SMS Wittelsbach

Seiner Majestät Schiff "Wittelsbach" was the lead ship of the Wittelsbach-class of pre-dreadnought battleships of the Kaiserliche Marine. "Wittelsbach" was built at Wilhelmshaven Navy Dockyard. She was laid down in September, 1899, and completed in October, 1902, at the cost of 22,740,000 marks. "Wittelsbach" was the first capital ship built under the Navy Law of 1898, brought about by Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz.

Technical Data

Dimensions and machinery

"Wittelsbach" 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. "Wittelsbach" 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

World War I

At the start of World War I, "Wittelsbach" was a member of the IV Battle Squadron, which covered the Baltic Sea. Between 26 - 31 August, 1914, "Wittlesbach" attempted to assist the beached cruiser "Magdeburg". In May, 1915, "Wittelsbach" was transferred to support the German Army in the Baltic Sea area. She ran aground on 11 July, 1915, but sustained no damage. In August, 1916, she was decommissioned, and became a training ship.

Fate

"Wittelsbach" was converted into a depot ship in 1919 for minesweeping motor launches in Wilhelmshaven. She carried 12 of these shallow draft vessels. [Hore, Peter: The Ironclads", page 67. Anness Publishing Ltd, 2006. ISBN 978-1-84476-299-6] She was stricken from the Navy List in March, 1921, and sold for scrap later that year.

References

External links

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