HDMS Niels Juel (1918)

scuttled

laid down in September 1914, construction of the ship was severely delayed by shortages of labor and material and she was not launched until 1918.^[1]

double bottom.^[4]

kW) for a speed of 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph). During her sea trials, they produced 6,061 ihp (4,520 kW) and Niels Juel reached a maximum speed of 16.1 knots (29.8 km/h; 18.5 mph). The ship carried 223 metric tons (219 long tons) of fuel oil and 244 metric tons (240 long tons) of coal which gave a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph).^[5]

amidships, and a superfiring pair aft of the superstructure, all protected by gun shields.^[6] The mounts had a range of elevation from -10° to +30° and the guns fired 46-kilogram (101 lb) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 835 m/s (2,740 ft/s)^[7] at a rate of five to seven rounds per minute. The guns had a range of 17,800 meters (19,500 yd).^[8]

abaft the funnel. The mounts had a maximum elevation of 70° and the gun had an effective rate of fire of about 16 rounds per minute. Its projectiles were fired at a muzzle velocity of 500 to 530 m/s (1,600 to 1,700 ft/s), which gave it a range of 7,500 meters (8,200 yd). The ship was fitted with a pair of submerged 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, one on each broadside. The Type H torpedo had a 121.5-kilogram (268 lb) warhead and a range of 8,000 meters (8,700 yd) at 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph).^[9]

mainmast. Data from the rangefinders was sent to the transmitting station located on the main deck beneath the conning tower, where it was converted into elevation and deflection data for use by the guns.^[10]

Krupp cemented armor (KCA) made by Bethlehem Steel. Her waterline belt was 195 millimeters (7.7 in) thick amidships and thinned to 155 millimeters (6.1 in) towards the ship's ends, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. The armor plates were 2.1 meters (6 ft 11 in) high with the lower edge 1.1 meters (3 ft 7 in) below the waterline. Two transverse bulkheads 175 millimeters (6.9 in) (forward) and 165 millimeters (6.5 in) (aft) closed off the ends of the armored citadel. The shields of the 15-centimeter guns had 50-millimeter (2.0 in) faces and 10–20-millimeter (0.4–0.8 in) sides. The 55-millimeter (2.2 in) deck plates rested on the top edge of the belt armor and were not made from KCA. The conning tower had 170-millimeter (6.7 in) of armor on the sides with a 40-millimeter (1.6 in) roof.^[11]

40-millimeter Bofors light AA guns in single mounts that had been removed from a pair of submarines were added. A year later the existing 8 and 20 mm weapons were replaced by 10 faster-firing Madsen 20-millimeter L/60 M/41 autocannon in single mounts.^[12]

Faeroe Islands, Bergen, Norway, Leith, Scotland and Gothenburg, Sweden, before returning home on 6 August.^[13]

the Azores that broke her rudder chains and she had to be steered using only her propellers until emergency steering could be rigged. The ship returned home on 23 February 1924, after getting repairs in Plymouth, United Kingdom. Niels Juel became the flagship of the gunnery training squadron later that year and then later flagship of the general training squadron. In 1925, she made brief visits to Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Germany. The following year the ship made a cruise to the Faeroe Islands and Iceland with the royal family aboard. Niels Juel served as the royal yacht for a state visit to Finland in 1928, during which she was escorted by the cruiser Heimdal.^[14]

decommissioned on 3 September 1931 after her return. The ship was modernized in 1935 and 1936 and recommissioned on 9 July and then spent the rest of 1936 working up.^[15]

George VI of the United Kingdom on 20 May 1937 and later participated in a fleet exercise that culminated in a visit to Helsingborg, Sweden. In 1938 she accompanied the torpedo boat flotilla on a visit to Turku, Finland in August, and visited Sønderborg, Denmark, the following month with the rest of the training squadron. A planned training cruise to the United States to visit the 1939 New York World's Fair in May was cancelled as a result of rising tensions in Europe and Niels Juel trained with the mobilized Peder Skram from May to July. In late August the ship was preparing for a visit to Oslo, Norway, but that was cancelled when she was ordered to fuze all her shells in preparation for war. Her crew was filled out as the Navy mobilized and Niels Juel joined the rest of the fleet near Aarhus. Winter ice forced the ship to return to Copenhagen in January 1940, even though that port was ice-bound as well. With little possibility of action, her crew was given leave. Her crew was recalled on 8 April, but Niels Juel was not ready for war when the Germans invaded the following day. The Germans permitted the Danes to keep their ships and allowed them to train in Danish waters.^[16]

Isefjord, Westermann was informed that the Germans had claimed they had mined the exit, and he spotted three German ships in the distance, the torpedo boat T17 and two E-boats. German aircraft attacked the ship with bombs and by strafing. None of the bombs hit Niels Juel, but shock damage from near misses knocked out electrical power and deformed some of the hull plating and bulkheads. Realising there was little hope of reaching Sweden, Westermann decided to run the ship aground near Nykøbing Sjælland. The crew then tried to scuttle the ship, but an initial attempt to blow up the ship failed. The crew settled for flooding the magazine, opening the sea-cocks to flood the rest of the hull as well as systematically destroying the equipment before the Germans could take over the ship.^[17]

Stolpmünde (modern Ustka, Poland). On 18 February 1945 the ship steamed to Kiel to avoid the advancing Russian forces. On 3 May, she was scuttled for the second time in the Eckernførde inlet. The wreck was partially dismantled by unauthorized salvagers before the Danes sold it to a German firm in 1952 for scrap. They removed everything above the sea bed, but its remains lie under 28 meters (92 ft) of water.^[18]