SMS Moltke (1910)

SMS "Moltke" was the lead ship of the "Moltke"-class battlecruisers of the German Imperial Navy, named after the 19th century German general Helmuth von Moltke. The ship was the second battlecruiser commissioned into the Imperial Navy, on 30 September 1911.

"Moltke", along with her sister ship "Goeben", was an enlarged version of the previous German battlecruiser design, "Von der Tann". The ship was very similar to "Von der Tann", but had increased armor protection, and two more main guns.

The ship participated in most of the major fleet actions conducted by the German Navy during the First World War, including the Battle of Jutland in 1916. "Moltke" was damaged several times during the war, by heavy-caliber gunfire at Jutland, and twice by torpedoes while on fleet advances. "Moltke" met her end, like the rest of the German battlecruisers that survived the war, with the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow in 1919 during their internment following the Armistice.

Development

In a conference in May 1907, the Germany Navy Office decided to follow up the "Von der Tann" unique battlecruiser with an enlarged design. Staff, p11] 44 million marks were allocated for the 1908 fiscal year, which created the possibility of increasing the main guns to 30.5 cm (12 in) guns, instead of the 28 cm (11 in) weapons on the preceding design. However, was decided to increase the number of main guns to 10 from 8, as opposed to increasing their caliber. It was also mandated that armor protection was to be at least as good as on "Von der Tann", along with a top speed of at least convert|24.5|kn|km/h.

During the design process, there were many weight increases due to increasing the size of the citadel, armor thickness, adding to the ammunition stores, and rearranging the boiler system. Due to the strains being put on the Navy design staff, it was decided to build two ships of the new design. They were assigned under the contract names of "Cruiser "G" and "Cruiser "H". Blohm + Voss received both contracts in 1909, although "Moltke" was assigned to the 1908-1909 building year, while her sister, "Goeben", was assigned to 1909-1910. Gardiner, Gray, and Budzbon, p152]

The contract for "Cruiser G" was awarded on 17 September 1908, under building number 200. The keel was laid on 7 December 1908, and the ship was launched on 7 April 1910. "Cruiser "G" was commissioned on 30 September, 1911, as SMS "Moltke". Staff, p12 ] The ship was named for Field Marshall Helmuth von Moltke, the Chief of Staff of the Prussian Army in the mid 18th century.

Design

General characteristics and machinery

"Moltke" was 186.6 m (612 ft) long, 29.4 m (96 ft) wide, and had a draught of 9.19 m (30.2 ft) fully loaded. The ship displaced 22,616 tons normally, and 25,300 tons fully loaded. "Moltke" had a metacentric height of 3.01 m (9.9 ft). She was considered to be a good sea ship, but was slow to answer the helm. The ship lost 60% speed and heeled 9% at full rudder. Staff, p14 ]

"Moltke" was powered by four-shaft of Parsons turbines in two sets and 24 Schulz-Thornycroft boilers, divided into four boiler rooms. The boilers were composed of one steam drum and three water drums apiece, and produced steam at 235 psi. After 1916, the boilers were supplemented with tar-oil. The Parsons turbines were divided into high pressure and low pressure pairs. The low-pressure turbines were the inner pair, and were placed in the aft engine room. The high-pressure turbines were on either side of the low-pressure pair, and were located in the forward wing rooms. The turbines powered 4 propellers, 3.74 m (12.3 ft) in diameter. "Moltke's" powerplant delivered a rated 52,000 shaft horsepower and a top speed of 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h). However, in trials she attained 85,782 shp (63,968 kW) and a top speed of 28.4 kts. ] At 14 knots (26 km/h), Moltke had a range of 4,120 nautical miles (7,630 km). "Moltke" was equipped with 6 turbo generators that delivered 1,200 kW (1,600 hp) of power at 225 volts.

Armament

The main armament was increased to ten 28 cm (11 in) SK L/50 [In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schiffskanone) denotes that the gun is emplaced on a ship, while the L/50 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/50 gun is 50 calibers, meaning that the gun is 50 times long as it is in diameter. ] guns in five twin turrets. The guns were placed in Drh.L C/1908 turret mounts; these mountings allowed a maximum elevation of 13.5 degrees. This was less than in the preceding "Von der Tann", and as a consequence, the range was shorter, at 18,100 m (19,800 yd) In 1916, during a refit, the elevation was increased to 16 degress, for an increased range of 19,100 m (20,900 yd). ] One turret was located fore, two aft (Dora turret superfiring over Emil), and two wing turrets. The guns fired both Armor-piercing and semi-AP shells, which both weighed 302 kg (670 lb). The guns could fire at a rate of 3 rounds per minute, and had a muzzle velocity of 895 m/s (2,940 ft/s). A total of 810 of these shells were stored aboard the ship.

"Molke"'s secondary armament consisted of twelve 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 cannon, shipped in the MPL C/06 mounts as in "Von der Tann". The guns had a total of 1800 shells, at 150 per gun. The 15 cm guns had a range of 13,500 m (14,800 yd) at construction, although this was later extended to 18,800 m (18 373 yd).. Initially, twelve 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns were also fitted to defend the ship against torpedo boats and destroyers, but these were later removed, with the guns in the aft superstructure replaced with four 8.8 cm (3.5 in) Flak L/45 guns. ]

"Moltke" was also armed with four 50 cm (20 in) torpedo tubes; one fore, one aft, and two on the broadside, with 11 torpedoes stored. The torpedoes were of the G/7 model, which weighed 1,365 kg (3,010 lb) and carried a warhead weighing 195 kg (430 lb). The torpedoes had a maximum range of 9,300 m (10,200 yd) at 27 knots (50 km/h), and 4,000 m (4,400 yd) when set at 37 knots (69 km/h). [ Staff, p12-13]

Armor

The level of armor protection for "Moltke" was increased from the "Von der Tann" class, to convert|10|cm|in|abbr=on in the forward main belt, convert|27|cm|in|abbr=on in the citadel, and convert|10|cm|in|abbr=on aft. The casemates were protected by convert|15|cm|in|abbr=on vertically and convert|3.5|cm|in|abbr=on on the roofs. The forward conning tower was protected by convert|35|cm|in|abbr=on, and the aft had convert|20|cm|in|abbr=on of armor. The turrets had convert|23|cm|in|abbr=on on the face, convert|18|cm|in|abbr=on on the sides, and convert|9|cm|in|abbr=on on the roofs. The deck armor and sloping armor were both convert|5|cm|in|abbr=on, as was the torpedo bulkhead around the barbettes. The torpedo bulkhead was convert|3|cm|in|abbr=on in other, less critical areas. As with the "Von der Tann", the armor was Krupp cemented and nickel steel.

ervice record

Pre-war

On 7 April, Helmuth von Moltke christened the ship after his uncle.On 11 September, a crew composed of dockyard workers transferred the ship from Hamburg to Kiel through the Skagen. Staff, p15] On 30 September, the ship was commissioned and replaced SMS "Roon" in the Reconnaissance Unit.

She was the first and only German capital ship to ever visit the United States. On May 11 1912 she left Kiel, accompanied by light cruisers "Stettin" and "Bremen", and arrived off Hampton Roads, Virginia, on May 30, 1912. After touring the East Coast for two weeks, she returned to Kiel on June 24.

In July, 1912, "Moltke" escorted the Kaiser's yacht to Russia. Upon returning, "Moltke" became the Reconnaissance Force flagship, until 23 June 1914, when the commander's flag was transferred to the new battlecruiser "Seydlitz". There was some consideration given to deploying "Moltke" to the Far East, in order to replace "Scharhorst", but the plan was abandoned when it became apparent that her sister ship "Goeben" needed replacement in the Mediterranean. "Moltke" was then scheduled to transfer to the Mediterranean, but this plan was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I.

World War I

As was the case with almost all German capital ships during World War I, her action was somewhat limited. However, "Moltke" did participate in most of the major fleet actions conducted by the High Seas Fleet.

Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, "Moltke" participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914. Along with the rest of the I Scouting Group battlecruisers, "Moltke" was stationed in the Wilhelmshaven Roads on the morning of the battle. By 8:50, Rear Admiral Hipper had requested permission from Admiral von Ingenohl, the commander in chief of the High Seas Fleet, to send "Moltke" and "Von der Tann" to relieve the beleaguered German cruisers. [ Massie, p107 ] "Moltke" was ready to sail by 12:10, but the low tide prevented the ships from being able to pass over the sand bar at the mouth of the Jade Estuary safely. At 14:10, "Moltke" and "Von der Tann" were able to cross the Jade bar; Hipper ordered the German cruisers to fall back to his ships, while Hipper himself was about an hour behind in the battlecruiser "Seydlitz". At 14:25, the remaining light cruisers, "Strassburg", "Stettin", "Frauenlob", "Stralsund", and "Ariadne" rendezvoused with the battlecruisers, [Strachan, p417] while "Seydlitz" arrived on the scene by 15:10, while "Ariadne" succumbed to battle damage and sank. Hipper ventured forth cautiously, to search for the two missing light cruisers, "Mainz" and "Köln". By 16:00, the German flotilla turned around to return to the Jade Estuary, returning at approximately 20:23. [ Massie p114 ]

In November and December 1914, "Moltke" and "Seydlitz" bombarded the English cities of Great Yarmouth and Hartlepool, respectively, on their return escaping superior British naval forces in bad weather. On 24 January 1915, she fought with Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper at the Battle of Dogger Bank where she inflicted heavy damage on Vice Admiral David Beatty's flagship HMS "Lion".

On 19 August 1915 during the Battle of the Gulf of Riga she was torpedoed by the British E class submarine HMS "E1", but suffered only minor damage.

She subsequently took part in the Battle of Jutland (31 May - 1 June 1916), as part of Vice Admiral Hipper's First Battle Scouting Squadron, and scored 9 hits on HMS "Tiger" in the first 12 minutes of the battle, with another 4 hits on "Tiger" in the next 30 minutes. [Staff, p16] "Moltke" took 4 hits herself, all 15 in shells. When Hipper's flagship SMS "Lützow" was damaged, the admiral shifted his flag to "Moltke". Casualties were 16 dead and 20 wounded, primarily related to the first hit, which destroyed the No.5 15 cm turret.

In September-October 1917, the ship took part in Operation Albion supporting the German invasion of the Russian islands of Ösel, Dagö, and Moon (in present-day Estonia). Following the successful operation in the Baltic, "Moltke" was detached to support the II Reconnaissance Group (II AG), but did not actively participate in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight.

On 23 April 1918, SMS "Moltke" suffered heavy machinery damage during an attempted raid on a British convoy off the Norwegian coast. While being towed to port by the battleship SMS "Oldenburg", she was torpedoed by the British submarine HMS "E42", but reached port safely with 2,100 tons of water on board. Repairs were not completed until August 1918.

Fate

After the war, the ship was interned in Scapa Flow and scuttled by her crew on 21 June 1919. She was raised in 1927 and scrapped at Rosyth in 1929.

Footnotes

References

*cite book |last=Gardiner|first=Robert|coauthors=Gray, Randal, Budzbon, Przemyslaw|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906-1922|year=1984|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0870219073

*cite book |last=Staff|first=Gary|title=German Battlecruisers: 1914-1918|year=2006|location=Oxford|publisher=Osprey Books|isbn=978-1-84603-009-3

*cite book |last=Massie|first=Robert K.|authorlink=Robert K. Massie|title=Castles of Steel|year=2003|location=New York City|publisher=Ballantine Books|isbn=0-345-40878-0

*cite book |last=Strachan|first=Hew|title=The First World War: Volume 1: To Arms|year=2001|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0199261911