SMS ("His Majesty's Ship Wörth") was one of four German pre-dreadnought battleships of the , built in the early 1890s. The class also included , , and . The ships were the first ocean-going battleships built for the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). was laid down at the Germaniawerft dockyard in Kiel in May 1890. The ship was launched on 6 August 1892 and commissioned into the fleet on 31 October 1893. and her three sisters carried six heavy guns rather than four, as was standard for most other navies' battleships. She was named for the Battle of Wörth fought during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871.
served in the German fleet for the first decade of her career, participating in the normal peacetime routine of training cruises and exercises. She took part in the German naval expedition to China in 1900 to suppress the Boxer Uprising; by the time the fleet arrived the siege of Peking had already been lifted, and saw little direct action in China. She was placed in reserve in 1906 as newer, more powerful vessels had supplanted the class as front-line battleships. Obsolete by the start of World War I, and served in a limited capacity in the Imperial German Navy as coastal defense ships for the first two years of the war; they did not see action. By 1916, was reduced to a barracks ship, a role in which she served until the end of hostilities. Despite plans to convert her into a freighter after the war, was scrapped in Danzig in 1919.
Design
was the fourth of four s, the first pre-dreadnought battleships of the (Imperial Navy). Prior to the ascension of Kaiser Wilhelm II to the German throne in June 1888, the German fleet had been largely oriented toward defense of the German coastline and Leo von Caprivi, chief of the (Imperial Naval Office), had ordered a number of coastal defense ships in the 1880s. In August 1888, the Kaiser, who had a strong interest in naval matters, replaced Caprivi with (VAdm—Vice Admiral) Alexander von Monts and instructed him to include four battleships in the 1889–1890 naval budget. Monts, who favored a fleet of battleships over the coastal defense strategy emphasized by his predecessor, cancelled the last four coastal defense ships authorized under Caprivi and instead ordered four battleships. Though they were the first modern battleships built in Germany, presaging the Tirpitz-era High Seas Fleet, the authorization for the ships came as part of a construction program that reflected the strategic and tactical confusion of the 1880s caused by the (Young School).
was long, with a beam of and a draft of . She displaced as designed, and up to at full combat load. She was equipped with two sets of 3-cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engines that each drove a screw propeller. Steam was provided by twelve transverse cylindrical Scotch marine boilers. The ship's propulsion system was rated at and a top speed of . She had a maximum range of at a cruising speed of . Her crew numbered 38 officers and 530 enlisted men.
The ship was unusual for her time in that it possessed a broadside of six heavy guns in three twin gun turrets, rather than the four-gun main battery typical of contemporary battleships. The forward and after turrets carried 28 cm (11 inch) K L/40 guns, while the amidships turret mounted a pair of 28 cm (11 inch) guns with shorter L/35 barrels. Her secondary armament consisted of eight SK L/35 quick-firing guns mounted in casemates and eight 8.8 cm (3.45 in) SK L/30 quick-firing guns, also casemate mounted. s armament system was rounded out with six torpedo tubes, all in above-water swivel mounts. The main battery was heavier than that of other capital ships of the period, the secondary armament was considered weak in comparison to other battleships.
The ship was protected with compound armor. Her main belt armor was thick in the central citadel that protected the ammunition magazines and machinery spaces. The deck was thick. The main battery barbettes were protected with thick armor.
Service history
Construction to 1895 was ordered as armored ship B, and was laid down at Germaniawerft in Kiel on 3 March 1890. Initial work on the ship proceeded at the slowest pace of all four vessels in the class; her hull was not launched until 6 August 1892, more than eight months after the other three ships. Princess Viktoria, the sister of Kaiser Wilhelm II, christened the ship. Fitting-out work proceeded quickly, and she was commissioned on 31 October 1893, the first ship of the class to enter active duty. Extensive sea trials followed her commissioning and lasted until April 1894. During her trials, she was briefly assigned to the maneuver squadron of the (Home Fleet) to replace her sister , which was damaged by a boiler pipe explosion. On 1 August 1894, was assigned as the flagship of the German fleet for the annual autumn maneuvers, under the command of Admiral Max von der Goltz. Goltz came aboard the new battleship on 19 August with his staff, which included then- (Captain at Sea) Alfred von Tirpitz. Toward the end of the maneuvers, which took place in both the North and Baltic Seas, Kaiser Wilhelm II came aboard and reviewed a fleet parade on 21 September.
During this period, was commanded by Prince Heinrich, the younger brother of Wilhelm II; the senior watch officer aboard the ship in 1894 was Franz von Hipper, who went on to command the German battlecruiser squadron during World War I and later the entire High Seas Fleet. On 1 November, Czar Alexander III of Russia died; Wilhelm II initially planned to send his brother to St. Petersburg to represent Germany at the funeral aboard his flagship. But General Bernhard Franz Wilhelm von Werder suggested that sending a warship named for the Battle of Wörth of the still-recent Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 would antagonize the French delegation and would be unwise, given the recently signed Franco-Russian Alliance. Wilhelm II agreed, and so Prince Heinrich traveled to the funeral by train. After her sister entered service, she replaced as the fleet flagship. was thereafter assigned to I Division of I Squadron, in turn replacing the old ironclad .
and the rest of the squadron attended ceremonies for the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal at Kiel on 3 December 1894. The squadron subsequently began a winter training cruise in the Baltic Sea; this was the first such cruise by the German fleet. In previous years, the bulk of the fleet was deactivated for the winter months. I Division anchored in Stockholm from 7 to 11 December, during the 300th anniversary of the birth of Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus. Further exercises were conducted in the Baltic before the ships had to put into their home ports for repairs. From 19 December to 27 March 1895, returned to her old duty as fleet flagship while was in dock for repairs. The ship was occupied with individual and divisional training in early 1895. In May, more fleet maneuvers were carried out in the western Baltic, concluding with a visit by the fleet to Kirkwall in Orkney. The squadron returned to Kiel in early June, where preparations were underway for the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. Tactical exercises were carried out in Kiel Bay in the presence of foreign delegations to the opening ceremony.
On 1 July, the German fleet began a major cruise into the Atlantic; on the return voyage in early August, the fleet stopped at the Isle of Wight for the Cowes Regatta. While there on 6 August, Wilhelm II held a remembrance ceremony for the 25th anniversary of s namesake battle. This was sharply criticized in the British press. The fleet returned to Wilhelmshaven on 10 August and began preparations for the autumn maneuvers that would begin later that month. The first exercises began in the Helgoland Bight on 25 August. The fleet then steamed through the Skagerrak to the Baltic; heavy storms caused significant damage to many of the ships and the torpedo boat capsized and sank in the storms—only three men were saved. The fleet stayed briefly in Kiel before resuming maneuvers, including live-fire exercises, in the Kattegat and the Great Belt. The main maneuvers began on 7 September with a mock attack from Kiel toward the eastern Baltic. Subsequent maneuvers took place off the coast of Pomerania and in Danzig Bay. A fleet review for Wilhelm II off Jershöft concluded the maneuvers on 14 September.
1896–1900
The year 1896 followed much the same pattern as the previous year. Individual ship training was conducted through April, followed by squadron training in the North Sea in late April and early May. This included a visit to the Dutch ports of Vlissingen and Nieuwediep. Additional maneuvers, which lasted from the end of May to the end of July, took the squadron further north in the North Sea, frequently into Norwegian waters. The ships visited Bergen from 11 to 18 May. During the maneuvers, Wilhelm II and the Chinese viceroy Li Hongzhang observed a fleet review off Kiel. On 9 August, the training fleet assembled in Wilhelmshaven for the annual autumn fleet training. The following month, Czar Nicholas II of Russia visited the fleet in Kiel, boarding on 8 September. The ship won the Kaiser's (Shooting Prize) for excellent gunnery in I Squadron during 1896.
and the rest of the fleet operated under the normal routine of individual and unit training in the first half of 1897. The ship represented Germany during the Fleet Review for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in June 1897. The typical routine was interrupted in early August when Wilhelm II and Augusta went to visit the Russian imperial court at Kronstadt; both divisions of I Squadron were sent to accompany the Kaiser. They returned to Neufahrwasser in Danzig on 15 August, where the rest of the fleet joined them for the annual autumn maneuvers. The maneuvers were completed by 22 September in Wilhelmshaven. In early December, I Division conducted maneuvers in the Kattegat and the Skagerrak, but they were cut short due to shortages in officers and men.
The fleet followed the normal routine of individual and fleet training in 1898 without incident. A voyage to the British Isles was also included. The fleet stopped in Queenstown, Greenock, and Kirkwall. The fleet assembled in Kiel on 14 August for the annual autumn exercises. The maneuvers included a mock blockade of the coast of Mecklenburg and a pitched battle with an "Eastern Fleet" in the Danzig Bay. While steaming back to Kiel, a severe storm hit the fleet, causing significant damage to many ships and sinking the torpedo boat . The fleet then transited the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal and continued maneuvers in the North Sea. Training finished on 17 September in Wilhelmshaven. In December, I Division conducted artillery and torpedo training in Eckernförde Bay, followed by divisional training in the Kattegat and Skagerrak. During these maneuvers, the division visited Kungsbacka, Sweden, from 9 to 13 December. After returning to Kiel, the ships of I Division went into dock for their winter repairs.
On 25 November 1899, was conducting gunnery training in Eckernförde Bay when she struck a rock. It tore a wide hole in the hull, flooding three of her watertight compartments. The ship was sent to Wilhelmshaven for repair work. Before repairs could be begun, about of coal had to be unloaded to lighten the ship. Temporary steel plates were riveted to cover the hole on the starboard side, while the hull plates on the port side had to be re-riveted. The work lasted from December 1899 until February 1900; she was therefore unavailable for the normal winter cruise of I Squadron.
Boxer Uprising