- SMS Posen
SMS "Posen", a "Nassau"-class
battleship , was laid down at Germaniawerft shipyards inKiel on 11 June 1907, and was launched a year and a half later on 13 December 1908. The ship didn't enter service in theHigh Seas Fleet until 31 May 1910. She was one of the firstdreadnought s built for the Imperial German Navy.Design
Dimensions and machinery
"Posen" was convert|146.1|m|ft|abbr=on long, convert|26.9|m|ft|abbr=on wide, and had a draught of convert|8.9|m|ft|abbr=on. She displaced 18,570 tons with a standard load, and 21,000 tons fully laden. The ship was powered by a 3 shaft triple expansion engine, which was rated at 22,000 ihp, and delivered a top speed of 19 knots.
As designed, "Posen" and her sisterships were not particularly good sea-boats.
Bilge keel s were later added, which helped to improve the problem.Armament
"Posen" carried twelve convert|28|cm|in|abbr=on guns in an unusual 'hexagonal' configuration - with one turret fore and aft, and two on each flank of the ship. Seconday armament consisted of twelve convert|15|cm|in|abbr=on guns, along with sixteen convert|8.8|cm|in|abbr=on guns for close defence and six convert|45|cm|in|abbr=on torpedo tubes.
Armor
"Posen" had an armored belt that was convert|30.48|cm|in|abbr=on thick at its strongest, where it protected the ship's vitals, and as thin as convert|7.62|cm|in|abbr=on in less critical areas, such as the bow and stern. The barbettes for the main battery had convert|28|cm|in|abbr=on of armor protection on the exposed portions, and as little as convert|5|cm|in|abbr=on in less exposed areas. The turrets themselves had armor convert|28|cm|in|abbr=on thick on their faces. The deck was covered by armor plating convert|6.35|cm|in|abbr=on thick.
ervice history
Assigned to the I Battle Squadron, along with her sisterships, "Posen" participated in the
Battle of Jutland on31 May –1 June 1916 . "Posen" fired 106 convert|28|cm|in|abbr=on shells during the battle, and received no damage.Following the end of
World War I , the ships were surrendered to the victorious powers as war booty. "SMS Posen" was surrendered in April 1920 toJapan . With no use for the ship, Japan sold her to a British wrecking firm which then scrapped her inDordrecht (Netherlands). "Nassau" and "Rheinland" had the same fate. "Westfalen" was surrendered in 1920 to Britain and scrapped in 1924.External links
* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/battleship/sms-nassau.html World War 1 Naval Combat]
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