SMS Helgoland
Encyclopedia
SMS Helgoland ("His Majesty's ship Helgoland"),"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff
" the lead ship of her class
, was a dreadnought
battleship
of the German Imperial Navy. Helgolands design represented an incremental improvement over the preceding , including an increase in the bore diameter of the main guns, from 28 cm (11 in) to 30.5 cm (12 in). Her keel was laid down on 11 November 1908 at the Howaldtswerke shipyards in Kiel
. Helgoland was launched
on 25 September 1909 and was commissioned
on 23 August 1911.
Like most battleships of the High Seas Fleet
, Helgoland saw limited action against Britain's Royal Navy
during World War I
. The ship participated in several fruitless sweeps into the North Sea as the covering force for the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group
. She saw some limited duty in the Baltic Sea
against the Russian Navy, including serving as part of a support force during the Battle of the Gulf of Riga
in August 1915. Helgoland was present at the Battle of Jutland
on 31 May – 1 June 1916, though she was located in the center of the German line of battle
and not as heavily engaged as the - and -class ships in the lead. Helgoland was ceded to Great Britain at the end of the war and broken up for scrap in the early 1920s. Her coat of arms
is preserved in the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden
.
in Kiel
under construction number 500. Work began on 24 December 1908 with the laying of her keel, and the ship was launched less than a year later, on 25 September 1909. Fitting-out
, including completion of the superstructure and the installation of armament, lasted until August 1911. Helgoland, named for the offshore islands
seen as vital to the defense of the Kiel Canal
, was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 23 August 1911, just under three years from when work commenced, at a cost of 46.196 million gold marks
.
The ship was 167.2 m (548.6 ft) long, had a beam
of 28.5 m (93.5 ft) and a draft of 8.94 m (29.3 ft), and displaced 24700 metric tons (24,309.8 LT) at full load. She was powered by three vertical triple expansion steam engines, which produced a top speed of 20.8 knots. Helgoland stored up to 3200 metric tons (3,149.5 LT) of coal, which allowed her to steam for 5500 nautical miles (10,186 km) at a speed of 10 knots (5.4 m/s). After 1915 the boilers were modified to burn oil; the ship could carry up to 197 metric tons (193.9 LT) of fuel oil.
Helgoland was armed with a main battery of twelve 30.5 cm (12 in) SK L/50
In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnellfeuerkanone) denotes that the gun is quick firing, while the L/50 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/50 gun is 50 calibers, meaning that the gun is 50 times as long as its diameter. guns in six twin gun turret
s, with one turret fore, one aft, and two on each flank of the ship. The ship's secondary armament consisted of fourteen 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns and sixteen 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns. After 1914, two of the 8.8 cm guns were removed and replaced by 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns. Helgoland was also armed with six 50 cm (19.7 in) submerged torpedo tube
s.
in the I Battle Squadron. On 9 February 1912, Helgolands crew beat the German record for loading coal, taking 1,100 tons of coal on board in two hours; the record was previously held by the crew of the Nassau class battleship . Kaiser Wilhelm II congratulated the crew through a Cabinet order. In March, fleet training maneuvers were conducted in the North Sea
, followed by another round of exercises in November. The fleet also trained in the Skagerrak
and Kattegat
during the November exercises. The next year followed a similar training pattern, though a summer cruise to Norway was instituted.
. The fleet, along with several German U-boat
s, assembled at Skagen
on 12 July to practice torpedo boat attacks, individual ship maneuvers, and searchlight techniques. The fleet arrived at the Fjord of Songe
by 18 July, but Helgoland had to wait until after midnight for a harbor pilot to guide her into the confined waters of the fjord. Helgoland joined , the light cruiser , and the Kaiser's yacht Hohenzollern
in Balholm.
That same day, Helgoland took on 1250 tons of coal from a Norwegian collier
. The following morning Helgoland was joined by her sister , and the two ships sailed back to Germany, arriving on the morning of 22 July. On the evening of 1 August, the captain announced to the crew that the Kaiser had ordered the navy to prepare for hostilities with the Russian Navy.
, Helgoland was assigned to the I Division, I Battle Squadron. Helgoland was stationed off the heavily fortified island of Wangerooge
on 9 August. Minefields and picket lines of cruisers, torpedo boats, and submarines were also emplaced there to defend Wilhelmshaven. Helgolands engines were kept running for the entirety of her deployment, so that she would be ready to respond at a moment's notice. Four days later, on 13 August, Helgoland returned to Wilhelmshaven to refuel. The following day, naval reservists began arriving to fill out the wartime complements for the German battleships.
.
The first major operation of the war in which Helgoland took part was the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby
on 15–16 December 1914. The raid was conducted by the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group
; Helgoland and the other dreadnoughts of the High Seas Fleet 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 in the middle of the North Sea, about 130 miles east of Scarborough.
The Royal Navy
, which had recently received the German code books captured from the beached cruiser , was aware that an operation was taking place, but was not sure where the Germans would strike. Therefore, the Admiralty
ordered David Beatty's
1st Battlecruiser Squadron, the six battleships of the 2nd Battle Squadron, and several cruisers and destroyers to intercept the German battlecruisers. However, Beatty's task force nearly ran headlong into the entire High Seas Fleet. At 06:20, Beatty's destroyer screen came into contact with the German torpedo boat V155. This began a confused, 2-hour battle between the British destroyers and the German cruiser and destroyer screen, often at very close range. At the time of the first encounter, the Helgoland class battleships were less than 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) away from the six British dreadnoughts; this was nearly within firing range, but in the darkness, neither British nor German admirals were aware of the composition of their opponents' fleets. Admiral Ingenohl, aware of the Kaiser's order not to risk the battle fleet without his express approval, concluded that his forces were engaging the screen of the entire Grand Fleet, and so, 10 minutes after the first contact, he ordered a turn to the southeast. Continued attacks delayed the turn, but by 06:42, it had been carried out. For about 40 minutes, the two fleets were steaming on a parallel course. At 07:20, Ingenohl ordered a further turn to port, which put his ships on a course for the safety of German bases.
. On 10 February, Helgoland and the rest of the I Squadron sailed out of Wilhelmshaven towards Cuxhaven, but heavy fog impeded movement for two days. The ships then anchored off Brunsbüttel
before proceeding through the Kiel Canal
to Kiel. The crews conducted gunnery training with the main and secondary guns and torpedo firing practice on 1 March. The following night the crews conducted night-fighting training. On 10 March the squadron again passed through the locks to return to Wilhelmshaven. Fog again slowed progress, and the ships did not reach port until 15 March.
in August 1915. The German flotilla, which was under the command of Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper
, also included the battlecruiser
s , , and , several light cruiser
s, 32 destroyer
s and 13 minesweeper
s. The plan called for channels in Russian minefields to be swept so that the Russian naval presence, which included the pre-dreadnought battleship Slava
, could be eliminated. The Germans would then lay minefields of their own to prevent Russian ships from returning to the gulf. Helgoland and the majority of the other big ships of the High Seas Fleet remained outside the gulf for the entirety of the operation. The dreadnoughts and were detached on 16 August to escort the minesweepers and to destroy Slava, though they failed to sink the old battleship. 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.
Under the command of Captain von Kameke, Helgoland fought at the Battle of Jutland
, alongside her sister ships in the I Battle Squadron. For the majority of the battle, the I Battle Squadron formed the center of the line of battle
, behind Rear Admiral Behncke's III Battle Squadron, and followed by Rear Admiral Mauve's elderly pre-dreadnought
s of the II Battle Squadron.
Helgoland and her sisters first entered direct combat shortly after 18:00. The German line was steaming northward and encountered the destroyers and , which had been disabled earlier in the battle. Nomad, which had been attacked by the ships at the head of the line, exploded and sank at 18:30, followed five minutes later by the Nestor, sunk by main and secondary gunfire from Helgoland, Thüringen and several other German battleships. At 19:20, Helgoland and several other battleships began firing on , which, along with the other s of the 5th Battle squadron, had been pursuing the German battlecruiser force. The shooting stopped quickly though, as the Germans lost sight of their target; Helgoland had fired only about 20 shells from her main guns.
At 20:15, during the third Gefechtskehrtwendung,This translates roughly as the "battle about-turn", and was a simultaneous 16-point turn of the entire High Seas Fleet
. It had never been conducted under enemy fire before the Battle of Jutland. See: Tarrant, pp. 153–154 Helgoland was struck by a 15 inches (38.1 cm) armor-piercing
(AP) shell, from either or , in the forward part of the ship. The shell hit the armored belt about 0.8 m (32 in) above the waterline
, where the armor was only 15 cm thick. The 15-inch shell broke up on impact, but it still managed to tear a 1.4 metres (4.6 ft) hole in the hull. It rained splinters on the foremost port side 15 cm gun, though it could still be fired. Approximately 80 tons of water entered the ship.
By 23:30, the High Seas Fleet had entered its night cruising formation. The order had largely been inverted, with the four Nassau-class ships in the lead, followed directly by the Helgolands, with the Kaisers and Königs astern of them. The rear was again brought up by the elderly pre-dreadnoughts; the mauled German battlecruisers were by this time scattered. At around midnight on 1 June, the Helgoland- and Nassau-class ships in the center of the German line came into contact with the British 4th Destroyer Flotilla. The 4th Flotilla broke off the action temporarily to regroup, but at around 01:00, unwittingly stumbled into the German dreadnoughts a second time. Helgoland and Oldenburg opened fire on the two leading British destroyers. Helgoland fired six salvos from her secondary guns at the destroyer Fortune before she succumbed to the tremendous battering. Shortly after, Helgoland shifted fire to an unidentified destroyer; Helgoland fired five salvos from her 15 cm guns to unknown effect. The British destroyers launched torpedoes at the German ships, but they managed to successfully evade them with a turn to starboard.
Following the return to German waters, Helgoland and Thüringen, along with the s , , and , took up defensive positions in the Jade
roadstead
for the night. During the battle, the ship suffered only minor damage; Helgoland was hit by a single 15-inch shell, but sustained minimal damage. Nevertheless, dry-docking was required to repair the hole in the belt armor. Work was completed by 16 June. In the course of the battle, Helgoland had fired 63 main battery shells, and 61 rounds from her 15 cm guns.
to receive the light cruisers and , which were returning from a raid on a British convoy to Norway. On 27 November the ship traversed the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal into the Baltic, but did not participate in the occupation of the islands in the Gulf of Riga
. A third and final fleet advance took place in April 1918, but was cut short when the battlecruiser developed engine problems and had to be towed back to port.
was to take effect. The bulk of the High Seas Fleet was to have sortied from their base in Wilhelmshaven to engage the British Grand Fleet; Scheer
—by now the Grand Admiral
(Großadmiral) of the fleet—intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy, in order to retain a better bargaining position for Germany, despite the expected casualties. However, many of the war-weary sailors felt the operation would disrupt the peace process and prolong the war.
On the morning of 29 October 1918, the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven the following day. Starting on the night of 29 October, sailors on and then on several other battleships mutinied. Early on the 31st, the crew of Helgoland, which was directly behind Thüringen in the harbor, joined in the mutiny. The I Squadron commander sent boats to Helgoland and Thüringen to take off the ships' officers, who were allowed to leave unharmed. He then informed the rebellious crews that if they failed to stand down, both ships would be torpedoed. After two torpedo boat
s arrived on the scene, both ships surrendered; their crews were taken ashore and incarcerated. The rebellion then spread ashore; on 3 November, an estimated 20,000 sailors, dock workers, and civilians fought a battle in Kiel
in an attempt to secure the release of the jailed mutineers. By 5 November, the red flag
of the Socialists flew above every capital ship in Wilhelmshaven save . The following day, a sailors' council took control of the base, and a train carrying the mutineers from Helgoland and Thüringen was stopped in Cuxhaven, where the men escaped.
, all four Helgoland-class battleships were disarmed and surrendered as prizes of war
to the Allies
as replacements for the ships scuttled in Scapa Flow
. On 21–22 November 1918, Helgoland steamed to Harwich
to retrieve the crews of U-boats that had been surrendered there. She was then removed from active service on 16 December 1918. Helgoland and her sisters were stricken from the German navy on 5 November 1919. Helgoland was formally handed over to the United Kingdom
on 5 August 1920. She was scrapped
at Morecambe
; work began on 3 March 1921. Helgolands coat of arms
is currently preserved in the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden
.
Seiner Majestät Schiff
Seiner Majestät Schiff was the ship prefix used by the Prussian Maritime Enterprise , the Prussian Navy, the Imperial German Navy and the Austro-Hungarian Navy...
" the lead ship of her class
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...
, was a dreadnought
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...
of the German Imperial Navy. Helgolands design represented an incremental improvement over the preceding , including an increase in the bore diameter of the main guns, from 28 cm (11 in) to 30.5 cm (12 in). Her keel was laid down on 11 November 1908 at the Howaldtswerke shipyards 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...
. Helgoland was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 25 September 1909 and was commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 23 August 1911.
Like most battleships of the High Seas Fleet
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...
, Helgoland saw limited action against Britain's 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...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The ship participated in several fruitless sweeps into the North Sea as the covering force for the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group
I Scouting Group
The I Scouting Group was a special reconnaissance unit within the German Kaiserliche Marine. The unit was famously commanded by Admiral Franz von Hipper during World War I. The I Scouting Group was one of the most active formations in the High Seas Fleet during the war; the unit took part in every...
. She saw some limited duty 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...
against the Russian Navy, including serving as part of a support force during the 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. Helgoland was present at 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 – 1 June 1916, though she was located in the center of the German line of battle
Line 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...
and not as heavily engaged as the - and -class ships in the lead. Helgoland was ceded to Great Britain at the end of the war and broken up for scrap in the early 1920s. Her coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
is preserved in the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
.
Construction
Helgoland was ordered by the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) under the provisional name Ersatz Siegfried, as a replacement for the old coastal defense ship . The contract for the ship was awarded to HowaldtswerkeHowaldtswerke
Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Kiel. In 2009 it was the largest shipyard in Germany and has more than 2,400 employees. It has been part of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems owned by ThyssenKrupp, since 2005...
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...
under construction number 500. Work began on 24 December 1908 with the laying of her keel, and the ship was launched less than a year later, on 25 September 1909. Fitting-out
Fitting-out
Fitting-out, or "outfitting”, is the process in modern shipbuilding that follows the float-out of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her owners...
, including completion of the superstructure and the installation of armament, lasted until August 1911. Helgoland, named for the offshore islands
Heligoland
Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the south-eastern corner of the North Sea...
seen as vital to the defense of the Kiel Canal
Kiel Canal
The Kiel Canal , known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal until 1948, is a long canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.The canal links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau. An average of is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula....
, was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 23 August 1911, just under three years from when work commenced, at a cost of 46.196 million gold 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...
.
The ship was 167.2 m (548.6 ft) long, had a 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...
of 28.5 m (93.5 ft) and a draft of 8.94 m (29.3 ft), and displaced 24700 metric tons (24,309.8 LT) at full load. She was powered by three vertical triple expansion steam engines, which produced a top speed of 20.8 knots. Helgoland stored up to 3200 metric tons (3,149.5 LT) of coal, which allowed her to steam for 5500 nautical miles (10,186 km) at a speed of 10 knots (5.4 m/s). After 1915 the boilers were modified to burn oil; the ship could carry up to 197 metric tons (193.9 LT) of fuel oil.
Helgoland was armed with a main battery of twelve 30.5 cm (12 in) SK L/50
30.5 cm SK L/50 gun
The 30.5 cm SK L/50 gunIn Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" denotes that the gun is quick firing, while the L/50 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/50 gun is 50 calibers, meaning that the gun is 50 times as long as it is in diameter. was a heavy gun mounted on 16 of...
In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnellfeuerkanone) denotes that the gun is quick firing, while the L/50 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/50 gun is 50 calibers, meaning that the gun is 50 times as long as its diameter. guns in six twin gun turret
Gun 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...
s, with one turret fore, one aft, and two on each flank of the ship. The ship's secondary armament consisted of fourteen 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns and sixteen 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns. After 1914, two of the 8.8 cm guns were removed and replaced by 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns. Helgoland was also armed with six 50 cm (19.7 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.
Service history
Upon commissioning, Helgoland replaced the pre-dreadnoughtPre-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...
in the I Battle Squadron. On 9 February 1912, Helgolands crew beat the German record for loading coal, taking 1,100 tons of coal on board in two hours; the record was previously held by the crew of the Nassau class battleship . Kaiser Wilhelm II congratulated the crew through a Cabinet order. In March, fleet training maneuvers were conducted 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...
, followed by another round of exercises in November. The fleet also trained in the Skagerrak
Skagerrak
The Skagerrak is a strait running between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area, which leads to the Baltic Sea.-Name:...
and Kattegat
Kattegat
The Kattegat , or Kattegatt is a sea area bounded by the Jutland peninsula and the Straits islands of Denmark on the west and south, and the provinces of Västergötland, Scania, Halland and Bohuslän in Sweden on the east. The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Øresund and the Danish...
during the November exercises. The next year followed a similar training pattern, though a summer cruise to Norway was instituted.
1914 summer training cruise
On 10 July 1914, Helgoland left the Jade Estuary to take part in the annual summer training cruise to NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The fleet, along with several German U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s, assembled at Skagen
Skagen
Skagen is a projection of land and a town, with a population of 8,515 , in Region Nordjylland on the northernmost tip of Vendsyssel-Thy, a part of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark...
on 12 July to practice torpedo boat attacks, individual ship maneuvers, and searchlight techniques. The fleet arrived at the Fjord of Songe
Sognefjord
The Sognefjord is the largest fjord in Norway, and the second longest in the world. Located in Sogn og Fjordane county, it stretches inland to the small village of Skjolden...
by 18 July, but Helgoland had to wait until after midnight for a harbor pilot to guide her into the confined waters of the fjord. Helgoland joined , the light cruiser , and the Kaiser's yacht Hohenzollern
SMY Hohenzollern
SMY Hohenzollern was the name of several Yachts used by the German Emperors between 1878 and 1918, named after their House of Hohenzollern.- SMY Hohenzollern I :...
in Balholm.
That same day, Helgoland took on 1250 tons of coal from a Norwegian collier
Collier (ship type)
Collier is a historical term used to describe a bulk cargo ship designed to carry coal, especially for naval use by coal-fired warships. In the late 18th century a number of wooden-hulled sailing colliers gained fame after being adapted for use in voyages of exploration in the South Pacific, for...
. The following morning Helgoland was joined by her sister , and the two ships sailed back to Germany, arriving on the morning of 22 July. On the evening of 1 August, the captain announced to the crew that the Kaiser had ordered the navy to prepare for hostilities with the Russian Navy.
Outbreak of war
At the start of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Helgoland was assigned to the I Division, I Battle Squadron. Helgoland was stationed off the heavily fortified island of Wangerooge
Wangerooge
Wangerooge is one of the 32 Frisian Islands in the North Sea located close to the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. It is also a municipality in the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony in Germany.Wangerooge is one of the East Frisian Islands...
on 9 August. Minefields and picket lines of cruisers, torpedo boats, and submarines were also emplaced there to defend Wilhelmshaven. Helgolands engines were kept running for the entirety of her deployment, so that she would be ready to respond at a moment's notice. Four days later, on 13 August, Helgoland returned to Wilhelmshaven to refuel. The following day, naval reservists began arriving to fill out the wartime complements for the German battleships.
Battle of Helgoland Bight
The first major naval action in the North Sea, the Battle of Helgoland Bight, took place on 28 August 1914. Helgoland was again stationed off Wangerooge. Despite her proximity to the battle, Helgoland was not sent to aid the beleaguered German cruisers, as she could not be risked in an unsupported attack against possibly superior British forces. Instead, the ship was ordered to drop anchor and await relief by . By 04:30, Helgoland received the order to join and sail out of the harbor. At 05:00, the two battleships met the battered cruisers and . By 07:30, the ships had returned to port for the night. Three days later, on 31 August, Helgoland was put into drydock for maintenance. On the afternoon of 7 September, Helgoland and the rest of the High Seas Fleet conducted a training cruise to the main island of HeligolandHeligoland
Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the south-eastern corner of the North Sea...
.
Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby
Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby
The raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, which took place on 16 December 1914, was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British seaport towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool, and Whitby. The attack resulted in 137 fatalities and 592 casualties, many of which were civilians...
on 15–16 December 1914. The raid was conducted by the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group
I Scouting Group
The I Scouting Group was a special reconnaissance unit within the German Kaiserliche Marine. The unit was famously commanded by Admiral Franz von Hipper during World War I. The I Scouting Group was one of the most active formations in the High Seas Fleet during the war; the unit took part in every...
; Helgoland and the other dreadnoughts of the High Seas Fleet steamed in distant support of Franz von Hipper
Franz von Hipper
Franz Ritter von Hipper was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy . Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern...
's battlecruisers. Friedrich von Ingenohl
Friedrich von Ingenohl
Gustav Heinrich Ernst Friedrich von Ingenohl was a German admiral from Neuwied best known for his command of the German High Seas Fleet at the beginning of World War I....
, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, decided to take up station in the middle of the North Sea, about 130 miles east of Scarborough.
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...
, which had recently received the German code books captured from the beached cruiser , was aware that an operation was taking place, but was not sure where the Germans would strike. Therefore, the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
ordered David Beatty's
David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO was an admiral in the Royal Navy...
1st Battlecruiser Squadron, the six battleships of the 2nd Battle Squadron, and several cruisers and destroyers to intercept the German battlecruisers. However, Beatty's task force nearly ran headlong into the entire High Seas Fleet. At 06:20, Beatty's destroyer screen came into contact with the German torpedo boat V155. This began a confused, 2-hour battle between the British destroyers and the German cruiser and destroyer screen, often at very close range. At the time of the first encounter, the Helgoland class battleships were less than 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) away from the six British dreadnoughts; this was nearly within firing range, but in the darkness, neither British nor German admirals were aware of the composition of their opponents' fleets. Admiral Ingenohl, aware of the Kaiser's order not to risk the battle fleet without his express approval, concluded that his forces were engaging the screen of the entire Grand Fleet, and so, 10 minutes after the first contact, he ordered a turn to the southeast. Continued attacks delayed the turn, but by 06:42, it had been carried out. For about 40 minutes, the two fleets were steaming on a parallel course. At 07:20, Ingenohl ordered a further turn to port, which put his ships on a course for the safety of German bases.
Training in Kiel
On 17 January, Ingenohl ordered Helgoland to go back to the docks for more maintenance, but she did not enter the drydock until three days later, owing to difficulties getting through the canal locks. By the middle of the month, Helgoland left dock; her berth was then filled by the armored cruiserArmored 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...
. On 10 February, Helgoland and the rest of the I Squadron sailed out of Wilhelmshaven towards Cuxhaven, but heavy fog impeded movement for two days. The ships then anchored off Brunsbüttel
Brunsbüttel
Brunsbüttel is a town in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany that lies on the mouth of the Elbe river, near the North Sea. It is the location of the western entrance to the Kiel Canal, the eastern entrance being located at Kiel-Holtenau...
before proceeding through the Kiel Canal
Kiel Canal
The Kiel Canal , known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal until 1948, is a long canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.The canal links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau. An average of is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula....
to Kiel. The crews conducted gunnery training with the main and secondary guns and torpedo firing practice on 1 March. The following night the crews conducted night-fighting training. On 10 March the squadron again passed through the locks to return to Wilhelmshaven. Fog again slowed progress, and the ships did not reach port until 15 March.
Battle of the Gulf of Riga
Helgoland, her three sister ships, and the four Nassau class battleships were assigned to the task force that was to cover the foray into 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 August 1915. The German flotilla, which was under the command of Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper
Franz von Hipper
Franz Ritter von Hipper was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy . Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern...
, also included the 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 , , and , several 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...
s, 32 destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s and 13 minesweeper
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
s. The plan called for channels in Russian minefields to be swept so that the Russian naval presence, which included the pre-dreadnought battleship 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...
, could be eliminated. The Germans would then lay minefields of their own to prevent Russian ships from returning to the gulf. Helgoland and the majority of the other big ships of the High Seas Fleet remained outside the gulf for the entirety of the operation. The dreadnoughts and were detached on 16 August to escort the minesweepers and to destroy Slava, though they failed to sink the old battleship. 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
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...
, alongside her sister ships in the I Battle Squadron. For the majority of the battle, the I Battle Squadron formed the center of the line of battle
Line 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-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...
s of the II Battle Squadron.
Helgoland and her sisters first entered direct combat shortly after 18:00. The German line was steaming northward and encountered the destroyers and , which had been disabled earlier in the battle. Nomad, which had been attacked by the ships at the head of the line, exploded and sank at 18:30, followed five minutes later by the Nestor, sunk by main and secondary gunfire from Helgoland, Thüringen and several other German battleships. At 19:20, Helgoland and several other battleships began firing on , which, along with the other s of the 5th Battle squadron, had been pursuing the German battlecruiser force. The shooting stopped quickly though, as the Germans lost sight of their target; Helgoland had fired only about 20 shells from her main guns.
At 20:15, during the third Gefechtskehrtwendung,This translates roughly as the "battle about-turn", and was a simultaneous 16-point turn of the entire High Seas Fleet
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...
. It had never been conducted under enemy fire before the Battle of Jutland. See: Tarrant, pp. 153–154 Helgoland was struck by a 15 inches (38.1 cm) armor-piercing
Armor-piercing shot and shell
An armor-piercing shell is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate armor. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armor-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armor carried on many warships. From the 1920s onwards, armor-piercing weapons were required for anti-tank missions...
(AP) shell, from either or , in the forward part of the ship. The shell hit the armored belt about 0.8 m (32 in) above the waterline
Waterline
The term "waterline" generally refers to the line where the hull of a ship meets the water surface. It is also the name of a special marking, also known as the national Load Line or Plimsoll Line, to be positioned amidships, that indicates the draft of the ship and the legal limit to which a ship...
, where the armor was only 15 cm thick. The 15-inch shell broke up on impact, but it still managed to tear a 1.4 metres (4.6 ft) hole in the hull. It rained splinters on the foremost port side 15 cm gun, though it could still be fired. Approximately 80 tons of water entered the ship.
By 23:30, the High Seas Fleet had entered its night cruising formation. The order had largely been inverted, with the four Nassau-class ships in the lead, followed directly by the Helgolands, with the Kaisers and Königs astern of them. The rear was again brought up by the elderly pre-dreadnoughts; the mauled German battlecruisers were by this time scattered. At around midnight on 1 June, the Helgoland- and Nassau-class ships in the center of the German line came into contact with the British 4th Destroyer Flotilla. The 4th Flotilla broke off the action temporarily to regroup, but at around 01:00, unwittingly stumbled into the German dreadnoughts a second time. Helgoland and Oldenburg opened fire on the two leading British destroyers. Helgoland fired six salvos from her secondary guns at the destroyer Fortune before she succumbed to the tremendous battering. Shortly after, Helgoland shifted fire to an unidentified destroyer; Helgoland fired five salvos from her 15 cm guns to unknown effect. The British destroyers launched torpedoes at the German ships, but they managed to successfully evade them with a turn to starboard.
Following the return to German waters, Helgoland and Thüringen, along with the s , , and , 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. During the battle, the ship suffered only minor damage; Helgoland was hit by a single 15-inch shell, but sustained minimal damage. Nevertheless, dry-docking was required to repair the hole in the belt armor. Work was completed by 16 June. In the course of the battle, Helgoland had fired 63 main battery shells, and 61 rounds from her 15 cm guns.
Later actions
After the Battle of Jutland, Admiral Scheer argued that the fleet could not break the British naval blockade, that only the resumption of unrestricted U-boat warfare would be successful. As a result, the High Seas Fleet largely remained in port, with the exception of two abortive sorties in August and October 1916. In April 1917, Helgoland accidentally rammed the new battlecruiser , which was in the process of fitting-out, as she left her berth. In October 1917 Helgoland, in company with , went to AmrumAmrum
Amrum is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German North Sea coast, south of Sylt and west of Föhr. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein...
to receive the light cruisers and , which were returning from a raid on a British convoy to Norway. On 27 November the ship traversed the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal into the Baltic, but did not participate in the occupation of the islands in the Gulf of Riga
Operation Albion
Operation Albion was the German land and naval operation in September-October 1917 to invade and occupy the Estonian islands of Saaremaa , Hiiumaa and Muhu , then part of the Russian Republic...
. A third and final fleet advance took place in April 1918, but was cut short when the battlecruiser developed engine problems and had to be towed back to port.
Wilhelmshaven mutiny
Helgoland and her three sisters were to have taken part in a final fleet action days before the ArmisticeArmistice with Germany (Compiègne)
The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...
was to take effect. The bulk of the High Seas Fleet was to have sortied from their base in Wilhelmshaven to engage the British Grand Fleet; Scheer
Reinhard Scheer
Reinhard Scheer was an Admiral in the German Kaiserliche Marine. Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet; he progressed through the ranks, commanding cruisers and battleships, as well as major staff positions on land. At the outbreak of World War I, Scheer was the commander of the II...
—by now the Grand Admiral
Grand Admiral
Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, generally being the highest such rank present in any particular country. Its most notable use was in Germany — the German word is Großadmiral.-France:...
(Großadmiral) of the fleet—intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy, in order to retain a better bargaining position for Germany, despite the expected casualties. However, many of the war-weary sailors felt the operation would disrupt the peace process and prolong the war.
On the morning of 29 October 1918, the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven the following day. Starting on the night of 29 October, sailors on and then on several other battleships mutinied. Early on the 31st, the crew of Helgoland, which was directly behind Thüringen in the harbor, joined in the mutiny. The I Squadron commander sent boats to Helgoland and Thüringen to take off the ships' officers, who were allowed to leave unharmed. He then informed the rebellious crews that if they failed to stand down, both ships would be torpedoed. After two torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
s arrived on the scene, both ships surrendered; their crews were taken ashore and incarcerated. The rebellion then spread ashore; on 3 November, an estimated 20,000 sailors, dock workers, and civilians fought a battle 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...
in an attempt to secure the release of the jailed mutineers. By 5 November, the red flag
Red flag
In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its...
of the Socialists flew above every capital ship in Wilhelmshaven save . The following day, a sailors' council took control of the base, and a train carrying the mutineers from Helgoland and Thüringen was stopped in Cuxhaven, where the men escaped.
Post-war
According to the terms of the Treaty of VersaillesTreaty 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...
, all four Helgoland-class battleships were disarmed and surrendered as prizes of war
Prize of war
A prize of war is a piece of military property seized by the victorious party after a war or battle, typically at sea. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of a captured ship during the 18th and 19th centuries....
to the Allies
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
as replacements for the ships scuttled in Scapa Flow
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...
. On 21–22 November 1918, Helgoland steamed to Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
to retrieve the crews of U-boats that had been surrendered there. She was then removed from active service on 16 December 1918. Helgoland and her sisters were stricken from the German navy on 5 November 1919. Helgoland was formally handed over to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on 5 August 1920. She was scrapped
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
at Morecambe
Morecambe
Morecambe is a resort town and civil parish within the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. As of 2001 it has a resident population of 38,917. It faces into Morecambe Bay...
; work began on 3 March 1921. Helgolands coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
is currently preserved in the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
.