SMS Westfalen
Encyclopedia
SMS Westfalen ("His Majesty's ship Westphalia
")"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff
", or "His Majesty's Ship" was one of the s, the first four dreadnought
s built for the German Imperial Navy. Westfalen was laid down at AG Weser
in Bremen
on 12 August 1907, launched nearly a year later on 1 July 1908, and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet
on 16 November 1909. The ship was equipped with a main battery of twelve 28 cm (11 in) guns in six twin turrets
in an unusual hexagonal arrangement.
The ship served with her sister ship
s for the majority of World War I
, seeing extensive service in the North Sea
, where she took part in several fleet sorties. These culminated in the Battle of Jutland
on 31 May – 1 June 1916, where Westfalen was heavily engaged in night-fighting against British light forces. Westfalen led the German line for much of the evening and into the following day, until the fleet reached Wilhelmshaven
. On another fleet advance in August 1916, the ship was damaged by a torpedo from a British submarine
.
Westfalen also conducted several deployments to the Baltic Sea
against the Russian Navy. The first of these was during the Battle of the Gulf of Riga
, where Westfalen supported a German naval assault on the gulf. Westfalen was sent back to the Baltic in 1918 to support the White Finns
in the Finnish Civil War
. The ship remained in Germany while the majority of the fleet was interned in Scapa Flow
after the end of the war. In 1919, following the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow
, Westfalen was ceded to the Allies as a replacement for the ships that had been sunk. She was then sent to ship-breakers
in England, who broke the ship up for scrap by 1924.
of the elderly s. The Reichstag
secretly approved and provided funds for Nassau and Westfalen at the end of March 1906, but construction on Westfalen was delayed while arms and armor were procured. She was laid down on 12 August 1907 at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen. As with her sister , construction proceeded swiftly and secretly; detachments of soldiers guarded both the shipyard and the major contractors who supplied building materials, such as Krupp
. The ship was launched on 1 July 1908, underwent an initial fitting-out
, and then in mid-September 1909 was transferred to Kiel
by a crew composed of dockyard workers for a final fitting-out. However, the water level in the Weser River
was low at this time of year, so six pontoons had to be attached to the ship to reduce her draft
. Even so, it took two attempts before the ship cleared the river.
Westfalen was 146.1 m (479.3 ft) long, 26.9 m (88.3 ft) wide, and had a draft of 8.9 m (29.2 ft). She displaced 18570 MT (18,276.7 LT) with a standard load, and 21000 MT (20,668.3 LT) fully laden. The ship design retained 3-shaft triple expansion engines instead of the more advanced turbine
engines. Steam was provided to the engines by twelve coal-fired boilers, with the addition in 1915 of supplementary oil firing. This machinery was chosen at the request of Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz
and the Navy's construction department. The department stated in 1905 that the "use of turbines in heavy warships does not recommend itself."
Westfalen carried twelve 28 cm (11 in) SK L/45
In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnellfeuerkanone) denotes that the gun is quick-firing, while "L/45" provides the length of the gun in terms of the diameter of the barrel. In this case, the L/45 gun is 45 calibers, which means that the gun is 45 times as long as its diameter. guns in an unusual hexagonal configuration.Four of the six gun turrets were arranged as wing turrets, two on either side of the superstructure
, a compact arrangement that reduced the length of the ship (see Staff, p. 21). No foreign dreadnought at that time used this arrangement. carried two wing turrets and three more on the centerline, while mounted all four turrets in superfiring pairs
on the centerline. The first Russian and Italian (Dante Alighieri
) designs carried four gun turrets on the centerline. See Gardiner & Gray, p. 21 for Dreadnought, p. 112 for South Carolina, p. 302 for Gangut, and p. 259 for Dante Alighieri. Her secondary armament consisted of twelve 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns and sixteen 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45
guns, all of which were mounted in casemate
s. The ship was also armed with six 45 cm (17.7 in) submerged torpedo tube
s. One tube was mounted in the bow, another in the stern, and two on each broadside, on either end of the torpedo bulkhead
.
. The navy had intended to transfer the ship to the II Battle Squadron, but this plan was discarded after the outbreak of World War I in July 1914.
's battlecruiser
s; the ships bombarded the English coastal towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby
on 15–16 December 1914. A German battlefleet of 12 dreadnoughts, including Westfalen, her three sisters and eight pre-dreadnoughts sailed in support of the battlecruisers. On the evening of 15 December, they 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 the German fleet commander, Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl
, that the entire Grand Fleet was deployed before him. Under orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II, von Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battlefleet back towards Germany. In late March 1915 the ship went into drydock for periodic maintenance.
in order to assist the German army, which was planning an assault on Riga
itself. To do so, the German planners intended to drive off or destroy the Russian naval forces in the Gulf, which included the pre-dreadnought battleship Slava
and a number of smaller gunboat
s and destroyers. The German battle fleet was accompanied by several mine-warfare vessels, tasked first with clearing Russian minefields and then laying a series of their own minefields in the northern entrance to the Gulf to prevent Russian naval reinforcements from reaching the area. The assembled German fleet included Westfalen and her three sister ships, the four s, the battlecruisers , , and , and several pre-dreadnoughts. The force operated under the command of Franz von Hipper, who had by now been promoted to vice admiral. The eight battleships were to provide cover for the forces engaging the Russian flotilla. The first attempt on 8 August was broken off, as it took too long to clear the Russian minefields.
On 16 August 1915, a second attempt was made to enter the Gulf: Nassau and , four light cruisers, and 31 torpedo boats managed to breach the Russian defenses. On the first day of the assault, two German light craft—the minesweeper T 46 and the destroyer V 99—were sunk. The following day, Nassau and Posen battled Slava, scoring three hits on the Russian ship that forced her to retreat. By 19 August, the Russian minefields had been cleared and the flotilla entered the Gulf. However, reports of Allied submarines in the area prompted the Germans to call off the operation the following day. Admiral Hipper later remarked that "to keep valuable ships for a considerable time in a limited area in which enemy submarines were increasingly active, with the corresponding risk of damage and loss, was to indulge in a gamble out of all proportion to the advantage to be derived from the occupation of the Gulf before the capture of Riga from the land side." In fact, the battlecruiser Moltke had been torpedoed that morning.
on 24–25 April. During this operation, the battlecruiser Seydlitz was damaged by a British mine and had to return to port prematurely. Due to poor visibility, the operation was soon called off, leaving the British fleet no time to intercept the raiders.
, who had succeeded Admirals von Ingenohl and Hugo von Pohl
as the fleet commander, immediately planned another attack on the British coast. However, the damage to Seydlitz and condenser trouble on several of the III Battle Squadron dreadnoughts delayed the plan until the end of May 1916. The German battlefleet departed the Jade
at 03:30The times used in this article are in CET
, which is one hour ahead of UTC
, which is often used in British works. on 31 May. Westfalen was assigned to the II Division of the I Battle Squadron, under the command of Rear Admiral W. Engelhardt. Westfalen was the last ship in the division, astern of her three sisters. The II Division was the last unit of dreadnoughts in the fleet; they were followed by only the elderly pre-dreadnoughts of the II Battle Squadron.
Between 17:48 and 17:52, eleven German dreadnoughts, including Westfalen, engaged and opened fire on the British 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron, though the range and poor visibility prevented effective fire, which was soon checked. At 18:05, Westfalen began firing again; her target was a British light cruiser
, most probably the . Despite the short distance, around 18000 metres (19,685 yd), Westfalen scored no hits. Scheer had by this time called for maximum speed in order to pursue the British ships; Westfalen made 20 knots (10.9 m/s). By 19:30 when Scheer signaled "Go west", the German fleet had faced the deployed Grand Fleet for a second time and was forced to turn away. In doing so, the order of the German line was reversed; this would have put the II Squadron in the lead, but Captain Redlich of Westfalen noted that II Squadron was out of position and began his turn immediately, assuming the lead position.
Around 21:20, Westfalen and her sister ships began to be engaged by the battlecruisers of the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron
; several large shells straddled (fell to either side of) the ship and rained splinters on her deck. Shortly thereafter, two torpedo tracks were spotted that turned out to be imaginary. The ships were then forced to slow down in order to allow the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group to pass ahead. Around 22:00, Westfalen and Rheinland observed unidentified light forces in the gathering darkness. After flashing a challenge via searchlight that was ignored, the two ships turned away to starboard in order to evade any torpedoes that might have been fired. The rest of I Battle Squadron followed them. During the brief encounter, Westfalen fired seven of her 28 cm shells in the span of about two and a half minutes. Westfalen again assumed a position guiding the fleet, this time because Scheer wanted lead ships with greater protection against torpedoes than the pre-dreadnoughts had.
At about 00:30, the leading units of the German line encountered British destroyers and cruisers. A violent firefight at close range ensued; Westfalen opened fire on the destroyer with her 15 cm and 8.8 cm guns at a distance of about 1,800 m (2,000 yd). Her first salvo destroyed Tipperarys bridge and forward deck gun. In the span of five minutes, Westfalen fired ninety-two 15 cm and forty-five 8.8 cm rounds at Tipperary before turning 90 degrees to starboard to evade any torpedoes that might have been fired. Nassau and several cruisers and destroyers joined in the attack on Tipperary; the ship was quickly turned into a burning wreck. The destroyer nevertheless continued to fire with her stern guns and launched her two starboard torpedoes. One of the British destroyers scored a hit on Westfalens bridge with its 4 inches (10.2 cm) guns, killing two men and wounding eight; Captain Redlich was slightly wounded. At 00:50, Westfalen spotted and briefly engaged her with her secondary guns; in about 45 seconds she fired thirteen 15 cm and thirteen 8.8 cm shells before turning away. Broke was engaged by other German warships, including the cruiser ; she was hit at least seven times and suffered 42 dead, six missing, and 34 wounded crew members. An officer aboard the light cruiser described Broke as "an absolute shambles." Despite the serious damage inflicted, Broke managed to withdraw from the battle and reach port. Just after 01:00, Westfalens searchlights fell on the destroyer Fortune, which was wrecked and set ablaze in a matter of seconds by Westfalen and Rheinland.
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. With Westfalen in the lead, the German fleet reached Wilhelmshaven a few hours later, where the battleship and two of her sisters took up defensive positions in the outer roadstead
. Over the course of the battle, the ship had fired fifty-one 28 cm shells, one-hundred and seventy-six 15 cm rounds, and one hundred and six 8.8 cm shells. Repair work followed immediately in Wilhelmshaven and was completed by 17 June.
. Kurfürst), and the newly commissioned . The High Seas Fleet, including Westfalen at the rear of the line, would trail behind and provide cover. However, at 06:00 on 19 August, Westfalen was torpedoed by the British submarine , some 55 nautical miles (101.9 km) north of Terschelling
. The ship took in approximately 800 metric tons (787.4 LT) of water, but the torpedo bulkhead held. Three torpedo-boats were detached from the fleet to escort the damaged ship back to port; Westfalen made 14 kn (7.6 m/s) on the return trip. The British were aware of the German plans and sortied the Grand Fleet to meet them. By 14:35, Admiral Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet's approach and, unwilling to engage the whole of the Grand Fleet just 11 weeks after the close call at Jutland, turned his forces around and retreated to German ports. Repairs to Westfalen lasted until 26 September.
Following the repair work, Westfalen briefly went into the Baltic Sea for training, before returning to the North Sea on 4 October. The fleet then advanced as far as the Dogger Bank
on 19–20 October. The ship remained in port for the majority of 1917. The ship did not actively take part in Operation Albion
in the Baltic, though she was stationed off Apenrade to prevent a possible British incursion into the area.
On 22 February 1918, Westfalen and Rheinland were tasked with a mission to Finland to support German army units to be deployed there. The Finns were engaged in a civil war
; the White Finns sought a conservative government free from influence from the newly created Soviet Union
, while the Red Guards
preferred Soviet-style communism. On 23 February, the two ships took on the 14th Jäger Battalion, and early on 24 February they departed for the Åland Islands
. Åland was to be a forward operating base, from which the port of Hanko would be secured, following an assault on the capital of Helsinki
. The task force reached the Åland Islands on 5 March, where they encountered the Swedish coastal defense ships , , and . Negotiations ensued, which resulted in the landing of the German troops on Åland on 7 March; Westfalen then returned to Danzig.
Westfalen remained in Danzig until 31 March, when she departed for Finland with Posen; the ships arrived at Russarö
, which was the outer defense for Hanko, by 3 April. The German army quickly took the port. The task force then proceeded to Helsingfors; on 9 April Westfalen stood off Reval, organizing the invasion force. Two days later the ship passed into the harbor at Helsingfors and landed the soldiers; she supported their advance with her main guns. The Red Guards were defeated within three days. The ship remained in Helsingfors until 30 April, by which time the White government had been installed firmly in power.
Following the operation, Westfalen returned to the North Sea where she rejoined the I Battle Squadron. On 11 August, Westfalen, Posen, , and steamed out towards Terschelling to support German patrols in the area. While en route, Westfalen suffered serious damage to her boilers that reduced her speed to 16 kn (8.7 m/s). After returning to port, she was decommissioned and employed as an artillery training ship.
informed the German commander, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, that the Armistice was to expire at noon on 21 June 1919, the deadline by which Germany was to have signed the peace treaty. Von Reuter believed that the British intended to seize the German ships after the Armistice expired.By this time, the Armistice had been extended to 23 June, though there is some contention as to whether von Reuter was aware of this. Admiral Sydney Fremantle
stated that he informed von Reuter on the evening of the 20th, though von Reuter claims he was unaware of the development. For Fremantle's claim, see Bennett, p. 307. For von Reuter's statement, see Herwig, p. 256. To prevent this, he decided to scuttle
his ships at the first opportunity. On the morning of 21 June, the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers; at 11:20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships.
As a result of the scuttling at Scapa Flow, the Allies demanded replacements for the ships that had been sunk. Westfalen was struck from the German naval list on 5 November 1919 and subsequently handed over to the Allies under the contract name "D" on 5 August 1920. The ship was then sold to ship-breakers in Birkenhead
, where she was broken up for scrap by 1924.
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
")"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff
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...
", or "His Majesty's Ship" was one of the s, the first four 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...
s built for the German Imperial Navy. Westfalen was laid down at AG Weser
AG Weser
Aktien-Gesellschaft Weser was one of the great German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1873 it was finally closed in 1983. Altogether, AG Weser built about 1400 ships of different types, including many war ships...
in Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
on 12 August 1907, launched nearly a year later on 1 July 1908, and commissioned into 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...
on 16 November 1909. The ship was equipped with a main battery of twelve 28 cm (11 in) guns in six twin turrets
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...
in an unusual hexagonal arrangement.
The ship served with her sister ship
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...
s for the majority of 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...
, seeing extensive service 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...
, where she took part in several fleet sorties. These culminated in the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
on 31 May – 1 June 1916, where Westfalen was heavily engaged in night-fighting against British light forces. Westfalen led the German line for much of the evening and into the following day, until the fleet reached 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:...
. On another fleet advance in August 1916, the ship was damaged by a torpedo from a British submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
.
Westfalen also conducted several deployments to 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. The first of these was 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...
, where Westfalen supported a German naval assault on the gulf. Westfalen was sent back to the Baltic in 1918 to support the White Finns
White Guard (Finland)
The White Guard was a voluntary militia that emerged victorious over the socialist Red Guard as part of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918...
in the Finnish Civil War
Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...
. The ship remained in Germany while the majority of the 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...
after the end of the war. In 1919, following the scuttling of the German 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...
, Westfalen was ceded to the Allies as a replacement for the ships that had been sunk. She was then sent to ship-breakers
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...
in England, who broke the ship up for scrap by 1924.
Construction
The German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) ordered Westfalen under the provisional name Ersatz Sachsen as a replacement for SMS Sachsen, the lead shipLead ship
The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...
of the elderly s. The Reichstag
Reichstag (German Empire)
The Reichstag was the parliament of the North German Confederation , and of the German Reich ....
secretly approved and provided funds for Nassau and Westfalen at the end of March 1906, but construction on Westfalen was delayed while arms and armor were procured. She was laid down on 12 August 1907 at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen. As with her sister , construction proceeded swiftly and secretly; detachments of soldiers guarded both the shipyard and the major contractors who supplied building materials, such as Krupp
Krupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
. The ship was launched on 1 July 1908, underwent an initial 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...
, and then in mid-September 1909 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...
by a crew composed of dockyard workers for a final fitting-out. However, the water level in the Weser River
Weser River
The Weser is a river in north-western Germany. Formed at Hann. Münden by the Fulda and Werra, it flows through Lower Saxony, then reaching the historic port city of Bremen before emptying into the North Sea 50 km further north at Bremerhaven, which is also a seaport...
was low at this time of year, so six pontoons had to be attached to the ship to reduce her draft
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
. Even so, it took two attempts before the ship cleared the river.
Westfalen was 146.1 m (479.3 ft) long, 26.9 m (88.3 ft) wide, and had a draft of 8.9 m (29.2 ft). She displaced 18570 MT (18,276.7 LT) with a standard load, and 21000 MT (20,668.3 LT) fully laden. The ship design retained 3-shaft triple expansion engines instead of the more advanced turbine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
engines. Steam was provided to the engines by twelve coal-fired boilers, with the addition in 1915 of supplementary oil firing. This machinery was chosen at the request of 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...
and the Navy's construction department. The department stated in 1905 that the "use of turbines in heavy warships does not recommend itself."
Westfalen carried twelve 28 cm (11 in) SK L/45
28 cm SK L/45 gun
The 28 cm SK L/45 The 28 cm SK L/45 The 28 cm SK L/45 (SK - Schnelladekanone (quick loading cannon) L - Länge (with a 45 caliber barrel) was a German naval gun that was used in World War I and World War II. Originally a naval gun, it was adapted for land service after World War I....
In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnellfeuerkanone) denotes that the gun is quick-firing, while "L/45" provides the length of the gun in terms of the diameter of the barrel. In this case, the L/45 gun is 45 calibers, which means that the gun is 45 times as long as its diameter. guns in an unusual hexagonal configuration.Four of the six gun turrets were arranged as wing turrets, two on either side of the superstructure
Superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships...
, a compact arrangement that reduced the length of the ship (see Staff, p. 21). No foreign dreadnought at that time used this arrangement. carried two wing turrets and three more on the centerline, while mounted all four turrets in superfiring pairs
Superfire
The idea of superfire is to locate two turrets in a row, one behind the other, but with the second turret located above the one in front so that the second turret could fire over the first...
on the centerline. The first Russian and Italian (Dante Alighieri
Italian battleship Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri was the first dreadnought battleship built for the Regia Marina . Named after the medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri, she was the first ship built with triple gun turrets for the main armament...
) designs carried four gun turrets on the centerline. See Gardiner & Gray, p. 21 for Dreadnought, p. 112 for South Carolina, p. 302 for Gangut, and p. 259 for Dante Alighieri. Her secondary armament consisted of twelve 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns and sixteen 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45
8.8 cm SK L/45 naval gun
The 8.8 cm SK L/45 The 8.8 cm SK L/45 The 8.8 cm SK L/45 (SK - Schnelladekanone (quick loading cannon) L - Länge (with a 45-caliber barrel) was a German naval gun that was used in World War I on a variety of mounts.-Description:...
guns, all of which were mounted in casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s. The ship was also armed with six 45 cm (17.7 in) submerged torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s. One tube was mounted in the bow, another in the stern, and two on each broadside, on either end of the torpedo bulkhead
Torpedo bulkhead
A torpedo bulkhead is a type of armor common on the more heavily armored warships, especially battleships and battlecruisers of the early 20th century. It is designed to keep the ship afloat even if the hull was struck underneath the belt armor by a shell or by a torpedo...
.
Service history
On 16 October 1909, before Westfalen was commissioned into the fleet, the ship took part in a ceremony for the opening of the third set of locks in the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal in Kiel. Exactly one month later, Westfalen was commissioned for sea trials, which were interrupted only by fleet training exercises in February 1910. At the completion of the trials on 3 May, Westfalen was added to the I Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet; two days later, she became the squadron flagship, replacing 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...
. The navy had intended to transfer the ship to the II Battle Squadron, but this plan was discarded after the outbreak of World War I in July 1914.
World War I
Westfalen participated in most of the fleet advances into the North Sea throughout the war. The first operation was conducted primarily by Rear Admiral Franz von HipperFranz 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 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; the ships bombarded the English coastal 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...
on 15–16 December 1914. A German battlefleet of 12 dreadnoughts, including Westfalen, her three sisters and eight pre-dreadnoughts sailed in support of the battlecruisers. On the evening of 15 December, they 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 the German fleet commander, Admiral 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....
, that the entire Grand Fleet was deployed before him. Under orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II, von Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battlefleet back towards Germany. In late March 1915 the ship went into drydock for periodic maintenance.
Battle of the Gulf of Riga
In August 1915, the German fleet attempted to clear the Russian-held Gulf of RigaGulf of Riga
The Gulf of Riga, or Bay of Riga, is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. According to C.Michael Hogan, a saline stratification layer is found at a depth of approximately seventy metres....
in order to assist the German army, which was planning an assault on Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
itself. To do so, the German planners intended to drive off or destroy the Russian naval forces in the Gulf, 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...
and a number of smaller gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
s and destroyers. The German battle fleet was accompanied by several mine-warfare vessels, tasked first with clearing Russian minefields and then laying a series of their own minefields in the northern entrance to the Gulf to prevent Russian naval reinforcements from reaching the area. The assembled German fleet included Westfalen and her three sister ships, the four s, the battlecruisers , , and , and several pre-dreadnoughts. The force operated under the command of Franz von Hipper, who had by now been promoted to vice admiral. The eight battleships were to provide cover for the forces engaging the Russian flotilla. The first attempt on 8 August was broken off, as it took too long to clear the Russian minefields.
On 16 August 1915, a second attempt was made to enter the Gulf: Nassau and , four light cruisers, and 31 torpedo boats managed to breach the Russian defenses. On the first day of the assault, two German light craft—the minesweeper T 46 and the destroyer V 99—were sunk. The following day, Nassau and Posen battled Slava, scoring three hits on the Russian ship that forced her to retreat. By 19 August, the Russian minefields had been cleared and the flotilla entered the Gulf. However, reports of Allied submarines in the area prompted the Germans to call off the operation the following day. Admiral Hipper later remarked that "to keep valuable ships for a considerable time in a limited area in which enemy submarines were increasingly active, with the corresponding risk of damage and loss, was to indulge in a gamble out of all proportion to the advantage to be derived from the occupation of the Gulf before the capture of Riga from the land side." In fact, the battlecruiser Moltke had been torpedoed that morning.
Return to the North Sea
By the end of August Westfalen and the rest of the High Seas Fleet had returned to their anchorages in the North Sea. The next operation conducted was a sweep into the North Sea on 11–12 September, though it ended without any action. Another sortie followed on 23–24 October during which the German fleet did not encounter any British forces. Another uneventful advance into the North Sea took place on 21–22 April 1916. A bombardment mission followed two days later; Westfalen joined the battleship support for Hipper's battlecruisers while they attacked Yarmouth and LowestoftBombardment 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 24–25 April. During this operation, the battlecruiser Seydlitz was damaged by a British mine and had to return to port prematurely. Due to poor visibility, the operation was soon called off, leaving the British fleet no time to intercept the raiders.
Battle of Jutland
Admiral Reinhard ScheerReinhard 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...
, who had succeeded Admirals von Ingenohl and 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....
as the fleet commander, immediately planned another attack on the British coast. However, the damage to Seydlitz and condenser trouble on several of the III Battle Squadron dreadnoughts delayed the plan until the end of May 1916. The German battlefleet departed 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...
at 03:30The times used in this article are in 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...
, 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...
, which is often used in British works. on 31 May. Westfalen was assigned to the II Division of the I Battle Squadron, under the command of Rear Admiral W. Engelhardt. Westfalen was the last ship in the division, astern of her three sisters. The II Division was the last unit of dreadnoughts in the fleet; they were followed by only the elderly pre-dreadnoughts of the II Battle Squadron.
Between 17:48 and 17:52, eleven German dreadnoughts, including Westfalen, engaged and opened fire on the British 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron, though the range and poor visibility prevented effective fire, which was soon checked. At 18:05, Westfalen began firing again; her target was a British 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...
, most probably the . Despite the short distance, around 18000 metres (19,685 yd), Westfalen scored no hits. Scheer had by this time called for maximum speed in order to pursue the British ships; Westfalen made 20 knots (10.9 m/s). By 19:30 when Scheer signaled "Go west", the German fleet had faced the deployed Grand Fleet for a second time and was forced to turn away. In doing so, the order of the German line was reversed; this would have put the II Squadron in the lead, but Captain Redlich of Westfalen noted that II Squadron was out of position and began his turn immediately, assuming the lead position.
Around 21:20, Westfalen and her sister ships began to be engaged by the battlecruisers of the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron
3rd Battlecruiser Squadron (United Kingdom)
The 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron was a short-lived Royal Navy squadron of battlecruisers that saw service as part of the Grand Fleet during the First World War.-Creation:...
; several large shells straddled (fell to either side of) the ship and rained splinters on her deck. Shortly thereafter, two torpedo tracks were spotted that turned out to be imaginary. The ships were then forced to slow down in order to allow the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group to pass ahead. Around 22:00, Westfalen and Rheinland observed unidentified light forces in the gathering darkness. After flashing a challenge via searchlight that was ignored, the two ships turned away to starboard in order to evade any torpedoes that might have been fired. The rest of I Battle Squadron followed them. During the brief encounter, Westfalen fired seven of her 28 cm shells in the span of about two and a half minutes. Westfalen again assumed a position guiding the fleet, this time because Scheer wanted lead ships with greater protection against torpedoes than the pre-dreadnoughts had.
At about 00:30, the leading units of the German line encountered British destroyers and cruisers. A violent firefight at close range ensued; Westfalen opened fire on the destroyer with her 15 cm and 8.8 cm guns at a distance of about 1,800 m (2,000 yd). Her first salvo destroyed Tipperarys bridge and forward deck gun. In the span of five minutes, Westfalen fired ninety-two 15 cm and forty-five 8.8 cm rounds at Tipperary before turning 90 degrees to starboard to evade any torpedoes that might have been fired. Nassau and several cruisers and destroyers joined in the attack on Tipperary; the ship was quickly turned into a burning wreck. The destroyer nevertheless continued to fire with her stern guns and launched her two starboard torpedoes. One of the British destroyers scored a hit on Westfalens bridge with its 4 inches (10.2 cm) guns, killing two men and wounding eight; Captain Redlich was slightly wounded. At 00:50, Westfalen spotted and briefly engaged her with her secondary guns; in about 45 seconds she fired thirteen 15 cm and thirteen 8.8 cm shells before turning away. Broke was engaged by other German warships, including the cruiser ; she was hit at least seven times and suffered 42 dead, six missing, and 34 wounded crew members. An officer aboard the light cruiser described Broke as "an absolute shambles." Despite the serious damage inflicted, Broke managed to withdraw from the battle and reach port. Just after 01:00, Westfalens searchlights fell on the destroyer Fortune, which was wrecked and set ablaze in a matter of seconds by Westfalen and Rheinland.
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. With Westfalen in the lead, the German fleet reached Wilhelmshaven a few hours later, where the battleship and two of her sisters 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...
. Over the course of the battle, the ship had fired fifty-one 28 cm shells, one-hundred and seventy-six 15 cm rounds, and one hundred and six 8.8 cm shells. Repair work followed immediately in Wilhelmshaven and was completed by 17 June.
Raid of 18–19 August
Another fleet advance followed on 18–22 August, during which the I Scouting Group battlecruisers were to bombard the coastal town of Sunderland in an attempt to draw out and destroy Beatty's battlecruisers. As only two of the four German battlecruisers were still in fighting condition, three dreadnoughts were assigned to the Scouting Group for the operation: , (or GroßerThis is the German "sharp S"; see ßß
In the German alphabet, ß is a letter that originated as a ligature of ss or sz. Like double "s", it is pronounced as an , but in standard spelling, it is only used after long vowels and diphthongs, while ss is used after short vowels...
. Kurfürst), and the newly commissioned . The High Seas Fleet, including Westfalen at the rear of the line, would trail behind and provide cover. However, at 06:00 on 19 August, Westfalen was torpedoed by the British submarine , some 55 nautical miles (101.9 km) north of 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...
. The ship took in approximately 800 metric tons (787.4 LT) of water, but the torpedo bulkhead held. Three torpedo-boats were detached from the fleet to escort the damaged ship back to port; Westfalen made 14 kn (7.6 m/s) on the return trip. The British were aware of the German plans and sortied the Grand Fleet to meet them. By 14:35, Admiral Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet's approach and, unwilling to engage the whole of the Grand Fleet just 11 weeks after the close call at Jutland, turned his forces around and retreated to German ports. Repairs to Westfalen lasted until 26 September.
Following the repair work, Westfalen briefly went into the Baltic Sea for training, before returning to the North Sea on 4 October. The fleet then advanced as far as the Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England. It extends over approximately , with its dimensions being about long and up to broad. The water depth ranges from 15 to 36 metres , about shallower than the surrounding sea. It is a...
on 19–20 October. The ship remained in port for the majority of 1917. The ship did not actively take part in 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...
in the Baltic, though she was stationed off Apenrade to prevent a possible British incursion into the area.
Expedition to Finland
Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...
; the White Finns sought a conservative government free from influence from the newly created Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, while the Red Guards
Red Guards (Finland)
The Red Guards formed the army of Red Finland during the Finnish Civil War in 1918. The combined strength of the Red Guard was about 30,000 at the beginning of the Civil War, and peaked at 90,000-120,000 during the course of the conflict....
preferred Soviet-style communism. On 23 February, the two ships took on the 14th Jäger Battalion, and early on 24 February they departed for the Åland Islands
Åland Islands
The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland...
. Åland was to be a forward operating base, from which the port of Hanko would be secured, following an assault on the capital of Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. The task force reached the Åland Islands on 5 March, where they encountered the Swedish coastal defense ships , , and . Negotiations ensued, which resulted in the landing of the German troops on Åland on 7 March; Westfalen then returned to Danzig.
Westfalen remained in Danzig until 31 March, when she departed for Finland with Posen; the ships arrived at Russarö
Russarö
Russarö is an island south of Hanko. The island is closed to the public as it is military area of the Finnish Defence Forces. The island has a five-story stone lighthouse built in 1863 and a Finnish Meteorological Institute weather station.- External links :...
, which was the outer defense for Hanko, by 3 April. The German army quickly took the port. The task force then proceeded to Helsingfors; on 9 April Westfalen stood off Reval, organizing the invasion force. Two days later the ship passed into the harbor at Helsingfors and landed the soldiers; she supported their advance with her main guns. The Red Guards were defeated within three days. The ship remained in Helsingfors until 30 April, by which time the White government had been installed firmly in power.
Following the operation, Westfalen returned to the North Sea where she rejoined the I Battle Squadron. On 11 August, Westfalen, Posen, , and steamed out towards Terschelling to support German patrols in the area. While en route, Westfalen suffered serious damage to her boilers that reduced her speed to 16 kn (8.7 m/s). After returning to port, she was decommissioned and employed as an artillery training ship.
Fate
Following the German collapse in November 1918, a significant portion of the High Seas Fleet was interned in Scapa Flow under the terms of the Armistice. Westfalen and her three sisters—the oldest dreadnoughts in the German navy—were not among the ships listed for internment, so they remained in German ports. During the internment, a copy of The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
informed the German commander, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, that the Armistice was to expire at noon on 21 June 1919, the deadline by which Germany was to have signed the peace treaty. Von Reuter believed that the British intended to seize the German ships after the Armistice expired.By this time, the Armistice had been extended to 23 June, though there is some contention as to whether von Reuter was aware of this. Admiral Sydney Fremantle
Sydney Fremantle
Admiral Sir Sydney Robert Fremantle GCB, MVO was an officer of the Royal Navy, who served during the Victorian era and had risen to the rank of rear-admiral by the outbreak of the First World War...
stated that he informed von Reuter on the evening of the 20th, though von Reuter claims he was unaware of the development. For Fremantle's claim, see Bennett, p. 307. For von Reuter's statement, see Herwig, p. 256. To prevent this, he decided 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...
his ships at the first opportunity. On the morning of 21 June, the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers; at 11:20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships.
As a result of the scuttling at Scapa Flow, the Allies demanded replacements for the ships that had been sunk. Westfalen was struck from the German naval list on 5 November 1919 and subsequently handed over to the Allies under the contract name "D" on 5 August 1920. The ship was then sold to ship-breakers in Birkenhead
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
, where she was broken up for scrap by 1924.