SMS Mecklenburg

Seiner Majestät Schiff "Mecklenburg" was fifth ship of the "Wittelsbach"-class of pre-dreadnought battleships of the German Imperial Navy. Laid down in 1899 at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, she was finished in May, 1903. Her sisters were "Wittelsbach", "Zähringen", "Wettin", and "Schwaben".

Technical Data

Dimensions and machinery

"Mecklenburg" was 127 m (416 ft) long overall, and 125 m (410 ft 9 in) at the waterline. The ship's beam was 22.8 m, and her draught was 8.0 m, and displaced 11.800 tons. Three triple-expansion engines gave her 13,900 shp and a top speed of convert|17|knot|km/h|0. Her range at convert|10|knot|km/h|-1 was convert|5000|nmi|km|-3. The crew numbered 683 officers and sailors.

Armament

The main armament consisted of four 24 cm (9.2 inch) guns in twin turrets, mounted fore and aft of the superstructure. Eighteen 15 cm guns, twelve 8.8 cm rapid fire guns as well as twelve 3.7 cm machine guns comprised the secondary battery, all of which were mounted in single mounts along the length of the ship. Most of the secondary weapons were mounted in turrets or casemates. "Mecklenburg" was also armed with six 45 cm torpedo tubes.

Armor

Her armor measured 22.5 cm at the strongest point of the belt (tapering off fore and aft, down to 10.1cm at the thinnest points), 5 cm on the main deck, and 25 cm for the command tower and the main gun turrets.

ervice history

During World War I, "Mecklenburg" served in the IV Battle Squadron, in the Baltic Sea, until 1916. "Mecklenburg" became a prison ship, and she served in this role until the end of the war in 1918. "Mecklenburg" was sold for scrap in 1920.

External links

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