SMS Rheinland

SMS "Rheinland", a "Nassau"-class battleship, was launched in 1908 at AG Vulcan in Stettin. She was one of the first dreadnoughts built for the Imperial German Navy.

Design

Dimensions and machinery

"Rheinland" was 146.1 m (479 ft) long, 26.9 m (95.1 ft) wide, and had a draught of 8.9 m (29.3 ft). She displaced 18,570 tons with a standard load, and 21,000 tons fully laden. "Rheinland" was powered by a 3 shaft triple expansion engine, which was rated at 22,000 ihp, and delivered a top speed of convert|19|kn|km/h. In trials, "Rheinland" was pushed to convert|27498|ihp|abbr=on and a top speed of convert|20.0|kn|km/h.

Armament

The ship's primary armament consisted of twelve 28 cm (11 in) SKL/45 guns in double turrets; one forward, one aft, and two wing turrets on each side. In addition, she carried twelve 15 cm casemated guns, sixteen 8.8 cm guns in casemates, and six 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes.

Armor

The "Rheinland" was protected by an armor belt that ranged in thickness from convert|12|in|mm at its strongest point to convert|3|in|mm over less crucial areas of the ship. The barbettes that held the ship's turrets were protected by between 11 and convert|2|in|mm of armor plate. The turrets themselves had convert|11|in|mm of armor. Her deck was covered by convert|2.5|in|mm of armor

ervice History

"Rheinland", along with her three sisterships, took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May–1 June 1916. During the course of the battle, "Rheinland" fired 35 convert|11|in|mm|sing=on rounds, and was hit by two convert|6|in|mm|sing=on shells. The two hits caused 10 deaths and 20 injured in total. On April 11, 1918, "Rheinland" ran aground on the Baltic Sea near Mariehamn, forcing the removal of the belt armor and all of the guns in order to refloat the ship; she was never repaired. Following her return to Kiel, "Rheinland" was used as a barracks ship.

Following the end of World War I, the ships were surrendered to the victorious powers as war booty. SMS "Rheinland" was surrendered in April 1920 to Japan. With no use for the ship, Japan sold her to a British wrecking firm which then scrapped her in Dordrecht (Netherlands). "Nassau" and "Posen" had the same fate. "Westfalen" was surrendered in 1920 to Great Britain and scrapped in 1924.

External links

[http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/battleship/sms-nassau.html World War 1 Naval Combat]