a double bottom for 86% of the length of the hull.
The class had greatly improved handling characteristics over the preceding class. The s were much better sea boats and did not suffer from the severe rolling that the s did. The ships were responsive to the helm, and had a tight turning radius, and lost only minimal speed during swells. The ships lost up to 54% of their speed at hard rudder, and would heel up to 7°. For comparison, the earlier s lost up to 70% speed and held a 12° heel with the rudder hard over.
Propulsion
The -class ships retained older triple-expansion steam engines rather than the new steam turbines in use in the British Royal Navy. This decision was based solely on cost: at the time, Parsons held a monopoly on steam turbines and required a 1 million gold mark royalty fee for every turbine engine. The triple-expansion engines were three-shaft, four-cylinder engines arranged in three engine rooms. Each shaft drove a four-bladed screw propeller that was in diameter. The engines were powered by 15 marine-type boilers with two fireboxes apiece for a total of 30. The engines were rated at with a top speed of . On trials, the power-plant produced up to , and a top speed of . The ships carried of coal, and were later modified to carry an additional of oil that was to be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. At full fuel capacity, the ships could steam for at a speed of . The ships' electrical power was provided by eight turbo-generators that produced 2,000 kW (225 V).
Armament
Like the class which preceded it, the -class ships carried their main armament in an unusual hexagonal configuration. Twelve 30.5 cm SK L/50 guns were emplaced in long-trunk C/1908 mountings, an improved version of the previous C/1907 and C/1906 mounts used in the class. The guns were arranged in pairs in six twin gun turrets, with one turret each fore and aft, and two on each flank of the ship. The guns could initially be depressed to −8° and elevated to 13.5°, although after the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915, where British ships had been able to open fire first, outside the range of the German guns, the turrets were modified to allow −5.5° depression and 16° of elevation, extending the range from to . The guns fired projectiles at a muzzle velocity of . The guns had a total of 1,020 rounds for 85 shells per gun.
The ships' secondary armament consisted of fourteen SK L/45 guns, which were mounted in casemates. The guns fired shells at a muzzle velocity of . The guns could be elevated to 19°, which provided a maximum range of . The ships also carried fourteen SK L/45 guns, also in casemates. These guns fired a projectile at , and could be trained up to 25° for a maximum range of . After 1914, two 8.8 cm guns were removed and replaced by two 8.8 cm Flak guns, and between 1916 and 1917, the remaining twelve 8.8 cm casemated guns were removed. These anti-aircraft guns fired a slightly lighter shell at . They could be elevated to 45° and could hit targets away. The -class ships were further armed with six submerged torpedo tubes. One tube was mounted in the bow, another in the stern, and two on each broadside, on either ends of the torpedo bulkhead.
Armor The -class ships were protected with Krupp cemented armor, in almost the same layout as in the preceding -class ships. The only major differences were slight increases in the armor protection for the main and secondary batteries, and a much thicker roof for the forward conning tower. The ships had an armored belt that was thick at its strongest points, where it protected the ship's vitals, and as thin as in less critical areas, such as the bow and stern. Behind the main belt was a torpedo bulkhead thick. The ships' decks were armored, between thick. The forward conning tower on each vessel had a roof that was thick, and sides thick. The aft conning tower was not as heavily armored, with only a thick roof and sides. The main battery turrets had roofs that were thick, and 30 cm sides. The casemated secondary battery had worth of armor protection, and 8 cm thick gun shields. The s were also fitted with anti-torpedo nets, but these were removed after 1916.
Construction
Four ships of the class were ordered, under the provisional names (), (), (), and (), as replacements for three of the coastal defense ships of the -class, and the unique coastal defense ship SMS . SMS was built at Howaldtswerke, Kiel. She was laid down on 11 November 1908, launched 25 September 1909, and commissioned nearly two years later on 23 August 1911. SMS was built at Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven. She was laid down 19 October 1908, launched five days after her sister , on 30 September 1909, and commissioned 1 August 1911. SMS was built by AG Weser in Bremen. She was laid down on 2 November 1908, launched on 27 November 1909, and commissioned on 1 July 1911. SMS , the final vessel, was built by Schichau in Danzig; she was laid down 1 March 1909, launched 30 June 1910, and commissioned on 1 May 1912.
Ships + Construction data Ship Contract name Builder Namesake Laid down Launched Commissioned Fate Howaldtswerke Werft, KielHeligoland11 November 190825 September 190923 August 1911Broken up at Morecambe, 1921 , WilhelmshavenEast Frisia19 October 190830 September 19091 August 1911Sunk as target off Cape Hatteras, 21 July 1921 AG Weser, BremenThuringia2 November 190827 November 19091 July 1911Sunk as target off Gâvres, August 1921 Schichau-Werke, DanzigDuchy of Oldenburg1 March 190930 June 19101 May 1912Broken up at Dordrecht, 1921
History The -class ships operated as a unit in the High Seas Fleet; they served as I Division of I Battle Squadron. The ships of the class participated in several fleet operations in the North Sea, including the sortie on 31 May 1916 that resulted in the Battle of Jutland. The ships also saw limited service in the Baltic Sea, primarily during the abortive Battle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915.
Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby
The first major operation of the war in which the -class ships participated was the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 15–16 December 1914. The raid was primarily conducted by the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group. The -class ships, along with the , , and es steamed in distant support of Franz von Hipper's battlecruisers. Friedrich von Ingenohl, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, decided to take up station approximately in the center of the North Sea, about 130 miles east of Scarborough.