Kaiser Friedrich III class battleship

"Kaiser Friedrich III" class battleships were a class of pre-World War I German battleship. The class was made up of five ships.

"Kaiser Friedrich III" was laid down at Wilhelmshaven Navy Dockyard in March, 1895, followed by "Kaiser Wilhelm II" in October, 1896, also in Wilhelmshaven. "Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse" was laid down at Germania, Kiel in January, 1898, followed by "Kaiser Barbarossa" at Schichau, Danzig in August of that year, and "Kaiser Karl Der Große", a month later in September, at Blohm and Voss, Hamburg.

The "Kaiser Friedrich III" class saw the introduction of the traditional layout for German battleships prior to the advent of the Dreadnought type of battleship in the early 1900s. The ships saw limited duty during World War I, in V Squadron, until 1915, when the ships were relegated to auxiliary roles, primarily as prison ships. After the war, all five of the ships were sold and scrapped by 1922.

Design

Dimensions and machinery

The ships of the Kaiser Friedrich III class were 396 ft 9 in (121 m) at the waterline and 411 ft (125 m) overall. They had a beam of 67 ft (20.4 m), a draught of 27 ft (8.2 m), and displaced 11,599 tons fully loaded. The ships were powered by 3 shaft triple expansion engines that produced 14,000 ihp and a top speed of convert|17|kn|km/h.

Armament

The ships' armament consisted of a main battery of four 9.4 inch (238mm) 40 cal guns in twin turrets, one fore and one aft. The ships carried a much heavier secondary battery compared to the previous "Brandenburg" class, carrying 15 5.9 inch (150mm) guns, 12 3.4 inch (88mm) guns, and 12 1 pounders, all singly mounted. The ships also carried six 17.7 inch (450mm) torpedo tubes.

Armor

The "Kaiser Friedrich III" class ships had an armor belt that was twelve inches (305 mm) thick at its strongest area, that which covered the ships' vitals, and tapered to four inches (102 mm) at the thinnest parts, at the bow and stern. The deck armor was three inches (76 mm) thick. The turrets were protected by ten inches of armor plate.

External links

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