SMS Braunschweig

SMS "Braunschweig" was the first of five pre-dreadnought battleships of the "Braunschweig" class in the Kaiserliche Marine laid down in 1901 and commissioned 1904. She was named after the city of Braunschweig, a former German duchy. Her sister ships were "Elsaß", "Hessen", "Preußen", and "Lothringen".

Design

Dimensions and machinery

"Braunschweig" was 413ft long at the waterline, and 419 ft overall. She had a beam of 73 ft and a draught of 26 ft 7 in. "Braunschweig" displaced 14,167 tons, had a top speed of convert|18|knot|km/h|0 and a range of convert|5200|nmi|km|-2 at convert|10|knot|km/h|-1.

Armament

"Braunschweig's" main armament consisted of four convert|28|cm|in|abbr=on guns in twin turrets, one fore and one aft of the superstructure. The secondary armament was comprised of fourteen convert|17|cm|in|abbr=on guns, fourteen convert|8.8|cm|in|abbr=on guns, and four machine guns. She was also armed with six convert|45|cm|in|abbr=on torpedo tubes.

Armor

The ships had an armored belt that was convert|22.8|cm|in|abbr=on thick at its strongest point, and tapered to convert|10.1|cm|in|abbr=on at the thinnest. The turrets had convert|25.4|cm|in|abbr=on of armor plate. The decks were covered with convert|7.62|cm|in|abbr=on of armor.

ervice history

On 15 October 1904, "Braunschweig" was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy. She began service during World War I as a coastal defence ship from July 1915, but was removed from front-line service in August 1917. "Braunschweig" was used as training ship until the end of the war.

"Braunschweig" served in the Reichsmarine from 1921 to 1926. She was taken out of service in 1931 and used as hulk in Wilhelmshaven before she was scrapped in 1932.

External links

* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/pre-dreadnought/sms-braunschweig.html World War 1 Naval Combat]