Lithograph ofZähringen in 1902
Class overview
Builders	Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven (2) AG Vulcan Stettin (1) Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft (1) Schichau-Werke (1)
Operators	Imperial German Navy  Reichsmarine  Kriegsmarine
Preceded by	Kaiser Friedrich III class
Succeeded by	Braunschweig class
Built	1899–1904
In service	1902–1944
In commission	1902–1921
Planned	5
Completed	5
Lost	1
Scrapped	4
General characteristics
Type	Pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement	Normal: 11,774 t (11,588long tons) Full-load displacement: 12,798 t (12,596 long tons)
Length	126.8 m (416 ft) (loa)
Beam	22.8 m (74 ft 10 in)
Draft	7.95 m (26 ft 1 in)
Installed power	6 ×fire-tube boilers 6 ×water-tube boilers 14,000 PS (13,808 ihp; 10,297 kW)
Propulsion	3 ×triple-expansion steam engines 3 × screwpropellers
Speed	18knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range	5,000nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi); 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	33 officers 650 enlisted men
Armament	4 ×24 cm (9.4 in) guns (40 cal.) 18 ×15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/40 guns 12 ×8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 guns 6 × 45 cm (17.7 in)torpedo tubes
Armor	Belt: 100 to 225 mm (3.9 to 8.9 in) Turrets: 250 mm (9.8 in) Deck: 50 mm (2 in)

TheWittelsbach-class battleships were a group of fivepre-dreadnought battleships built for theGermanKaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the early 1900s. They were the first battleships ordered under theFirst Navy Law of 1898, part ofAdmiralAlfred von Tirpitz's fleet expansion program. The class comprised thelead ship,Wittelsbach, andWettin,Zähringen,Schwaben, andMecklenburg. All five ships were laid down between 1899 and 1900 and were finished by 1904. The ships of theWittelsbach class were similar in appearance to their predecessors in theKaiser Friedrich III class, but had a more extensive armor belt and a flush main deck, as opposed to the lower quarterdeck of the previous class. Both classes carried a battery of four 24 cm (9.4 in) guns in two twin-gun turrets.

Wittelsbach,Wettin,Mecklenburg, andZähringen served inI Squadron for the duration of their peacetime careers, where they were primarily occupied with training exercises and cruises abroad.Schwaben was used as atraining ship to modernize the training unit of the German fleet. By 1910, with the arrival of the firstdreadnought battleships, theWittelsbach-class ships were removed from front-line service and relegated to training duties or simplylaid up in reserve. With the outbreak ofWorld War I in July 1914, the ships returned to active service asIV Battle Squadron, seeing guard duty in theNorth Sea and limited operations in theBaltic Sea against Russian forces. These operations included supporting the attack onLibau in May 1915 and theBattle of the Gulf of Riga in August that year.

By late 1915, the naval command had decided to decommission the five ships owing to a combination of crew shortages for more important vessels and the increased threat of Britishsubmarines operating in the Baltic. The ships were thereafter used as training vessels or, in the case ofMecklenburg, aprison ship.Wittelsbach andSchwaben were converted intodepot ships forminesweepers in the postwar effort to clear up the minefields that had been laid in the North Sea. Those two ships,Mecklenburg, andWettin were stricken from thenaval register in the early 1920s and thereafterbroken up, butZähringen was converted into a radio-controlledtarget ship, a role she filled until she was bombed and sunk by British bombers in 1944 duringWorld War II. The wreck was eventually broken up in 1949–1950.

The ships of theWittelsbach class were the first battleships built under the firstNaval Law of 1898 that had been passed through the efforts of AdmiralAlfred von Tirpitz, the State Secretary of theReichsmarineamt (Imperial Navy Office).^[1] They were designed by Prof. Dr. Dietrich, then the chief constructor.^[2]

The ships represented an incremental improvement over the precedingKaiser Friedrich III class. AlthoughKonteradmiral (Rear Admiral)Emil Felix von Bendemann had argued for an increase in the main battery from the 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns of theKaiser Friedrich III class to more powerful 28 cm (11 in) guns, theWittelsbach-class ships were equipped with the same armament of 24 cm guns, but were given an additionaltorpedo tube, along with other improvements.^[2][3] The incremental nature of the changes resulted in two classes of battleships that were in most important respects identical, providing theGerman fleet with a tactically homogeneous group of ten battleships.^[4]

The design staff considered a variety of other alterations from the basicKaiser Friedrich III design, including replacing four of thesecondary batterycasemate guns with a pair ofturret-mounted 21 cm (8.3 in) guns and reducing the scale of armor protection to increase the top speed by 0.75knots (1.39 km/h; 0.86 mph). Though both of these proposals were rejected, the actual thickness of the armor plate was considerably reduced through the adoption ofKrupp cemented armor, which had significantly greater protective value compared to early steel manufacturing processes. The weight savings, combined with a 5 percent increase in engine power, permitted the top speed to be increased by 0.5 knots (0.93 km/h; 0.58 mph). The lighter armor also allowed the adoption a more comprehensivearmored belt, which significantly improved the new ships' defensive capabilities.^[2][5][6] TheWittelsbachs also differed from the preceding ships in their main deck, the entire length of which was flush; in theKaiser Friedrich III-class ships, thequarterdeck was cut down.^[7]

The ships of theWittelsbach class were 125.2 meters (410 ft 9 in)long at the waterline and 126.8 m (416 ft)overall. They had abeam of 22.8 m (74 ft 10 in) and adraft of 7.95 m (26 ft 1 in) forward. TheWittelsbachs were designed todisplace 11,774metric tons (11,588long tons) with a standard load, and displaced up to 12,798 metric tons (12,596 long tons) at full combat weight. TheWittelsbach-class ships' hulls were built with transverse and longitudinal steel frames. Steel hull plates were riveted to the structure created by the frames. Each hull was split into 14watertight compartments and included adouble bottom that ran for 70 percent of its length.^[8]

The ships were regarded in theGerman Navy as excellent sea boats with an easy roll; the ships rolled up to 30° with a period of 10 seconds. They maneuvered easily; at hard rudder the ships lost up to 60 percent speed andheeled over 9°. However, they suffered from severe vibration, particularly at the stern, at high speeds. They also had very wet bows, even in moderate seas.^[9]

The ships had a crew of 33 officers and 650 enlisted men, with an additional 13 officers and 66 enlisted men when serving as squadronflagship. While acting as a second command ship, 9 officers and 44 enlisted men were added to the standard crew.Wittelsbach and her sisters carried a number of smaller vessels, including two picket boats, twolaunches, onepinnace, twocutters, twoyawls, and twodinghies.^[9]

The five ships of theWittelsbach class each had three 3-cylindertriple expansion steam engines. The outer engines drove a three-bladed screw that was 4.8 m (15 ft 9 in) in diameter; the central shaft drove a four-bladed screw that was slightly smaller, at 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) in diameter. To produce steam to power the engines, each ship had sixmarine-type boilers, with the exception ofWettin andMecklenburg, which had sixThornycroft boilers, along with six transverse cylindrical boilers. Steering was controlled by a single largerudder. Electrical power was supplied by four generators that each produced 230kilowatts (310 PS) at 74 volts, although inWittelsbach the generators were rated at 248 kilowatts (337 PS).^[9]

The propulsion system was rated at 14,000metric horsepower (13,808 ihp) and a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), but on trials, the five ships had significantly varied performances.Schwaben, the slowest ship, reached 13,253 PS (13,072 ihp) and was only capable of steaming at 16.9 knots (31.3 km/h; 19.4 mph).Wettin, the fastest, slightly exceeded her design speed at 18.1 knots (33.5 km/h; 20.8 mph) from 15,530 PS (15,318 ihp). They carried 650 metric tons (640 long tons) in their holds, but fuel capacity could be nearly tripled to 1,800 metric tons (1,772 long tons) with the usage of additional spaces in the ships. This provided a maximum range of 5,000nautical miles (9,260 km; 5,754 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).^[8]

The ships were nearly identical in armament to the precedingKaiser Friedrich III class. The primary armament consisted of a battery of four24 cm (9.4 in) SK L/40 guns in twin-gun turrets,^[a] one fore and one aft of the centralsuperstructure. The guns were mounted in C/98 turrets, which allowed elevation to 30° and depression to −5°. At maximum elevation, the guns could hit targets out to 16,900 meters (18,500 yd). The guns fired 140-kilogram (310 lb) shells at amuzzle velocity of 835meters per second (2,740 ft/s). Each gun was supplied with 85 shells, for a total of 340. The turrets were hydraulically operated.^[11][12]

Secondary armament included eighteen15 cm (5.9 inch) SK L/40 guns; four were mounted in single turrets amidships and the rest were mounted in MPL casemates.^[b] The casemates were located at the main deck level, which made them difficult to work in heavy seas.^[4] These guns firedarmor-piercing shells at arate of 4 to 5 per minute. The ships carried 120 shells per gun, for a total of 2,160 rounds total. The guns could depress to −7 degrees and elevate to 20 degrees, for a maximum range of 13,700 m (14,990 yd). The shells weighed 51-kilogram (112 lb) and were fired at a muzzle velocity of 735 m/s (2,410 ft/s). The guns were manually elevated and trained.^[12][13]

The ships also carried twelve8.8 cm (3.45 in) SK L/30 quick-firing guns,^[9] also mounted in casemates and pivot mounts. These guns were supplied with between 170 and 250 shells per gun. These guns fired 7.04 kg (15.5 lb) at a muzzle velocity of 590 mps (1,936 fps). Their rate of fire was approximately 15 shells per minute; the guns could engage targets out to 6,890 m (7,530 yd). The gun mounts were manually operated.^[12][14]

The ships' gun armament was rounded out by twelve3.7 cm (1.5 in) machine cannon.^[9] The ships were also armed with six 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, all submerged in the hull; one was in the bow, another in the stern, and two on eachbroadside.^[9] These weapons were 5.1 m (201 in) long and carried an 87.5 kg (193 lb)TNT warhead. They could be set at two speeds for different ranges. At 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph), the torpedoes had a range of 800 m (870 yd). At an increased speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph), the range was reduced to 500 m (550 yd).^[15]

The fiveWittelsbach-class battleships were armored withKrupp cemented steel. Their armored decks were 50 mm (2 in) thick, with sloped sides that ranged in thickness from 75 to 120 mm (3.0 to 4.7 in). The sloped section of the deck connected it to the lower edge of the main armored belt, which was 225 mm (8.9 in) in the centralcitadel where it protected the ships' ammunition magazines and the propulsion system. Connecting the sloped deck to the lower edge of the belt provided additional protection to the ships' interiors for shells that penetrated the belt. Forward and aft of the main battery turrets, the belt was reduced to 100 mm (3.9 in); the bow and stern were not protected with any armor. The entire length of belt was backed by 100 mm ofteak planking.^[5][8]

Directly above the main belt, the 15 cm casemate guns were protected with astrake of 140 mm (5.5 in) thick steel plating. The 15 cm guns in turrets were more exposed and therefore slightly better protected: their side armor was increased to 150 mm (5.9 in), with gun shields 70 mm (2.8 in) thick. The 24 cm gun turrets had the heaviest armor aboard ship, with sides 250 mm (9.8 in) thick and roofs 50 mm thick. The forwardconning tower also had 250 mm armor, though its roof was only 30 mm (1.2 in) thick. The rear conning tower was much less protected. Its sides were only 140 mm thick; the roof was 30 mm thick.^[8]

The ships' armor layout compared favorably to many foreign contemporaries; they were protected similarly to the BritishFormidable- andLondon-class battleships, and while their belts were thinner than those of the FrenchRépublique class or the RussianTsesarevich, they did not suffer from the unarmored (and very vulnerable) hulls above the belt that characterized the French and Russian battleships.^[16]

All of the ships of theWittelsbach class saveSchwaben were assigned toI Squadron on entering service;Schwaben was instead assigned to the Training Squadron at Tirpitz's insistence. At the time, the Training Squadron's reliance on obsolescent ships hindered its ability to effectively train crews; the squadron ship thatSchwaben replaced was the ancientironclad warshipFriedrich Carl, which had been launched in 1867. The other ships' peacetime careers generally consisted of the routine fleet, squadron, and individual training throughout each year. Squadron and fleet training typically took place in April and May and a major fleet cruise generally followed in June and July, after which the fleet assembled for the annual autumn fleet maneuvers in late August and September. The major fleet cruises typically went to Norwegian waters in company withKaiser Wilhelm II'syacht, though in 1908 and 1909, the fleet embarked on long-distance cruises out into the Atlantic, making visits to mainland Spain, theCanary Islands, and theAzores, Portugal.^[22][23]

The ships also frequently steamed to foreign ports on goodwill visits; for example, in July 1904, I Squadron toured Britain and the Netherlands, and in July 1905 the ships went to Denmark and Sweden. By 1910, the ships began to be withdrawn from front-line service, their place having been taken by thedreadnought battleships of theNassau andHelgoland classes.Zähringen was decommissioned in 1910 and placed in the Reserve Division, seeing little activity for the next four years;Mecklenburg joined her there the following year and was reactivated once, briefly, in 1912 for the annual autumn maneuvers.Wittelsbach joinedSchwaben in the Training Squadron in 1911, andWettin replacedSchwaben, which was by then the fleet's gunnerytraining ship, while the latter underwent an overhaul in 1912.Schwaben thereafter went into reserve.^[24][25]

Following the outbreak ofWorld War I in July 1914, the fiveWittelsbach-class ships weremobilized intoIV Battle Squadron, under the command ofVice AdmiralEhrhard Schmidt.^[26] The squadron was based inKiel,^[27] and they conducted several sorties into theBaltic Sea to patrol for Russian warships but they saw no action. These operations included a failed attempt to rescue thelight cruiserMagdeburg that had run aground in Russian territory in late August, and screening the joint Army Navy attack onLibau against a possible Russian counterattack in May 1915. After Libau was seized, IV Squadron relocated there as it provided an advance base closer to the front line.^[28] The ships were also used to guard the mouth of theElbe in the North Sea in the first year of the war. TheWittelsbach class supported theBattle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915, but did not take an active role in the attack before it broke down in the face of determined Russian resistance.^[29]

Further operations took place in September and October, which included IV Squadron covering the laying of defensive minefields in the western Baltic. By this time, manpower shortages began to affect the German fleet; combined with the increased threat of Britishsubmarines operating in the Baltic, the inability to man more important vessels convinced the naval command of the need to remove theWittelsbachs from service. The squadron returned to Kiel in November, where it was re-designated as the Reserve Division of the Baltic Sea. In January 1916, it was dissolved altogether and the ships were reduced to training ships except forMecklenburg, which was used as aprison ship. The ships served in those roles for the remainder of the war, which ended in 1918.^[9][30][31]

In 1919,Wittelsbach andSchwaben were converted intodepot ships for F-typeminesweepers,^[9] since Germany was required by theTreaty of Versailles to clear the extensive minefields that had been laid in the North Sea during the war.^[32] The entire class, with the exception ofZähringen, were struck from the navy list after the end of World War I.Mecklenburg was struck on 27 January 1920,Wettin followed on 11 March 1920, andWittelsbach andSchwaben were struck on 8 March 1921. The four ships were broken up in 1921–1922.^[9]Zähringen was initially used as a storagehulk in the 1920s and was converted into a radio-controlledtarget ship in 1926–1927. The superstructure was cut down extensively; herhull was subdivided, filled with cork, and sealed to improve its resistance to flooding.^[33]Royal Air Force bombers sank the ship inGotenhafen in 1944 duringWorld War II, and the wreck wasbroken up in 1949–1950.^[7]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toWittelsbach class battleship.

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• Friedman, Norman (2011).Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations; An Illustrated Directory. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
• Grießmer, Axel (1999).Die Linienschiffe der Kaiserlichen Marine: 1906–1918; Konstruktionen zwischen Rüstungskonkurrenz und Flottengesetz [The Battleships of the Imperial Navy: 1906–1918; Constructions between Arms Competition and Fleet Laws] (in German). Bonn: Bernard & Graefe Verlag.ISBN 978-3-7637-5985-9.
• Gröner, Erich (1990).German Warships: 1815–1945. Vol. I: Major Surface Vessels. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-0-87021-790-6.
• Halpern, Paul G. (1995).A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1-55750-352-7.
• Herwig, Holger (1998) [1980]."Luxury" Fleet: The Imperial German Navy 1888–1918. Amherst: Humanity Books.ISBN 978-1-57392-286-9.
• Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993).Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart [The German Warships: Biographies − A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present] (in German). Vol. 5. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag.ISBN 978-3-7822-0456-9.
• Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993).Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart [The German Warships: Biographies − A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present] (in German). Vol. 6. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag.ISBN 978-3-7822-0237-4.
• Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993).Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart [The German Warships: Biographies − A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present] (in German). Vol. 7. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag.ISBN 978-3-7822-0267-1.
• Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993).Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart [The German Warships: Biographies − A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present] (in German). Vol. 8. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag.
• Lyon, Hugh (1979). "Germany". In Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.).Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press.ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
• Scheer, Reinhard (1920).Germany's High Seas Fleet in the World War. London: Cassell and Company.OCLC 2765294.

• Koop, Gerhard & Schmolke, Klaus-Peter (2001).Die Panzer- und Linienschiffe der Brandenburg-, Kaiser Friedrich III-, Wittlesbach-, Braunschweig- und Deutschland-Klasse [The Armored and Battleships of the Brandenburg, Kaiser Friedrich III, Wittelsbach, Braunschweig, and Deutschland Classes] (in German). Bonn: Bernard & Graefe Verlag.ISBN 978-3-7637-6211-8.
• Nottelmann, Dirk & Sullivan, David M. (2023).From Ironclads to Dreadnoughts: The Development of the German Battleship, 1864–1918. Warwick: Helion & Company.ISBN 978-1-804511-84-8.
• Weir, Gary E. (1992).Building the Kaiser's Navy: The Imperial Navy Office and German Industry in the Tirpitz Era, 1890–1919. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1-55750-929-1.

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