SMS Seydlitz 19121005 viewsSMS Seydlitz was a 25,000 ton battlecruiser of the Imperial German Navy, built at Hamburg, Germany, and commissioned in May 1913.
At the battle of Dogger Bank, 24 January 1915, in World War I she was the flagship of Admiral Franz von Hipper. In heavy fighting two gun turrets were destroyed and 160 sailors were killed.
At the battle of Jutland she fought in Hipper's battlecruiser squadron where she destroyed HMS Queen Mary with her accurate shellfire. In the battle she was heavily damaged, being hit by twenty-one heavy shells and one torpedo, and suffering 98 men killed and 55 injured. Four turrets were destroyed and she shipped 5,000 tons of water, reducing her freeboard almost to nothing. She made it back to port with great difficulty. After the armistice she was escorted to Scapa Flow where she was scuttled with the rest of the High Seas Fleet on 21 June 1919. She was salvaged in 1928 and scrapped.
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SMS Baden 19151102 viewsSMS Baden was a Bayern-class battleship launched in 1915. She was saved from scuttling in Scapa Flow by beaching and later sunk in extensive gunnery testing by the Royal Navy in 1921. The Baden was one of four planned Bayern battleships, the other three were the Bayern, Wurttemberg and Sachsen.
The Baden was not originally intended to be surrended under the terms of the Armistice, but was substitued for the Mackensen which could not put to sea.
After the scuttling of the fleet at Scapa Flow, the Bayern was raised and scrapped, but the Baden was carefully examined by the British. It was exensively measured stripped and compared to existing British ships. The effects of various guns were tested on her. First of all the British 15" guns of the Erebus and Terror, two monitors, were fired into selected parts of the hull and superstructure. Various bombs were detonated on her decks and finally the battleships of the Atlantic fleet used their main guns on her and she sank southwest of Portsmouth on the 16th August 1921.
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SMS Westfalen 1908809 viewsSMS Westfalen, launched 1908 at AG Weser in Bremen was one of the first dreadnought battleships (ship of the line) built for the Imperial German Navy. There were three other ships in her class: SMS Nassau (launched in 1908 at the Imperial shipyards in Wilhelmshaven), SMS Posen (launched in 1908 at Germania shipyards in Kiel) and SMS Rheinland (launched 1908 at Vulcan in Stettin). The ships were armed with twelve 28 cm guns in double turrets -- one forward, one aft, and two on each side. In addition, they carried twelve 15 cm guns, sixteen 8.8 cm guns and six torpedo tubes. SMS Nassau was 146 m long, displaced 18,873 tons, carried a crew of 1008, and had a top speed of 20 knots. All four ships took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May–1 June 1916.
Following the end of World War I, the ships were surrendered to the victorious powers as war booty. Westfalen was surrendered in 1920 to Great Britain and scrapped in 1924. The other three ships were surrendered to Japan, which sold them to a British wrecking firm which then scrapped them in Dordrecht (Netherlands).
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1908 SMS Rheinland718 viewsLaunched in 1908 at Vulcan in Stettin, SMS Rheinland was was one of four Nassau class battleships that were the first dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial German Navy. There were three other ships in her class: SMS Nassau (launched in 1908 at the Imperial shipyards in Wilhelmshaven), SMS Posen (launched in 1908 at Germania shipyards in Kiel) and SMS Westfalen (launched 1908 at AG Weser in Bremen). The ships were armed with twelve 28 cm guns in double turrets -- one forward, one aft, and two on each side. In addition, they carried twelve 15 cm guns, sixteen 8.8 cm guns and six torpedo tubes. SMS Nassau was 146 m long, displaced 18,873 tons, carried a crew of 1008, and had a top speed of 20 knots. All four ships took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May–1 June 1916. On April 11, 1918, Rheinland ran aground, forcing the removal of the belt armor and all of the guns in order to refloat the ship; it was never repaired.
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Tirpitz in c1941836 viewsThe Tirpitz was the sister-ship of the Bismarck, from which it differed only in details such as a full-load displacement of 52,600 tons, length of 823ft 6in (25 1,0m) and the addition of eight 21 in (533mm) torpedo tubes. The ship was launched in April 1939 and completed in February 1941, and its sole success in World War II (apart from tying down large numbers of British capital ships) was a bombardment of Spitsbergen in September 1943.The ship was damaged by British midget submarine attack later in that month, damaged by aircraft attack in April 1944 (with the loss of 122 men after being hit by 14 bombs), rendered unseaworthy by-further aircraft bombs in September I943 and finally sunk in November 1944 when the ship capsized with the loss of 902 men after being hit by ‘Tallboy’ bombs.
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Viribus Unitis in 1912765 viewsSMS Viribus Unitis was an Austro-Hungarian dreadnought battleship of the Viribus Unitis class.
Viribus Unitis was built at Stabilmento Tecnico Tristino yard, Trieste.
After Austria-Hungary was defeated in World War I, and it became apparent that the coastal areas will be controlled by the newly-formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, the Austrian government decided to give the ship, along with much of the fleet, to the Croatians.
Viribus Unitis and the rest of the former Austrian fleet was soon targetted by the Italians. She was sunk at anchor at Pola on 1 November 1918 by a mignatta carried by an Italian human torpedo.
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