Nassau class battleship
Encyclopedia
The Nassau class were a group of four German dreadnought
battleship
s built for the Imperial Navy
. They were the German response to the introduction of the "all big gun" British . The class was composed of , , , and . All four ships were laid down in mid-1907, and completed between May and September 1910. Compared to their British contemporaries, the Nassau-class ships were lighter and had a wider beam
. They were two knots slower, because the German ships retained vertical triple-expansion engines as opposed to the high-power turbine engines adopted by the British. The ships also carried smaller main guns—11-inch (280 mm) guns rather than the 12-inch (305 mm) guns mounted on the British ships.
After their commissioning into the German fleet, all four ships served as a unit: the II Division of I Battle Squadron. Two of the ships, Nassau and Posen, took part in the inconclusive Battle of the Gulf of Riga
in 1915, during which they engaged the Russian pre-dreadnought
Slava
. The Nassau class ships took part in the Battle of Jutland
on 31 May and 1 June 1916 as the II Battle Squadron; they suffered only a handful of secondary battery hits and limited casualties. At the end of the First World War, the four ships were seized as war prizes by the victorious Allied powers and sold for scrapping.
had originally requested six new battleship
s and six armored cruiser
s,Battleships
of the day carried heavy armor and a main battery of four large-caliber guns, typically 11 in (280 mm) or larger. Armored cruisers were smaller, faster ships that carried a thinner armored belt and smaller guns. along with a number of miscellaneous smaller craft. The launch of the revolutionary Dreadnought meant that any future battleships that could compete with her would be significantly more expensive than the older pre-dreadnought battleships. Opposition to budget increases in the Reichstag
forced Tirpitz to reduce his request to six armored cruisers—one of which was to have been placed in reserve—and 48 torpedo boats, dropping his request for new battleships completely; the reduced proposal was voted through on 19 May 1906. A week after the amendment was passed, funds for two 18,000-ton battleships and a 15,000-ton armored cruiser were allocated to the Navy. Funds were also provided to widen the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal and enlarge dock facilities to accommodate the larger ships.
A debate ensued in the Reichsmarineamt (Navy Office) over the construction of the new ships. Tirpitz favored following the Royal Navy
by building dreadnought battleships and battlecruiser
s as well. Tirpitz saw it as an opportunity to break Britain's commitment to the "two power standard".Britain had committed to building a navy that was larger than the next two closest rivals combined. See: Gardiner and Gray, p. 134 Tirpitz also intended to use the funds that had been allocated for armored cruisers to build battlecruisers instead, although they were still to be classified as armored cruisers.
Nassau and Westfalen were the first dreadnoughts ordered under the 1906–07 program; the armored cruiser was ordered along with them. The Second Naval Amendment to the 1900 Naval Law was passed on 27 March 1908; this amendment included a budget of 1 billion marks
, and provisions that reduced the lifespan of battleships from 25 years to 20. This had the effect of necessitating the replacement of the coastal defense ships of the Siegfried and Oldenburg classes, as well as the pre-dreadnoughts of the . The s (first put into service in the late 1870s) also needed replacement, as they were already obsolete, even under the 25-year standard. The four Sachsens were to be replaced by the Nassau class. The second pair of ships in the Nassau class, Posen and Rheinland, were ordered under the 1907–08 building program.
for 88 percent of the keel
. The ships carried a number of boats, including a picket boat, 3 admiral's barges, 2 launches
, 2 cutters, and 2 dinghies
.
As designed, the ships did not handle particularly well, even in calm seas, and their motion was quite stiff. The ships experienced severe rolling, due to the weight of the wing turrets. The heavy wing turrets caused the ships to have a large metacentric height
, which should have made them very stable gun platforms, but their roll period proved to coincide with that of the average North Sea swell. Bilge keel
s were later added, which helped to improve the rolling problem. Despite the tendency to roll, the Nassau-class ships were maneuverable and had a small turning radius. They suffered minor speed loss in heavy seas, but up to 70 percent at hard rudder. The roll keels that had been fitted to improve handling caused a portion of the speed loss at hard rudder.
engines used in the British Dreadnought, primarily due to the resistance of both Admiral von Tirpitz and the Navy's construction department. In 1905, the latter stated that the "use of turbines in heavy warships does not recommend itself." The Nassau class therefore retained obsolete vertical triple expansion engines rated at 22,000 ihp. Each of the three shafts drove a 3-bladed screw
that was 5 m (5.46 yd) in diameter. Designed top speed was 19.5 knots. On trials, the ships attained 20 to 20.2 knots on 26,224 to 28,117 ihp. By comparison, Dreadnoughts steam turbines provided a rated speed of 21 knots.
Steam was provided by 12 Schulz-Thornycroft boilers, each of which had 2 fireboxes, for a total of 24.
The machinery was divided into three engine and six boiler rooms. The wing turrets and their magazines further divided the machinery into three separated groups, thereby increasing survivability. The ships carried 2,700 tons of coal, and were later modified to carry an additional 160 tons of oil that was to be sprayed on the coal, to increase its burn rate.Due to the wartime situation, Germany had limited access to high quality coal, but was able to acquire lower-grade coal for its ships. The higher quality coal was generally reserved for the smaller craft, whose crews were less able to clean the boilers at the increased rate demanded by the low-quality coal. As a result, German capital ships were often supplied with poor coal, in the knowledge that their larger crews were better able to perform the increased maintenance. After 1915, the practice of spraying oil onto the low-quality coal was introduced, in order to increase the burn rate. See: Philbin, p. 56 Electrical power was provided by eight turbo-generators, producing 1,280 kW at 225 V.
were mounted fore and aft (one on each end), and two were mounted on each flank of the ship. Firing directly forward and aft, the ships could bring 6 guns to bear, and 8 on the broadside
; this was the same theoretical capability as Dreadnought, but the Nassau class ships required two additional guns to achieve it. It was considered that this arrangement provided a useful reserve of heavy guns that were shielded from enemy fire.
Each ship carried twelve 28 cm (11 in) SK L/45In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnellfeuerkanone) denotes that the gun quick firing, while the L/45 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/45 gun is 45 calibers, meaning that the gun is 45 as times long as it is in diameter. guns. The wing turrets were Drh LC/1906 mounts, as were the centerline turrets on the first two ships of the class, Nassau and Westfalen. Posen and Rheinland carried their centerline guns in Drh LC/1907 turrets, which had a longer trunk than the LC/1906 design. The Drh LC/1906 turrets and 11-inch SK/L45 guns were designed specifically for the new German dreadnoughts in 1907. Both mountings allowed for elevation up to 20 degrees, but the LC/1907 mounts could depress an additional two degrees, down to −8. The main battery
propellant
magazines
were placed above shell rooms, with the exception of the centerline turrets of Nassau and Westfalen. These guns fired 666 lb shells, with a 57 lb (26 kg) fore propellant charge in silk bags and a 174 lb (79 kg) main charge in a brass case. The guns fired the shells at a muzzle velocity
of 2,805 ft/s (855 m/s), and had a maximum range of 22,400 yards (20,500 m). At a range of 13,100 yards (12,000 m), the 11 in shells would penetrate up to 7.9 in (200 mm) of belt armor.
The ships' secondary armament consisted of twelve 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns, which were mounted in casemate
s. The guns fired 99.9 lb shells at a muzzle velocity of 2,740 ft/s (835 m/s). The guns could be elevated to 19 degrees, which provided a maximum range of 16,350 yards (14950 m). The ships also carried sixteen 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns, also in casemates. These guns fired a 22-lb projectile at 2,133 ft/s (650 m/s), and could be trained up to 25 degrees for a maximum range of 10,500 yards (9,600 m). After 1915, 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 21.2 lb shell at 2,510 ft/s (765 m/s). They could be elevated to 45 degrees and could hit targets 12,900 yards (11,800 m) away. The Nassau-class ships were also armed with six 45 cm (17.7 in) submerged torpedo tube
s. One tube was mounted in the bow, another in the stern, and two on each broadside, on either ends of the torpedo bulkhead
.
cemented steel armor. The ships had an armored belt that was 30 cm (11.8 in) thick at its strongest, where it protected the ship's vitals in the center, and as thin as 8 cm (3.1 in) in less critical areas, such as the bow and stern. Behind the main belt was a torpedo bulkhead
3 cm (1.2 in) thick; there was some difficulty mounting the torpedo bulkhead, due to the four wing turrets and their barbettes. The ships' decks were armored, between 5.5–8 cm (2.1–3.1 in) thick. The forward conning tower
had a roof that was 8 cm (3.1 in) thick, and sides 40 cm (15.7 in) thick. The aft conning tower was less well protected, with a 5 cm (2 in) thick roof and 20 cm (7.9 in) sides. The main battery turrets had roofs that were 9 cm (3.5 in) thick, and 28 cm (11 in) sides. The casemated secondary battery had 16 cm (6.3 in) worth of armor protection, and 8 cm thick gun shields. The ships were also fitted with anti-torpedo nets, but these were removed after 1916.
.The German navy orders a ship under a provisional name that indicates which obsolete unit of the fleet the new ship will replace. Upon completion, the ship is christened with the intended name. In this case, Ersatz Bayern was intended to replace , and once the ship was finished, she was christened Nassau. The first ship of the class, , was laid down on 22 July 1907 at the Kaiserliche Werft
in Wilhelmshaven
, launched on 7 March 1908, and commissioned into the fleet on 1 October 1909. was laid down less than a month later, on 12 August 1907 at the AG Weser
shipyard in Bremen
. The ship was launched on 1 July 1908, and commissioned on 16 November 1909.
, the third ship of the class, was actually the first to be laid down, on 1 June 1907 in the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin. Construction of Rheinland proceeded slower than Nassau and Westfalen, and so the ship was launched later, on 26 September 1908. Rheinland joined the fleet on 30 April 1910. , the last ship of the class, was laid down at the Germaniawerft
shipyard in Kiel
on 11 June 1907. The ship was not launched until 12 December 1908, and did not join her sisters until 31 May 1910.
The Nassau-class ships operated as a unit in the High Seas Fleet
: the II Division of the I Battle Squadron. The ships of the class participated in a number of fleet operations in the North Sea
, including the action on 31 May 1916 that resulted in the Battle of Jutland
. The ships also saw limited service in the Baltic Sea
, including the abortive Battle of the Gulf of Riga
in August 1915.
, in order to facilitate the capture of Riga
by the German army. To do so, the German planners intended to drive off or destroy the Russian naval forces in the gulf, which included the pre-dreadnought Slava
and a number of gunboats and destroyers, and lay a series of minefields in the northern entrance to the gulf. The fleet that assembled to assault the gulf included the four Nassau-class ships, the four s, and the battlecruisers , , and . The eight battleships were to provide cover for the forces engaging the Russian flotilla. The first attempt on 8 August was unsuccessful, as it had taken too long to clear the Russian minefields to allow the minelayer to lay a minefield of her own.
On 16 August, a second attempt was made to enter the gulf: Nassau and Posen, four light cruisers, and 31 torpedo boats breached the defenses to the gulf. On the first day of the assault, the German minesweeper T 46 was sunk, as was the destroyer V 99. On 17 August, Nassau and Posen engaged in an artillery duel with Slava, resulting in three hits on the Russian ship that prompted her withdrawal. After three days, the Russian minefields had been cleared, and the flotilla entered the gulf on 19 August, but reports of Allied submarines in the area prompted a German withdrawal from the gulf the following day.
, behind Rear Admiral Behncke's III Battle Squadron, and followed by Rear Admiral Mauve's elderly pre-dreadnoughts of the II Battle Squadron. Posen served as the division flagship, under the command of Rear Admiral W. Engelhardt.
At around midnight on 1 June, Nassau came in contact with the British destroyer , and in the confusion, attempted to ram her. Spitfire tried to evade, but could not maneuver away fast enough, and the two ships collided. Nassau fired her forward 11-inch guns at the destroyer, but they could not depress low enough for Nassau to be able to score a hit. Nonetheless, the blast from the guns destroyed Spitfires bridge. At that point, Spitfire was able to disengage from Nassau, and took with her a 20-foot (6 m) portion of Nassaus side plating. The collision disabled one of her 5.9-inch guns, and left an 11.5-foot (3.5 m) gash above the waterline; this slowed the ship to 15 knots until it could be repaired. At approximately the same time, Posen accidentally rammed the light cruiser
and holed her below the waterline. Elbing was damaged so severely that her engine room was completely flooded and she was unable to move; the captain of the ship ordered Elbing be scuttled to prevent her capture by the British.
Shortly after 01:00, Nassau and encountered the British armored cruiser . Thüringen opened fire first, and pummeled Black Prince with a total of 27 heavy-caliber shells and 24 shells from her secondary battery. Nassau and joined in, followed by .
The wreck of the ship was directly in the path of Nassau; to avoid it, the ship had to steer sharply towards the III Battle Squadron. It was necessary for the ship to steam at full speed astern in order to avoid a collision with . Nassau then fell back into a position between the pre-dreadnoughts and .
Following the return to German waters, Nassau, Posen, and Westfalen, along with the Helgoland-class battleships and Thüringen, took up defensive positions in the Jade
roadstead
for the night. The Nassau-class ships suffered only a handful of secondary battery
hits from the opposing Grand Fleet; Nassau was hit twice, Westfalen and Rheinland each once, and Posen escaped completely unscathed. Not a single ship of the four was struck by a heavy-caliber shell.
. Finland was revolting against Russian rule
, and the two ships were to aid the Finns in the civil war. On 11 April at approximately 07:30, Rheinland ran aground off the Åland Islands
. Approximately 6,000 tons of guns, belt armor, and coal were removed in order to lighten her enough to be refloated, which was not accomplished until 9 July. Rheinland was never repaired, and instead saw the remainder of her service as a barracks ship in Kiel.
Following the end of the First World War in 1918, eleven battleships of the , , and classes and all five battlecruisers, along with a number of light cruisers and destroyers, were interned in Scapa Flow
, while their fate was determined in the negotiations over the Treaty of Versailles
. The Nassau- and Helgoland
-class battleships were left in Germany. Following the scuttling of the German fleet
in June 1919, all four ships were allotted to the victorious Allied powers as replacements for the scuttled ships. Nassau was ceded to Japan, Britain received Westfalen and Posen, and Rheinland was sold directly to the breakers at Dordrecht
. Between 1920 and 1924, Westfalen was scrapped at Birkenhead and the remaining ships were scrapped at Dordrecht.
Dreadnought
The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...
battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s built for the Imperial Navy
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
. They were the German response to the introduction of the "all big gun" British . The class was composed of , , , and . All four ships were laid down in mid-1907, and completed between May and September 1910. Compared to their British contemporaries, the Nassau-class ships were lighter and had a wider beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
. They were two knots slower, because the German ships retained vertical triple-expansion engines as opposed to the high-power turbine engines adopted by the British. The ships also carried smaller main guns—11-inch (280 mm) guns rather than the 12-inch (305 mm) guns mounted on the British ships.
After their commissioning into the German fleet, all four ships served as a unit: the II Division of I Battle Squadron. Two of the ships, Nassau and Posen, took part in the inconclusive Battle of the Gulf of Riga
Battle of the Gulf of Riga
The Battle of the Gulf of Riga was a World War I naval operation of the German High Seas Fleet against the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea in August 1915...
in 1915, during which they engaged the Russian pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea-going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...
Slava
Russian battleship Slava
Slava was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, the last of the five s. Commissioned too late to participate in the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War, she survived while all of her sister ships were either sunk during the battle or surrendered to the Imperial...
. The Nassau class ships took part in the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
on 31 May and 1 June 1916 as the II Battle Squadron; they suffered only a handful of secondary battery hits and limited casualties. At the end of the First World War, the four ships were seized as war prizes by the victorious Allied powers and sold for scrapping.
Development
In 1906, the launch of the "all big gun" made all other battleships then in existence obsolete. The First Naval Amendment to the 1900 German Naval Law was passed in 1906 prior to the launch of Dreadnought; Admiral Alfred von TirpitzAlfred von Tirpitz
Alfred von Tirpitz was a German Admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussia never had a major navy, nor did the other German states before the German Empire was formed in 1871...
had originally requested six new battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s and six armored cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
s,Battleships
Pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea-going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...
of the day carried heavy armor and a main battery of four large-caliber guns, typically 11 in (280 mm) or larger. Armored cruisers were smaller, faster ships that carried a thinner armored belt and smaller guns. along with a number of miscellaneous smaller craft. The launch of the revolutionary Dreadnought meant that any future battleships that could compete with her would be significantly more expensive than the older pre-dreadnought battleships. Opposition to budget increases in the Reichstag
Reichstag (German Empire)
The Reichstag was the parliament of the North German Confederation , and of the German Reich ....
forced Tirpitz to reduce his request to six armored cruisers—one of which was to have been placed in reserve—and 48 torpedo boats, dropping his request for new battleships completely; the reduced proposal was voted through on 19 May 1906. A week after the amendment was passed, funds for two 18,000-ton battleships and a 15,000-ton armored cruiser were allocated to the Navy. Funds were also provided to widen the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal and enlarge dock facilities to accommodate the larger ships.
A debate ensued in the Reichsmarineamt (Navy Office) over the construction of the new ships. Tirpitz favored following the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
by building dreadnought battleships and battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
s as well. Tirpitz saw it as an opportunity to break Britain's commitment to the "two power standard".Britain had committed to building a navy that was larger than the next two closest rivals combined. See: Gardiner and Gray, p. 134 Tirpitz also intended to use the funds that had been allocated for armored cruisers to build battlecruisers instead, although they were still to be classified as armored cruisers.
Nassau and Westfalen were the first dreadnoughts ordered under the 1906–07 program; the armored cruiser was ordered along with them. The Second Naval Amendment to the 1900 Naval Law was passed on 27 March 1908; this amendment included a budget of 1 billion marks
German gold mark
The Goldmark was the currency used in the German Empire from 1873 to 1914.-History:Before unification, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16⅔ grams of pure silver...
, and provisions that reduced the lifespan of battleships from 25 years to 20. This had the effect of necessitating the replacement of the coastal defense ships of the Siegfried and Oldenburg classes, as well as the pre-dreadnoughts of the . The s (first put into service in the late 1870s) also needed replacement, as they were already obsolete, even under the 25-year standard. The four Sachsens were to be replaced by the Nassau class. The second pair of ships in the Nassau class, Posen and Rheinland, were ordered under the 1907–08 building program.
General characteristics
The ships were 146.1 m (479.3 ft) long, 26.9 m (88.3 ft) wide, and had a draught of 8.9 m (29.2 ft). The ships had a length to width ratio of 5.45, which was somewhat "stubby" compared to contemporary designs. To some extent, the greater than normal width was due to the four wing turrets, which necessitated a wider hull. They displaced 18,570 tons with a standard load, and 21,000 tons fully laden. The ships had 19 watertight compartments, with the exception of Nassau, which only had 16. All four ships had a double bottomDouble bottom
A double bottom is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom of the ship has two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is somewhat higher in the ship, perhaps a few feet, which forms a...
for 88 percent of the keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
. The ships carried a number of boats, including a picket boat, 3 admiral's barges, 2 launches
Launch (boat)
A launch in contemporary usage refers to a large motorboat. The name originally referred to the largest boat carried by a warship. The etymology of the word is given as Portuguese lancha "barge", from Malay lancha, lancharan, "boat," from lanchar "velocity without effort," "action of gliding...
, 2 cutters, and 2 dinghies
Dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed for use as a ship's boat by a larger vessel. It is a loanword from either Bengali or Urdu. The term can also refer to small racing yachts or recreational open sailing boats. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor,...
.
As designed, the ships did not handle particularly well, even in calm seas, and their motion was quite stiff. The ships experienced severe rolling, due to the weight of the wing turrets. The heavy wing turrets caused the ships to have a large metacentric height
Metacentric height
The metacentric height is a measurement of the static stability of a floating body. It is calculated as the distance between the centre of gravity of a ship and its metacentre . A larger metacentric height implies greater stability against overturning...
, which should have made them very stable gun platforms, but their roll period proved to coincide with that of the average North Sea swell. Bilge keel
Bilge keel
A bilge keel is used to reduce the hull's tendency to roll. Bilge keels are employed in pairs . A ship may have more than one bilge keel per side, but this is rare. Bilge keels increase hydrodynamic resistance to rolling, making the ship roll less...
s were later added, which helped to improve the rolling problem. Despite the tendency to roll, the Nassau-class ships were maneuverable and had a small turning radius. They suffered minor speed loss in heavy seas, but up to 70 percent at hard rudder. The roll keels that had been fitted to improve handling caused a portion of the speed loss at hard rudder.
Propulsion
The German Navy was slow to adopt the advanced Parsons turbineTurbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
engines used in the British Dreadnought, primarily due to the resistance of both Admiral von Tirpitz and the Navy's construction department. In 1905, the latter stated that the "use of turbines in heavy warships does not recommend itself." The Nassau class therefore retained obsolete vertical triple expansion engines rated at 22,000 ihp. Each of the three shafts drove a 3-bladed screw
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
that was 5 m (5.46 yd) in diameter. Designed top speed was 19.5 knots. On trials, the ships attained 20 to 20.2 knots on 26,224 to 28,117 ihp. By comparison, Dreadnoughts steam turbines provided a rated speed of 21 knots.
Steam was provided by 12 Schulz-Thornycroft boilers, each of which had 2 fireboxes, for a total of 24.
The machinery was divided into three engine and six boiler rooms. The wing turrets and their magazines further divided the machinery into three separated groups, thereby increasing survivability. The ships carried 2,700 tons of coal, and were later modified to carry an additional 160 tons of oil that was to be sprayed on the coal, to increase its burn rate.Due to the wartime situation, Germany had limited access to high quality coal, but was able to acquire lower-grade coal for its ships. The higher quality coal was generally reserved for the smaller craft, whose crews were less able to clean the boilers at the increased rate demanded by the low-quality coal. As a result, German capital ships were often supplied with poor coal, in the knowledge that their larger crews were better able to perform the increased maintenance. After 1915, the practice of spraying oil onto the low-quality coal was introduced, in order to increase the burn rate. See: Philbin, p. 56 Electrical power was provided by eight turbo-generators, producing 1,280 kW at 225 V.
Armament
The vertical triple expansion engines consumed large amounts of internal space that could otherwise have been used for magazines. Without sufficient magazine capacity to support superfiring centerline turrets, designers were compelled to distribute six main turrets in an unusual hexagonal configuration.The contemporary British dreadnoughts carried three of their five turrets on the centerline of the ship, while the other two were on the "wings". American and Japanese dreadnoughts carried all of their guns on the centerline. Two twin turretsGun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
were mounted fore and aft (one on each end), and two were mounted on each flank of the ship. Firing directly forward and aft, the ships could bring 6 guns to bear, and 8 on the broadside
Broadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...
; this was the same theoretical capability as Dreadnought, but the Nassau class ships required two additional guns to achieve it. It was considered that this arrangement provided a useful reserve of heavy guns that were shielded from enemy fire.
Each ship carried twelve 28 cm (11 in) SK L/45In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnellfeuerkanone) denotes that the gun quick firing, while the L/45 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/45 gun is 45 calibers, meaning that the gun is 45 as times long as it is in diameter. guns. The wing turrets were Drh LC/1906 mounts, as were the centerline turrets on the first two ships of the class, Nassau and Westfalen. Posen and Rheinland carried their centerline guns in Drh LC/1907 turrets, which had a longer trunk than the LC/1906 design. The Drh LC/1906 turrets and 11-inch SK/L45 guns were designed specifically for the new German dreadnoughts in 1907. Both mountings allowed for elevation up to 20 degrees, but the LC/1907 mounts could depress an additional two degrees, down to −8. The main battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
propellant
Propellant
A propellant is a material that produces pressurized gas that:* can be directed through a nozzle, thereby producing thrust ;...
magazines
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
were placed above shell rooms, with the exception of the centerline turrets of Nassau and Westfalen. These guns fired 666 lb shells, with a 57 lb (26 kg) fore propellant charge in silk bags and a 174 lb (79 kg) main charge in a brass case. The guns fired the shells at a muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
of 2,805 ft/s (855 m/s), and had a maximum range of 22,400 yards (20,500 m). At a range of 13,100 yards (12,000 m), the 11 in shells would penetrate up to 7.9 in (200 mm) of belt armor.
The ships' secondary armament consisted of twelve 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns, which were mounted in casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s. The guns fired 99.9 lb shells at a muzzle velocity of 2,740 ft/s (835 m/s). The guns could be elevated to 19 degrees, which provided a maximum range of 16,350 yards (14950 m). The ships also carried sixteen 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns, also in casemates. These guns fired a 22-lb projectile at 2,133 ft/s (650 m/s), and could be trained up to 25 degrees for a maximum range of 10,500 yards (9,600 m). After 1915, 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 21.2 lb shell at 2,510 ft/s (765 m/s). They could be elevated to 45 degrees and could hit targets 12,900 yards (11,800 m) away. The Nassau-class ships were also armed with six 45 cm (17.7 in) submerged torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s. One tube was mounted in the bow, another in the stern, and two on each broadside, on either ends of the torpedo bulkhead
Torpedo bulkhead
A torpedo bulkhead is a type of armor common on the more heavily armored warships, especially battleships and battlecruisers of the early 20th century. It is designed to keep the ship afloat even if the hull was struck underneath the belt armor by a shell or by a torpedo...
.
Armor
The Nassau-class ships were equipped with KruppKrupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
cemented steel armor. The ships had an armored belt that was 30 cm (11.8 in) thick at its strongest, where it protected the ship's vitals in the center, and as thin as 8 cm (3.1 in) in less critical areas, such as the bow and stern. Behind the main belt was a torpedo bulkhead
Torpedo bulkhead
A torpedo bulkhead is a type of armor common on the more heavily armored warships, especially battleships and battlecruisers of the early 20th century. It is designed to keep the ship afloat even if the hull was struck underneath the belt armor by a shell or by a torpedo...
3 cm (1.2 in) thick; there was some difficulty mounting the torpedo bulkhead, due to the four wing turrets and their barbettes. The ships' decks were armored, between 5.5–8 cm (2.1–3.1 in) thick. The forward conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
had a roof that was 8 cm (3.1 in) thick, and sides 40 cm (15.7 in) thick. The aft conning tower was less well protected, with a 5 cm (2 in) thick roof and 20 cm (7.9 in) sides. The main battery turrets had roofs that were 9 cm (3.5 in) thick, and 28 cm (11 in) sides. The casemated secondary battery had 16 cm (6.3 in) worth of armor protection, and 8 cm thick gun shields. The ships 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 Ersatz Bayern, Ersatz Sachsen, Ersatz Württemberg, and Ersatz Baden, as replacements for the four old Sachsen-class armored frigatesSachsen class armored frigate
The Sachsen class of armored frigates was a class of four ships built by the German Imperial Navy in the late 1870s to early 1880s. The ships—, , , and —were designed to operate as part of an integrated coastal defense network. The ships were intended to sortie from fortified bases to...
.The German navy orders a ship under a provisional name that indicates which obsolete unit of the fleet the new ship will replace. Upon completion, the ship is christened with the intended name. In this case, Ersatz Bayern was intended to replace , and once the ship was finished, she was christened Nassau. The first ship of the class, , was laid down on 22 July 1907 at the Kaiserliche Werft
Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven
Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven was a German shipbuilding company in Wilhelmshaven, Prussian Hanover. It was founded in 1853, first as Königliche Werft Wilhelmshaven but renamed in 1871 with the proclamation of the German Empire...
in Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
, launched on 7 March 1908, and commissioned into the fleet on 1 October 1909. was laid down less than a month later, on 12 August 1907 at the AG Weser
AG Weser
Aktien-Gesellschaft Weser was one of the great German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1873 it was finally closed in 1983. Altogether, AG Weser built about 1400 ships of different types, including many war ships...
shipyard in Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
. The ship was launched on 1 July 1908, and commissioned on 16 November 1909.
, the third ship of the class, was actually the first to be laid down, on 1 June 1907 in the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin. Construction of Rheinland proceeded slower than Nassau and Westfalen, and so the ship was launched later, on 26 September 1908. Rheinland joined the fleet on 30 April 1910. , the last ship of the class, was laid down at the Germaniawerft
Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft
Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft was a German shipbuilding company, located in the harbour at Kiel, and one of the largest and most important builders of U-boats for the Kaiserliche Marine in World War I and the Kriegsmarine in World War II.-History:The company was founded in 1867 by Lloyd Foster, as...
shipyard in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
on 11 June 1907. The ship was not launched until 12 December 1908, and did not join her sisters until 31 May 1910.
Service history
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
: the II Division of the I Battle Squadron. The ships of the class participated in a number of fleet operations in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, including the action on 31 May 1916 that resulted in the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
. The ships also saw limited service in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, including the abortive Battle of the Gulf of Riga
Battle of the Gulf of Riga
The Battle of the Gulf of Riga was a World War I naval operation of the German High Seas Fleet against the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea in August 1915...
in August 1915.
Battle of the Gulf of Riga
In August 1915, the German fleet attempted to clear the Gulf of RigaGulf of Riga
The Gulf of Riga, or Bay of Riga, is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. According to C.Michael Hogan, a saline stratification layer is found at a depth of approximately seventy metres....
, in order to facilitate the capture of Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
by the German army. To do so, the German planners intended to drive off or destroy the Russian naval forces in the gulf, which included the pre-dreadnought Slava
Russian battleship Slava
Slava was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, the last of the five s. Commissioned too late to participate in the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War, she survived while all of her sister ships were either sunk during the battle or surrendered to the Imperial...
and a number of gunboats and destroyers, and lay a series of minefields in the northern entrance to the gulf. The fleet that assembled to assault the gulf included the four Nassau-class ships, the four s, and the battlecruisers , , and . The eight battleships were to provide cover for the forces engaging the Russian flotilla. The first attempt on 8 August was unsuccessful, as it had taken too long to clear the Russian minefields to allow the minelayer to lay a minefield of her own.
On 16 August, a second attempt was made to enter the gulf: Nassau and Posen, four light cruisers, and 31 torpedo boats breached the defenses to the gulf. On the first day of the assault, the German minesweeper T 46 was sunk, as was the destroyer V 99. On 17 August, Nassau and Posen engaged in an artillery duel with Slava, resulting in three hits on the Russian ship that prompted her withdrawal. After three days, the Russian minefields had been cleared, and the flotilla entered the gulf on 19 August, but reports of Allied submarines in the area prompted a German withdrawal from the gulf the following day.
Battle of Jutland
The ships took part in the inconclusive Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. For the majority of the battle, the I Battle Squadron formed the center of the line of battleLine of battle
In naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line end to end. A primitive form had been used by the Portuguese under Vasco Da Gama in 1502 near Malabar against a Muslim fleet.,Maarten Tromp used it in the Action of 18 September 1639 while its first use in...
, behind Rear Admiral Behncke's III Battle Squadron, and followed by Rear Admiral Mauve's elderly pre-dreadnoughts of the II Battle Squadron. Posen served as the division flagship, under the command of Rear Admiral W. Engelhardt.
At around midnight on 1 June, Nassau came in contact with the British destroyer , and in the confusion, attempted to ram her. Spitfire tried to evade, but could not maneuver away fast enough, and the two ships collided. Nassau fired her forward 11-inch guns at the destroyer, but they could not depress low enough for Nassau to be able to score a hit. Nonetheless, the blast from the guns destroyed Spitfires bridge. At that point, Spitfire was able to disengage from Nassau, and took with her a 20-foot (6 m) portion of Nassaus side plating. The collision disabled one of her 5.9-inch guns, and left an 11.5-foot (3.5 m) gash above the waterline; this slowed the ship to 15 knots until it could be repaired. At approximately the same time, Posen accidentally rammed the light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
and holed her below the waterline. Elbing was damaged so severely that her engine room was completely flooded and she was unable to move; the captain of the ship ordered Elbing be scuttled to prevent her capture by the British.
Shortly after 01:00, Nassau and encountered the British armored cruiser . Thüringen opened fire first, and pummeled Black Prince with a total of 27 heavy-caliber shells and 24 shells from her secondary battery. Nassau and joined in, followed by .
The wreck of the ship was directly in the path of Nassau; to avoid it, the ship had to steer sharply towards the III Battle Squadron. It was necessary for the ship to steam at full speed astern in order to avoid a collision with . Nassau then fell back into a position between the pre-dreadnoughts and .
Following the return to German waters, Nassau, Posen, and Westfalen, along with the Helgoland-class battleships and Thüringen, took up defensive positions in the Jade
Jadebusen
The Jade Bight, is a bay on the North Sea coast of Germany. It was formerly known simply as Jade or Jahde.About 180 km² in area, the Jade was largely created by storm floods during the 12th and 16th centuries. During this period it was connected in the East to the river Weser...
roadstead
Roadstead
A roadstead is a place outside a harbor where a ship can lie at anchor. It is an enclosed area with an opening to the sea, narrower than a bay or gulf. It has a surface that cannot be confused with an estuary. It can be created artificially by jetties or dikes...
for the night. The Nassau-class ships suffered only a handful of secondary battery
Battleship secondary armament
The secondary armament of a capital ship are smaller, faster-firing weapons that are typically effective at a shorter range than the main weapons...
hits from the opposing Grand Fleet; Nassau was hit twice, Westfalen and Rheinland each once, and Posen escaped completely unscathed. Not a single ship of the four was struck by a heavy-caliber shell.
Later operations
Less than three months after Jutland, Westfalen was torpedoed by the British submarine on 19 August 1916, but suffered minimal damage and was soon repaired. In 1918, Westfalen and Rheinland were detached from the High Seas Fleet and ordered into the Baltic SeaBaltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. Finland was revolting against Russian rule
Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...
, and the two ships were to aid the Finns in the civil war. On 11 April at approximately 07:30, Rheinland ran aground off the Åland Islands
Åland Islands
The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland...
. Approximately 6,000 tons of guns, belt armor, and coal were removed in order to lighten her enough to be refloated, which was not accomplished until 9 July. Rheinland was never repaired, and instead saw the remainder of her service as a barracks ship in Kiel.
Following the end of the First World War in 1918, eleven battleships of the , , and classes and all five battlecruisers, along with a number of light cruisers and destroyers, were interned in Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
, while their fate was determined in the negotiations over the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
. The Nassau- and Helgoland
Helgoland class battleship
The Helgoland class was the second class of German dreadnought battleships. 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...
-class battleships were left in Germany. Following the scuttling of the German fleet
Scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow
The scuttling of the German fleet took place at the Royal Navy's base at Scapa Flow, in Scotland, after the end of the First World War. The High Seas Fleet had been interned there under the terms of the Armistice whilst negotiations took place over the fate of the ships...
in June 1919, all four ships were allotted to the victorious Allied powers as replacements for the scuttled ships. Nassau was ceded to Japan, Britain received Westfalen and Posen, and Rheinland was sold directly to the breakers at Dordrecht
Dordrecht
Dordrecht , colloquially Dordt, historically in English named Dort, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the fourth largest city of the province, having a population of 118,601 in 2009...
. Between 1920 and 1924, Westfalen was scrapped at Birkenhead and the remaining ships were scrapped at Dordrecht.