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SMS Oldenburg (1910)
Encyclopedia
SMS Oldenburg ("His Majesty's Ship Oldenburg")"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff
" was the second vessel of the of battleship
s of the German
Imperial Navy
. Oldenburgs keel was laid in October 1908 at the Kaiserliche Werft
dockyard in Wilhelmshaven
. She was launched on 30 September 1909 and was commissioned into the fleet on 1 May 1912. The ship was equipped with twelve 30.5 centimetres (12 in) guns in six twin turrets, and had a top speed of 21.2 knots (11.5 m/s). Oldenburg was assigned to the I Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet
for the majority of her career, including World War I
.
Along with her three sister ships, , , and , Oldenburg participated in all of the major fleet operations of World War I in the North Sea
against the British Grand Fleet. This included the Battle of Jutland
on 31 May – 1 June 1916, the largest naval battle of the war. The ship also saw action in the Baltic Sea
against the Russian Navy. She was present during the unsuccessful first incursion into the Gulf of Riga
in August 1915, though she saw no combat during the operation.
After the German collapse in November 1918, most of the High Seas Fleet was interned in Scapa Flow
during the peace negotiations. The four Helgoland class ships were allowed to remain in Germany, however, and were therefore spared the destruction of the fleet in Scapa Flow
. Nevertheless, Oldenburg and her sisters were eventually ceded to the victorious Allied powers
as war reparations
; Oldenburg was given to Japan, which sold the vessel to a British ship-breaking firm in 1920. Oldenburg was broken up for scrap in Dordrecht
in 1921.
shipyard in Danzig under construction number 828. Her three sisters had been ordered for 1908, and due to budget constraints Oldenburg was ordered for 1909. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz
, the State Secretary of the Navy, gave the contract to Schichau before the 1909 budget had been approved, and the shipbuilder began stockpiling materials to build the ship. This gave the impression that Germany was building more battleships than publicly admitted, which prompted a naval scare in Britain. The British public demanded "we want eight [new battleships] and we won't wait," and in the span of a year eight new battleships had been laid down in Britain, a massive escalation in the international naval arms race
. Work began on 1 March 1909 with the laying of her keel, and the ship was launched a little more than a year later on 30 June 1910. After launching, the incomplete ship was transferred to Kiel
where fitting-out
, which included completion of the superstructure and the installation of armament, was effected. Work lasted until August 1911. Oldenburg, named for the Duchy of Oldenburg in northern Germany, was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 1 May 1912, just over three years from when work commenced, at a cost of 45.801 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. Oldenburg 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.
Oldenburg 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. Oldenburg was also armed with six 50 cm (19.7 in) submerged torpedo tube
s.
s in the Baltic. On 17 July, she was assigned to the I Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet
, alongside her sisters. She then went on to conduct individual ship training exercises, which were followed by I Squadron and then fleet maneuvers in November. The annual summer cruise in July–August, which typically went to Norway, was interrupted by the Agadir Crisis
. As a result, the cruise only went into the Baltic, in order to keep the fleet closer to Germany. Oldenburg and the rest of the fleet then fell into a pattern of individual ship, squadron, and full fleet exercises over the next two years of peace-time training.
The annual summer cruise to Norway began on 14 July 1914, despite the rising international tensions following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
. During the last peacetime cruise of the Imperial Navy, the fleet conducted drills in the Skagerrak
before proceeding to the Norwegian fjords on 25 July. The following day the fleet began to steam back to Germany due to Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia
. On the 27th, the entire fleet assembled off Cape Skadenes before returning to port, where they remained at a heightened state of readiness. War between Austria-Hungary and Serbia broke out on the 28th, and in the span of a week all of the major European powers had joined the conflict. By 29 July Oldenburg and the rest of I Squadron was back in Wilhelmshaven.
Oldenburg was present during the first sortie by German fleet into the North Sea, which took place on 2–3 November 1914. No British forces were encountered during the operation. A second operation followed on 15–16 December. This sortie was the initiation of a strategy adopted by Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl
, the commander of the High Seas Fleet. Admiral von Ingenohl intended to use the battlecruiser
s of Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Franz von Hipper
's I Scouting Group
to raid British coastal towns in order to lure out portions of the Grand Fleet where they could be destroyed by the High Seas Fleet. Early on 15 December the fleet left port to raid the towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby
. That evening, the German battle fleet of twelve dreadnoughts—including Oldenburg and her three sisters
—and eight pre-dreadnoughts came to within 10 nmi (18.5 km) of an isolated squadron of six British battleships. However, skirmishes between the rival destroyer
screens in the darkness convinced von Ingenohl that he was faced with the entire Grand Fleet. Under orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II to avoid risking the fleet unnecessarily, von Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battle fleet back toward Germany.
The Battle of Dogger Bank
, in which Vice Admiral David Beatty's
1st
and 2nd Battlecruiser Squadrons
ambushed the I Scouting Group battlecruisers, occurred on 24 January 1915. Oldenburg and the rest of I Squadron were sortied to reinforce the outnumbered German battlecruisers; I Squadron left port at 12:33 CET
,The Germans were on Central European Time, which is one hour ahead of UTC
, the time zone commonly used in British works. along with the pre-dreadnought
s of II Squadron. They were too late, however, and they failed to locate any British forces. By 19:05, the fleet had returned to the Schillig Roads outside Wilhelmshaven. In the meantime, the armored cruiser
had been overwhelmed by concentrated British fire and sunk, while the battlecruiser was severely damaged by an ammunition fire. As a result, Kaiser Wilhelm II removed von Ingenohl from his post and replaced him with Admiral Hugo von Pohl
on 2 February.
The I Squadron went into the Baltic on 22 February 1915 for unit training, which lasted until 13 March. Following their return to the North Sea, the ships participated in a series of uneventful fleet sorties on 29–30 March, 17–18 April, 21–22 April, 17–18 May, and 29–30 May. The fleet entered into a period of inactivity which lasted until 4 August, when the I Squadron returned to the Baltic for another round of training maneuvers. From there, the squadron was attached to the naval force that attempted to sweep the Gulf of Riga
of Russian naval forces in August 1915. The assault force included the eight I Squadron battleships, the battlecruisers , , and Seydlitz, 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. Oldenburg and the majority of the other big ships of the High Seas Fleet remained outside the Gulf for the entirety of the operation
, to prevent possible intervention by the Russian fleet outside the Gulf. 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. By 26 August, the I Squadron had returned to Wilhelmshaven.
On 23–24 October, the High Seas Fleet undertook its last major offensive operation under the command of Admiral von Pohl, though it ended without contact with British forces. By January 1916 hepatic cancer had weakened von Pohl to the point where he was no longer able to carry out his duties, and he was therefore replaced by Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer
in January. Scheer proposed a more aggressive policy designed to force a confrontation with the British Grand Fleet; he received approval from the Kaiser in February. Scheer's first operation was a sweep into the North Sea on 5–7 March, followed by two more on 21–22 March and 25–26 March. During Scheer's next operation, Oldenburg supported a raid on the English coast
on 24 April 1916 conducted by the German battlecruiser force. The battlecruisers left the Jade Estuary at 10:55 and the rest of the High Seas Fleet followed at 13:40. The battlecruiser struck a mine while en route to the target, and had to withdraw. The other battlecruisers bombarded the town of Lowestoft unopposed, but during the approach to Yarmouth, they encountered the British cruisers of the Harwich Force
. A short gun duel ensued before the Harwich Force withdrew. Reports of British submarines in the area prompted the retreat of the I Scouting Group. At this point, Scheer, who had been warned of the sortie of the Grand Fleet from its base in Scapa Flow, also withdrew to safer German waters.
Oldenburg was present during the fleet operation that resulted in the battle of Jutland
which took place on 31 May and 1 June 1916. The German fleet again sought to draw out and isolate a portion of the Grand Fleet and destroy it before the main British fleet could retaliate. During the operation, Oldenburg was the fourth ship in the I Division of I Squadron and the twelfth ship in the line, directly astern of her sister-ship Helgoland and ahead of Posen. The I Squadron was the center of the German line, behind the eight and battleships of the III Squadron. The six elderly pre-dreadnought
s of the III and IV Divisions, II Battle Squadron, formed the rear of the formation.
Shortly before 16:00, the battlecruisers of I Scouting Group
encountered the British 1st Battlecruiser Squadron under the command of David Beatty
. The opposing ships began an artillery duel that saw the destruction of , shortly after 17:00, and , less than half an hour later. By this time, the German battlecruisers were steaming south to draw the British ships toward the main body of the High Seas Fleet. At 17:30, the crew of the leading German battleship, König, spotted both the I Scouting Group and the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron approaching. The German battlecruisers were steaming to starboard, while the British ships steamed to port. At 17:45, Scheer ordered a two-point
turn to port to bring his ships closer to the British battlecruisers, and a minute later, the order to open fire was given.The compass can be divided into 32 points, each corresponding to 11.25 degrees. A two-point turn to port would alter the ships' course by 22.5 degrees.
Oldenburg, however, was too far away to effectively engage the British ships. Shortly before 18:30, the German line came across the British destroyers and , which had been disabled earlier in the engagement. Naval historian John Campbell states that "Thüringen and Helgoland, and possibly Oldenburg and Posen, fired turret guns", as well as secondary weapons, at Nestor. The ship was destroyed by several large explosions and sank at 18:35; most of her crew was rescued by German torpedo boats. Shortly after 19:15, the British dreadnought came into range; she the was the first major warship Oldenburg could engage. She fired her 30.5 cm guns briefly during the 180 degree turn ordered by Scheer to disengage from the British fleet. Oldenburg claimed to have straddled Warspite once, though her gunners had difficulty discerning the British battleship in the growing haze.
At around 23:30, the German fleet reorganized into the night cruising formation. Oldenburg was now the fifth ship, stationed toward the front of the 24-ship line. At around 01:10, the German line encountered the six destroyers of the British 4th Destroyer Flotilla. Oldenburg fired on several of the destroyers at close range, including and . Fortune scored a single hit on Oldenburg with her 4 inch guns. The shell struck a forward searchlight above the bridge and caused serious casualties. The officer responsible for directing the 8.8 cm guns was killed, along with three other officers on the bridge. The helmsman was incapacitated and the ship's commander, Captain Höpfner, was wounded. Oldenburg was briefly steaming without anyone steering the ship, and was in danger of ramming Posen and Helgoland. Captain Höpfner managed to reach the wheel and take control of the ship, however, and a collision was averted. Oldenburg and several other battleships then took under fire; the destroyer was reduced to a flaming wreck. In the darkness, Fortune and Ardent were sunk and the remaining four ships were scattered.
Despite the ferocity of the night fighting, the High Seas Fleet punched through the British destroyer forces and reached Horns Reef
by 4:00 on 1 June. A few hours later, the fleet arrived in the Jade; Thüringen, Helgoland, Nassau, and took up defensive positions in the outer roadstead
and , , , and anchored just outside the entrance locks to Wilhelmshaven. Oldenburg and the other seven remaining dreadnoughts entered port, where those that were still in fighting condition restocked ammunition and fuel. In the course of the battle, Oldenburg fired fifty-three 30.5 cm, eighty-eight 15 cm, and thirty 8.8 cm shells. The hit from Fortune was the only damage the ship incurred from enemy action, though a misfire occurred in the Number 4 port-side 15 cm gun. In total, Oldenburgs crew suffered eight men killed and fourteen wounded.
. The damage incurred at Jutland was quickly repaired in Wilhelmshaven
from 30 June to 15 July. On 18 August, Admiral Scheer attempted a repeat of the 31 May operation; the two serviceable German battlecruisers— and —supported by three dreadnoughts, were to bombard the coastal town of Sunderland in an attempt to draw out and destroy Beatty's battlecruisers. The rest of the fleet, including Oldenburg, would trail behind and provide cover. On the approach to the English coast, Scheer turned north after receiving false report from a zeppelin
about a British unit in the area. As a result, the bombardment was not carried out, and by 14:35, Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet's approach and so turned his forces around and retreated to German ports.
On 25–26 September, Oldenburg and the rest of I Squadron covered an advance conducted by the II Führer der Torpedoboote (Leader of Torpedo Boats) to the Terschelling
Bank. Scheer conducted another fleet operation on 18–20 October in the direction of the Dogger Bank, though again they failed to find British forces. For the majority of 1917, Thüringen was assigned to guard duty in the German Bight
. During Operation Albion
, the amphibious assault on the Russian-held islands in the Gulf of Riga, Thüringen and her three sisters were moved to the Danish straits
to block any possible British attempt to intervene. On 28 October the four ships arrived in Putzig Wiek
, and from there steamed to Arensburg
on the 29th. On 2 November the operation was completed and Thüringen and her sisters began the voyage back to the North Sea. A final abortive fleet sortie took place on 23–24 April 1918. Scheer had intended to intercept a British convoy to Norway and destroy the escorting battleships. During the operation, the battlecruiser suffered mechanical problems and had to be towed back to port. Oldenburg took the ship in tow, and the main body of the fleet turned back to Germany while Hipper searched in vain for the convoy. German intelligence had incorrectly placed the date for the scheduled convoy on the 24th, and after several hours of fruitless steaming, Hipper turned for port as well. By 18:37, the fleet was outside the Jade and Moltke had been repaired enough to allow her to enter port under her own power.
(Großadmiral) of the fleet—intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy, to improve Germany's bargaining position, despite the expected casualties. But many of the war-weary sailors felt that 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 Thüringen and then on several other battleships mutinied
. The unrest ultimately forced Hipper and Scheer to cancel the operation. Informed of the situation, the Kaiser stated "I no longer have a navy".
Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918, the most modern capital ships of the High Seas Fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter
, was interned in the British naval base in Scapa Flow
. Oldenburg and the rest of I Squadron remained in Germany, however. On the morning of 21 June, the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers, and in their absence Reuter ordered the crews to scuttle
the ten battleships and five battlecruisers interned at Scapa Flow. Oldenburg was stricken from the naval register on 5 November 1919 and placed out of commission. The fate of the eight remaining German battleships was determined in the Treaty of Versailles
, which stated that the ships were to be disarmed and surrendered to the governments of the principal Allied powers. She was surrendered to Japan as "M" on 13 May 1920. The Japanese Navy had no need for the ship and she was sold to a British ship-breaking firm in June 1920; she was broken up for scrap the following year in Dordrecht
.
Citations
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...
" was the second vessel of the of 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 of the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
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...
. Oldenburgs keel was laid in October 1908 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...
dockyard 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:...
. She was launched on 30 September 1909 and was commissioned into the fleet on 1 May 1912. The ship was equipped with twelve 30.5 centimetres (12 in) guns in six twin turrets, and had a top speed of 21.2 knots (11.5 m/s). Oldenburg was assigned to the I Battle Squadron 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...
for the majority of her career, including 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...
.
Along with her three sister ships, , , and , Oldenburg participated in all of the major fleet operations of World War I 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...
against the British Grand Fleet. This included 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, the largest naval battle of the war. The ship also saw action 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. She was present during the unsuccessful first incursion into 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, though she saw no combat during the operation.
After the German collapse in November 1918, most of the High Seas Fleet was 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...
during the peace negotiations. The four Helgoland class ships were allowed to remain in Germany, however, and were therefore spared the destruction of the fleet 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...
. Nevertheless, Oldenburg and her sisters were eventually ceded to the victorious Allied powers
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 war reparations
War reparations
War reparations are payments intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.- History :...
; Oldenburg was given to Japan, which sold the vessel to a British ship-breaking firm in 1920. Oldenburg was broken up for scrap in 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...
in 1921.
Construction
Oldenburg was ordered by the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) under the provisional name Ersatz Frithjof, as a replacement for the old coastal defense ship . The contract for the ship was awarded to the Schichau-WerkeSchichau-Werke
The Schichau-Werke was a German engineering works and shipyard based in Elbing, formerly part of the German Empire, and which is today the town of Elbląg in northern Poland. It also had a subsidiary shipyard in Danzig .-Early years:...
shipyard in Danzig under construction number 828. Her three sisters had been ordered for 1908, and due to budget constraints Oldenburg was ordered for 1909. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz
Alfred 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...
, the State Secretary of the Navy, gave the contract to Schichau before the 1909 budget had been approved, and the shipbuilder began stockpiling materials to build the ship. This gave the impression that Germany was building more battleships than publicly admitted, which prompted a naval scare in Britain. The British public demanded "we want eight [new battleships] and we won't wait," and in the span of a year eight new battleships had been laid down in Britain, a massive escalation in the international naval arms race
World War I naval arms race
The naval arms race of the early 20th Century preceded and was one of the several intertwined causes for World War I. It was primarily between the United Kingdom and the German Empire...
. Work began on 1 March 1909 with the laying of her keel, and the ship was launched a little more than a year later on 30 June 1910. After launching, the incomplete ship was transferred to 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...
where 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...
, which included completion of the superstructure and the installation of armament, was effected. Work lasted until August 1911. Oldenburg, named for the Duchy of Oldenburg in northern Germany, was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 1 May 1912, just over three years from when work commenced, at a cost of 45.801 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. Oldenburg 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.
Oldenburg 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. Oldenburg 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
After her commissioning on 1 May 1912, Oldenburg conducted sea trialSea trial
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...
s in the Baltic. On 17 July, she was assigned to the I Battle Squadron 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...
, alongside her sisters. She then went on to conduct individual ship training exercises, which were followed by I Squadron and then fleet maneuvers in November. The annual summer cruise in July–August, which typically went to Norway, was interrupted by the Agadir Crisis
Agadir Crisis
The Agadir Crisis, also called the Second Moroccan Crisis, or the Panthersprung, was the international tension sparked by the deployment of the German gunboat Panther, to the Moroccan port of Agadir on July 1, 1911.-Background:...
. As a result, the cruise only went into the Baltic, in order to keep the fleet closer to Germany. Oldenburg and the rest of the fleet then fell into a pattern of individual ship, squadron, and full fleet exercises over the next two years of peace-time training.
The annual summer cruise to Norway began on 14 July 1914, despite the rising international tensions following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were shot dead in Sarajevo, by Gavrilo Princip, one of a group of six Bosnian Serb assassins coordinated by Danilo Ilić...
. During the last peacetime cruise of the Imperial Navy, the fleet conducted drills 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:...
before proceeding to the Norwegian fjords on 25 July. The following day the fleet began to steam back to Germany due to Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia
July Ultimatum
The July Crisis was a diplomatic crisis among the major powers of Europe in the summer of 1914 that led to the First World War...
. On the 27th, the entire fleet assembled off Cape Skadenes before returning to port, where they remained at a heightened state of readiness. War between Austria-Hungary and Serbia broke out on the 28th, and in the span of a week all of the major European powers had joined the conflict. By 29 July Oldenburg and the rest of I Squadron was back in Wilhelmshaven.
World War I
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. Admiral von Ingenohl intended to use 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 of Konteradmiral (Rear 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...
's 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...
to raid British coastal towns in order to lure out portions of the Grand Fleet where they could be destroyed by the High Seas Fleet. Early on 15 December the fleet left port to raid the towns of 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...
. That evening, the German battle fleet of twelve dreadnoughts—including Oldenburg and her three sisters
Sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...
—and eight pre-dreadnoughts came to within 10 nmi (18.5 km) of an isolated squadron of six British battleships. However, skirmishes between the rival 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...
screens in the darkness convinced von Ingenohl that he was faced with the entire Grand Fleet. Under orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II to avoid risking the fleet unnecessarily, von Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battle fleet back toward Germany.
The Battle of Dogger Bank
Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)
The Battle of Dogger Bank was a naval battle fought near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea on 24 January 1915, during the First World War, between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet....
, in which Vice Admiral 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
1st Battlecruiser Squadron (United Kingdom)
The First Battlecruiser Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron of battlecruisers that saw service as part of the Grand Fleet during the First World War. It was created in 1909 as the First Cruiser Squadron and was renamed in 1913 to First Battle Cruiser Squadron. It participated in the battles of...
and 2nd Battlecruiser Squadrons
2nd Battlecruiser Squadron (United Kingdom)
The 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron of battlecruisers that saw service as part of the Grand Fleet during the First World War.-August 1914:In August 1914, the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron was in the Mediterranean, and consisted of:-1915:...
ambushed the I Scouting Group battlecruisers, occurred on 24 January 1915. Oldenburg and the rest of I Squadron were sortied to reinforce the outnumbered German battlecruisers; I Squadron left port at 12:33 CET
Central European Time
Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...
,The Germans were on Central European Time, which is one hour ahead of UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
, the time zone commonly used in British works. along with the 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 II Squadron. They were too late, however, and they failed to locate any British forces. By 19:05, the fleet had returned to the Schillig Roads outside Wilhelmshaven. In the meantime, the 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...
had been overwhelmed by concentrated British fire and sunk, while the battlecruiser was severely damaged by an ammunition fire. As a result, Kaiser Wilhelm II removed von Ingenohl from his post and replaced him with Admiral Hugo von Pohl
Hugo von Pohl
Hugo von Pohl was a German admiral who during the First World War commanded the German High Seas Fleet from 1915 until shortly before his death from illness in 1916....
on 2 February.
The I Squadron went into the Baltic on 22 February 1915 for unit training, which lasted until 13 March. Following their return to the North Sea, the ships participated in a series of uneventful fleet sorties on 29–30 March, 17–18 April, 21–22 April, 17–18 May, and 29–30 May. The fleet entered into a period of inactivity which lasted until 4 August, when the I Squadron returned to the Baltic for another round of training maneuvers. From there, the squadron was attached to the naval force that attempted to sweep the Gulf of Riga
Gulf 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....
of Russian naval forces in August 1915. The assault force included the eight I Squadron battleships, the battlecruisers , , and Seydlitz, 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. Oldenburg and the majority of the other big ships of the High Seas Fleet remained outside the Gulf for the entirety of the operation
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...
, to prevent possible intervention by the Russian fleet outside the Gulf. 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. By 26 August, the I Squadron had returned to Wilhelmshaven.
On 23–24 October, the High Seas Fleet undertook its last major offensive operation under the command of Admiral von Pohl, though it ended without contact with British forces. By January 1916 hepatic cancer had weakened von Pohl to the point where he was no longer able to carry out his duties, and he was therefore replaced by Vice Admiral Reinhard 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...
in January. Scheer proposed a more aggressive policy designed to force a confrontation with the British Grand Fleet; he received approval from the Kaiser in February. Scheer's first operation was a sweep into the North Sea on 5–7 March, followed by two more on 21–22 March and 25–26 March. During Scheer's next operation, Oldenburg supported a raid on the English coast
Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft
The Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft was a naval battle fought during the First World War between the German Empire and the British Empire in the North Sea....
on 24 April 1916 conducted by the German battlecruiser force. The battlecruisers left the Jade Estuary at 10:55 and the rest of the High Seas Fleet followed at 13:40. The battlecruiser struck a mine while en route to the target, and had to withdraw. The other battlecruisers bombarded the town of Lowestoft unopposed, but during the approach to Yarmouth, they encountered the British cruisers of the Harwich Force
Harwich Force
The Harwich Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War, that went on to play a significant role in the war.-History:...
. A short gun duel ensued before the Harwich Force withdrew. Reports of British submarines in the area prompted the retreat of the I Scouting Group. At this point, Scheer, who had been warned of the sortie of the Grand Fleet from its base in Scapa Flow, also withdrew to safer German waters.
Battle of Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
which took place on 31 May and 1 June 1916. The German fleet again sought to draw out and isolate a portion of the Grand Fleet and destroy it before the main British fleet could retaliate. During the operation, Oldenburg was the fourth ship in the I Division of I Squadron and the twelfth ship in the line, directly astern of her sister-ship Helgoland and ahead of Posen. The I Squadron was the center of the German line, behind the eight and battleships of the III Squadron. The six 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 III and IV Divisions, II Battle Squadron, formed the rear of the formation.
Shortly before 16:00, the battlecruisers of 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...
encountered the British 1st Battlecruiser Squadron under the command of David Beatty
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...
. The opposing ships began an artillery duel that saw the destruction of , shortly after 17:00, and , less than half an hour later. By this time, the German battlecruisers were steaming south to draw the British ships toward the main body of the High Seas Fleet. At 17:30, the crew of the leading German battleship, König, spotted both the I Scouting Group and the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron approaching. The German battlecruisers were steaming to starboard, while the British ships steamed to port. At 17:45, Scheer ordered a two-point
Boxing the compass
Boxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names are formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, and are very handy to refer to a heading in a general or colloquial fashion, without...
turn to port to bring his ships closer to the British battlecruisers, and a minute later, the order to open fire was given.The compass can be divided into 32 points, each corresponding to 11.25 degrees. A two-point turn to port would alter the ships' course by 22.5 degrees.
Oldenburg, however, was too far away to effectively engage the British ships. Shortly before 18:30, the German line came across the British destroyers and , which had been disabled earlier in the engagement. Naval historian John Campbell states that "Thüringen and Helgoland, and possibly Oldenburg and Posen, fired turret guns", as well as secondary weapons, at Nestor. The ship was destroyed by several large explosions and sank at 18:35; most of her crew was rescued by German torpedo boats. Shortly after 19:15, the British dreadnought came into range; she the was the first major warship Oldenburg could engage. She fired her 30.5 cm guns briefly during the 180 degree turn ordered by Scheer to disengage from the British fleet. Oldenburg claimed to have straddled Warspite once, though her gunners had difficulty discerning the British battleship in the growing haze.
At around 23:30, the German fleet reorganized into the night cruising formation. Oldenburg was now the fifth ship, stationed toward the front of the 24-ship line. At around 01:10, the German line encountered the six destroyers of the British 4th Destroyer Flotilla. Oldenburg fired on several of the destroyers at close range, including and . Fortune scored a single hit on Oldenburg with her 4 inch guns. The shell struck a forward searchlight above the bridge and caused serious casualties. The officer responsible for directing the 8.8 cm guns was killed, along with three other officers on the bridge. The helmsman was incapacitated and the ship's commander, Captain Höpfner, was wounded. Oldenburg was briefly steaming without anyone steering the ship, and was in danger of ramming Posen and Helgoland. Captain Höpfner managed to reach the wheel and take control of the ship, however, and a collision was averted. Oldenburg and several other battleships then took under fire; the destroyer was reduced to a flaming wreck. In the darkness, Fortune and Ardent were sunk and the remaining four ships were scattered.
Despite the ferocity of the night fighting, the High Seas Fleet punched through the British destroyer forces and reached Horns Reef
Horns Reef
Horns Rev is a shallow area in the eastern North Sea, about 15 km / 10 miles off the westernmost point of Denmark, Blåvands Huk...
by 4:00 on 1 June. A few hours later, the fleet arrived in the Jade; Thüringen, Helgoland, Nassau, and took up defensive positions in the outer 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...
and , , , and anchored just outside the entrance locks to Wilhelmshaven. Oldenburg and the other seven remaining dreadnoughts entered port, where those that were still in fighting condition restocked ammunition and fuel. In the course of the battle, Oldenburg fired fifty-three 30.5 cm, eighty-eight 15 cm, and thirty 8.8 cm shells. The hit from Fortune was the only damage the ship incurred from enemy action, though a misfire occurred in the Number 4 port-side 15 cm gun. In total, Oldenburgs crew suffered eight men killed and fourteen wounded.
Subsequent operations
After Jutland, Oldenburg was assigned to guard duties in the German BightGerman Bight
German Bight is the southeastern bight of the North Sea bounded by the Netherlands and Germany to the south, and Denmark and Germany to the east . To the north and west it is limited by the Dogger Bank. The Bight contains the Frisian and Danish Islands. The Wadden Sea is approximately ten to...
. The damage incurred at Jutland was quickly repaired 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:...
from 30 June to 15 July. On 18 August, Admiral Scheer attempted a repeat of the 31 May operation; the two serviceable German battlecruisers— and —supported by three dreadnoughts, were to bombard the coastal town of Sunderland in an attempt to draw out and destroy Beatty's battlecruisers. The rest of the fleet, including Oldenburg, would trail behind and provide cover. On the approach to the English coast, Scheer turned north after receiving false report from a zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
about a British unit in the area. As a result, the bombardment was not carried out, and by 14:35, Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet's approach and so turned his forces around and retreated to German ports.
On 25–26 September, Oldenburg and the rest of I Squadron covered an advance conducted by the II Führer der Torpedoboote (Leader of Torpedo Boats) to the Terschelling
Terschelling
Terschelling is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands.Waddenislanders are known for their resourcefulness in using anything and everything that washes ashore. With few trees to use for timber, most of the farms and barns are built with masts...
Bank. Scheer conducted another fleet operation on 18–20 October in the direction of the Dogger Bank, though again they failed to find British forces. For the majority of 1917, Thüringen was assigned to guard duty in the German Bight
German Bight
German Bight is the southeastern bight of the North Sea bounded by the Netherlands and Germany to the south, and Denmark and Germany to the east . To the north and west it is limited by the Dogger Bank. The Bight contains the Frisian and Danish Islands. The Wadden Sea is approximately ten to...
. During Operation Albion
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...
, the amphibious assault on the Russian-held islands in the Gulf of Riga, Thüringen and her three sisters were moved to the Danish straits
Danish straits
The Danish straits are the three channels connecting the Baltic Sea to the North Sea through the Kattegat and Skagerrak. They transect Denmark, and are not to be confused with the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland...
to block any possible British attempt to intervene. On 28 October the four ships arrived in Putzig Wiek
Bay of Puck
The Bay of Puck or Puck Bay , historically also known as the Bay of Putzig , is a shallow western branch of the Bay of Gdańsk in the southern Baltic Sea, off the shores of Gdańsk Pomerania, Poland. It is separated from the open sea by the Hel Peninsula.The bay has an average depth of 2-6 metres...
, and from there steamed to Arensburg
Kuressaare
Kuressaare is a town and a municipality on Saaremaa island in Estonia. It is the capital of Saare County. The current population is about 14,706 Kuressaare is a town and a municipality on Saaremaa island in Estonia. It is the capital of Saare County. The current population is about 14,706...
on the 29th. On 2 November the operation was completed and Thüringen and her sisters began the voyage back to the North Sea. A final abortive fleet sortie took place on 23–24 April 1918. Scheer had intended to intercept a British convoy to Norway and destroy the escorting battleships. During the operation, the battlecruiser suffered mechanical problems and had to be towed back to port. Oldenburg took the ship in tow, and the main body of the fleet turned back to Germany while Hipper searched in vain for the convoy. German intelligence had incorrectly placed the date for the scheduled convoy on the 24th, and after several hours of fruitless steaming, Hipper turned for port as well. By 18:37, the fleet was outside the Jade and Moltke had been repaired enough to allow her to enter port under her own power.
Fate
Oldenburg and her three sisters were to have taken part in a final fleet action at the end of October 1918, days before the Armistice 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 AdmiralGrand 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, to improve Germany's bargaining position, despite the expected casualties. But many of the war-weary sailors felt that 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 Thüringen and then on several other battleships mutinied
Wilhelmshaven mutiny
The Kiel mutiny was a major revolt by sailors of the German High Seas Fleet on 3 November 1918. The revolt triggered the German revolution which was to sweep aside the monarchy within a few days. It ultimately led to the end of the First World War and to the establishment of the Weimar Republic.-...
. The unrest ultimately forced Hipper and Scheer to cancel the operation. Informed of the situation, the Kaiser stated "I no longer have a navy".
Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918, the most modern capital ships of the High Seas Fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter
Ludwig von Reuter
Ludwig von Reuter was a German admiral during World War I, who commanded the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet when it was interned at Scapa Flow at the end of the war. On 21 June 1919 he ordered the scuttling of the fleet to prevent the British from seizing the ships.-Early life:Reuter was...
, was interned in the British naval base 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...
. Oldenburg and the rest of I Squadron remained in Germany, however. On the morning of 21 June, the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers, and in their absence Reuter ordered the crews to scuttle
Scuttling
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
the ten battleships and five battlecruisers interned at Scapa Flow. Oldenburg was stricken from the naval register on 5 November 1919 and placed out of commission. The fate of the eight remaining German battleships was determined in 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...
, which stated that the ships were to be disarmed and surrendered to the governments of the principal Allied powers. She was surrendered to Japan as "M" on 13 May 1920. The Japanese Navy had no need for the ship and she was sold to a British ship-breaking firm in June 1920; she was broken up for scrap the following year in 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...
.
Footnotes
FootnotesCitations