König-class battleship
Kronprinz Wilhelm in Scapa Flow, 1919
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Class overview | |
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Operators | Imperial German Navy |
Preceded by | Kaiser class |
Succeeded by | Bayern class |
Built | 1911–1914 |
In commission | 1914–1919 |
Completed | 4 |
Lost | 4 |
Scrapped | 1 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Dreadnought battleship |
Displacement |
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Length | 175.4 m (575 ft 6 in) lwl |
Beam | 29.5 m (96 ft 9 in) |
Draft | 9.19 m (30 ft 2 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
Range | 8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Complement |
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Armament |
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Armor |
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The König class was a group of four
As tensions in Europe spiraled out of control during the July Crisis in 1914, work on the ships was accelerated; all four ships were completed in the early months of World War I and they were rushed into service to join III Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet. They took part in a number of operations in the North Sea as support for the battlecruisers of I Scouting Group, including the Raid on Yarmouth and the Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in late 1914. The year 1915 passed uneventfully, as a series of sweeps into the North Sea failed to bring contact with elements of the British Royal Navy. All four ships were present at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, where they formed the front of the German line of battle. As a result, they received numerous hits, with Kronprinz the only member of the class to avoid being damaged in the action.
As the German fleet shifted priorities to the
Background
The König-class
In the terms of the First Amendment to the Naval Law of 1906, Admiral
Another effect of the 1908 amendment was to reduce the service life of all large warships from twenty-five years to twenty; this was done in an effort to force the Reichstag to allocate more funds for additional ships, since vessels would then need to be replaced sooner than originally planned. In his effort to force the Reichstag to pass the bill, Tirpitz threatened to resign from his post as the State Secretary for the Navy. As a result of Tirpitz's ultimatum, the bill was passed in March 1908 by a large margin.
Design
Conceptual work for the next class of battleship had already begun while the design for the Kaiser class was still being finalized. During a meeting on 15 January 1910, Tirpitz mandated that the new class must adhere to the price per ship he had budgeted, owing to the financial problems that had already disrupted his plans. The Konstruktionsdepartement (Construction Department, referred to as "K") was as that time occupied with work on the new battlecruiser
During a series of three meetings in May 1910, further details were discussed, including adopting triple gun turrets for the main battery, following their adoption by the Austro-Hungarian Navy and other navies. They also examined the possibility of increasing the caliber of the guns to 32 cm (12.6 in) in response to the British adoption of 34.3 cm (13.5 in) weapons and the United States' increase to 35.6 cm (14 in) guns since 1909. Tirpitz again argued that at least one of the new ships should use a diesel engine. Hans Bürkner, the civilian "K" chief, preferred a simple development of Prinzregent Luitpold as that would entail minimal cost increases in accordance with Tirpitz's wishes. By the third meeting, the question of increasing the caliber was set aside as cost prohibitive; while the naval command believed that the existing 30.5 cm (12 in) gun was sufficiently powerful at the expected battle ranges, they recognized that in the future, an increase in caliber would be unavoidable if Germany was to keep up with developments abroad. Owing to the pressing need to match British construction and keep costs within Tirpitz's budgetary constraints, the naval command decided to simply repeat the design for Prinzregent Luitpold with some of the improvements.[8][9]
The design staff used the Kaiser
The first three ships—
A fourth ship was authorized under the 1912 program, and the naval command again considered increasing the caliber, this time to 32.3 cm (12.7 in). The increase in weight from the larger guns would be offset by reducing the secondary battery from 15 cm to 12 cm (4.7 in) guns. The proposal was ultimately rejected in favor of building another vessel identical to the 1911 ships to create a homogeneous four-ship
General characteristics
The König-class ships were 174.7 m (573 ft 2 in)
Steering was controlled by a pair of rudders placed side by side. German naval historian Erich Gröner said the German navy considered the ships to be "very good sea-boats",[17] and that they possessed a gentle motion. They suffered a slight loss of speed in a swell, and with the rudders hard over, the ships lost up to 66% speed and heeled over 8 degrees. The battleships had a transverse metacentric height of 2.59 m (8 ft 6 in). König, Grosser Kurfürst, Markgraf, and Kronprinz each had a standard crew of 41 officers and 1095 enlisted men;[17] König, which became the flagship of III Battle Squadron,[18] had an additional crew of 14 officers and another 68 sailors. While serving as a deputy command flagship, the ships carried an additional 2 officers and 24 enlisted men. The ships carried several smaller boats, including one picket boat, three barges, two launches, two yawls, and two dinghies.[17]
Propulsion
The ships of the class were equipped with three sets of steam turbines, each set consisting of a high and low-pressure turbine. The turbines were manufactured by Parsons for König and Kronprinz,
The power plant was rated at 31,000
Armament
The Königs were armed with a main battery of ten 30.5 cm SK L/50 guns in five twin turrets.[17][a] Two turrets were mounted forward of the main superstructure in a superfiring pair, the third was placed on the centerline between the two funnels amidships, and the fourth and fifth turrets were arranged in another superfiring pair aft of the rear conning tower. The centerline arrangement was an improvement over the preceding Kaiser class, as all ten guns could fire on a wide arc on the broadside, and four guns could fire directly ahead, as opposed to only two on the Kaisers. The guns were supplied with 90 shells per gun, and they had a rate of fire of about three shots per minute. The barrels had an expected life of two hundred full-power shots before they would need to be replaced.[17][22]
The guns were mounted in DrL C/11 turrets, which were electrically controlled, though the guns were elevated hydraulically. Each turret had a working chamber beneath it that was connected to a set of revolving ammunition hoists leading down to the magazine below it. One set of hoists retrieved the shells and propellant charges from the magazines and brought them to the working chamber, and another transferred them up to the gun house through flash-tight doors; this arrangement was adopted to reduce the risk of fire in the gun house from reaching the magazines. In an effort to reduce the possibility of a fire, everything in the turret was constructed of steel. The guns had a range of elevation from -8 to 15.5 degrees, which provided a maximum range of 16,200 m (53,100 ft). Later in their careers, their mounts were modified to increase maximum elevation at the expense of depression, with the range now -5.5 to 16.5 degrees, increasing their range to 20,400 m (66,900 ft). Muzzle velocity was 855 m/s (2,810 ft/s).[23][24]
Secondary armament consisted of fourteen 15 cm SK L/45 quick-firing guns, each mounted individually in casemates in the forecastle deck, seven guns per broadside. Each casemate had its own set of magazines and ammunition hoists. These guns were intended for defense against torpedo-armed destroyers, and were supplied with a total of 2,240 shells. Their rate of fire was 4 to 5 shots per minute. The guns could depress to −7 degrees and elevate to 20 degrees, for a maximum range of 13,500 m (14,800 yd). Their muzzle velocity was 835 m/s (2,740 ft/s).[17][25][26]
The ships also carried six 8.8 cm SK L/45 quick-firing guns, mounted in casemates; previous German capital ships had carried a larger number of these guns, but by the time the König class was designed, the growth of destroyers had rendered the 8.8 cm gun of marginal use. The six guns were located on either side of the forward conning tower and were all directed forward. These guns were supplied with a total of 3,200 rounds, or 200 shells per gun,[9][17] The guns could be elevated up to 25 degrees for a maximum range of 10,694 m (35,085 ft).[27] In addition, they were slated to carry four 8.8 cm SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns, which were to be mounted on either side of the rear conning tower. Production remained behind schedule and competing demands after the start of the war caused further delivery problems. Grosser Kurfürst received her original complement in 1915 and König and Kronprinz had two guns installed that year. Kronprinz had another pair installed by 1918, by which time Markgraf received two of the guns.[17][28]
As was customary for capital ships of the dreadnought era, the ships were armed with five 50 cm (19.7 in) submerged torpedo tubes, which were supplied with a total of sixteen torpedoes. One tube was mounted in the bow and the other four were placed on the broadside, two on each side of the ship.[17] The torpedoes were the G7*** type, which carried a 195 kg (430 lb) warhead. They could be set at three speeds: 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) for a range of 5,000 m (5,468 yd), 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph) for a range of 10,700 m (11,702 yd), or 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph) for a range of 12,510 m (13,680 yd).[29]
Fire control
The König-class carried a pair of 3 m (9.8 ft)
Armor
The general layout of the armor scheme for the König class was similar to that of the Kaiser class. The steel used for the ships' protection consisted of
The main armor deck was 6 cm (2.4 in) thick over the citadel, sloping down to meet the lower edge of the belt to provide an additional layer of protection against shell fragments; the sloped section of the deck was increased to 10 cm (3.9 in). The forward deck was increased to 10 cm, while the stern received 6 to 10 cm of armor, increasing to 12 cm over the steering compartment. At upper deck level, a layer of 3 cm (1.2 in) steel covered the central portion of the ship between the end barbettes. Another layer of 3 cm armor covered the forecastle deck over the secondary battery. Behind the belt, a 4 cm (1.6 in) torpedo bulkhead ran the length of the hull, several meters behind the main belt; the bulkhead was designed to contain flooding that might result from torpedo or mine damage. It met the main armor deck where it began to slope down; above the deck, a 3 cm bulkhead extended upward as additional anti-splinter protection. The compartments created on either side of the torpedo bulkhead were used to store coal for the boilers, which reinforced the structure and helped to absorb blast effects; pumps were located amidships to drain these compartments in the event of flooding.[32][33]
The main battery turrets received 30 cm (11.8 in) of armor on their faces, 25.4 cm (10 in) on the sides, and 29 cm (11.4 in) on the rears to balance them. The turret roofs were sloped at the front, where they were 11 cm (4.3 in), decreasing to 8 cm (3.1 in) on the flat portion. Their supporting barbettes were also 30 cm thick on their exposed sides, though they were reduced to 22 cm (8.7 in) on the sections where one barbette blocked direct fire on another.[b] Behind the upper belt, the barbettes were reduced to 14 cm (5.5 in), and behind the main belt, it was thinned further to 8 cm to save weight. Above the upper belt and between the superfiring turret barbettes was an armored battery for the secondary gun casemates. The sides received 17 cm (6.7 in) of armor plate on the outer sides; the interior of each casemate had 2 cm (0.8 in) on the floor and sides and 1.5 cm (0.6 in) on the rear to contain any fragments from shells that penetrated the battery and exploded inside.[14][32][34]
The forward conning tower was protected with heavy armor. According to Gröner and Aidan Dodson, the sides were 30 cm (11.8 in) thick and the roof was 15 cm thick,[19][32] though John Campbell states it received 35.6 cm on the sides, with a small 40.6 cm (16 in) section at the base of the small gunnery control tower, which stood atop the main conning tower. Campbell also provides a thickness of 17 cm for the main tower roof.[35] The rear conning tower was less well armored; its sides were only 20 cm thick and the roof was covered with 5 cm (2 in) of armor plate; all three sources concur on the aft tower.[19][31][32]
Modifications
The four Königs received relatively minor modifications in their short service lives, all made between mid-1916 and late 1918. The first three ships had their fore masts replaced with the same tubular mast that Kronprinz received as completed. After the Battle of Jutland revealed the danger that dislodged anti-torpedo nets posed to the ships' screws, they were removed. They also had most of their low-angle 8.8 cm guns removed and their firing apertures plated over. König and Grosser Kurfürst retained two of those guns and the former had her anti-aircraft guns replaced with four low-angle mounts in 1918. Markgraf only had two of her low-angle guns removed in 1917, while Kronprinz retained hers for the duration of the war. Another pair of 3-meter rangefinders were installed in the forward- and aftmost main battery turrets, and later in the war, these were replaced with 4.75 m (15 ft 7 in) rangefinders. An improved C/15 version of the Bg-Mittler system was installed, and Kronprinz and Grosser Kurfürst received an Abfeuer-Gerät C/16 gyroscopic stabilizing system for the main guns, which improved accuracy by accounting for the roll of the ships and changes in gun elevation as they moved through the water. König was to have received one as well, but it does not appear that she did, while Markgraf had an improved C/17 version installed.[36]
Construction
Ship | Builder[16] | Namesake[37] | Laid down[16] | Launched[16] | Commissioned[16] | Fate[16] |
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König | Kaiserliche Werft, Wilhelmshaven
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October 1911 | 1 March 1913 | 10 August 1914 | Scuttled , 21 June 1919
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Grosser Kurfürst | AG Vulcan, Hamburg
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Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg | October 1911 | 5 May 1913 | 30 July 1914 | |
Markgraf | AG Weser, Bremen | Margraviate of Baden | November 1911 | 4 June 1913 | 1 October 1914 | |
Kronprinz | Germaniawerft, Kiel | Kronprinz Wilhelm | November 1911 | 21 February 1914 | 8 November 1914 |
Service history
After the start of the war in July 1914, work on the vessels was accelerated so they would be available for operations as soon as possible. König and Grosser Kurfürst were completed in the first weeks of World War I; the latter had completed
Markgraf and Kronprinz both completed their trials in January 1915, after which they joined their sisters in III Battle Squadron. They took part in a series of sweeps into the North Sea that failed to locate British forces through 1915, by which time Ingenohl had been replaced by Admiral Hugo von Pohl. They also supported mine-laying operations in the North Sea and periodically rotated through the Baltic for periods of training. These operations continued into early 1916, when Pohl was in turn replaced by Vizeadmiral Reinhard Scheer. The ships again provided cover for I Scouting Group when it bombarded Yarmouth and Lowestoft in April. When the Grand Fleet sortied in response to the raid, Scheer took the fleet back to port to avoid a confrontation with the numerically superior British fleet.[41][42]
Battle of Jutland
The four ships took part in the fleet sortie that resulted in the battle of
Shortly before 16:00 CET,[c] the battlecruisers of I Scouting Group encountered the British 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, under the command of David Beatty. The opposing ships began an artillery duel that saw the destruction of Indefatigable, shortly after 17:00,[43] and Queen Mary, less than a half an hour later.[44] By this time, the German battlecruisers were steaming south in order to draw the British ships towards the main body of the High Seas Fleet. At 17:30, König, the leading German battleship, spotted both I Scouting Group and the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron approaching. The German battlecruisers were steaming down to starboard, while the British ships steamed to port. At 17:45, Scheer ordered a two-point turn to port to bring his ships closer to the British battlecruisers, and a minute later at 17:46, the order to open fire was given.[45]
König, Grosser Kurfürst, and Markgraf were the first to reach effective gunnery range; they engaged the battlecruisers Lion, Princess Royal, and Tiger, respectively, at a range of 21,000 yards.[46] König's first salvos fell short of her target, and so she shifted her fire to the nearest British ship, Tiger. Simultaneously, the leading König-class battleships began firing on the destroyers Nestor and Nicator.[47] The two destroyers closed in on the German line and, having endured a hail of gunfire, maneuvered into a good firing position. Each ship launched two torpedoes apiece at König and Grosser Kurfürst, though all four weapons missed. In return, a secondary battery shell from one of the battleships hit Nestor and wrecked her engine room. The ship, along with the destroyer Nomad, was crippled and lying directly in the path of the advancing German line. Both destroyers were sunk, but German torpedo boats stopped to pick up survivors.[48] At around 18:00, the four Königs shifted their fire to the approaching Queen Elizabeth-class battleships of 5th Battle Squadron, though the firing lasted only a short time before the range widened too far.[49]
Shortly after 19:00, the German cruiser Wiesbaden had become disabled by a shell from Invincible; Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Paul Behncke in König attempted to maneuver his ships in order to cover the stricken cruiser.[50] Simultaneously, the British III and IV Light Cruiser Squadrons began a torpedo attack on the German line; while advancing to torpedo range, they smothered Wiesbaden with fire from their main guns. The Königs fired heavily on the British cruisers, but even sustained fire from the Germans' main guns failed to drive off the British cruisers.[51] In the ensuing melee, the British armored cruiser Defence was struck by several heavy-caliber shells from the German dreadnoughts. One salvo penetrated the ship's ammunition magazines and, in a tremendous explosion, destroyed the cruiser. Another melee with the British cruisers developed an hour later, again over the crippled Wiesbaden; during this period, König received a hit aft that caused significant damage.[52]
By the time the German fleet returned to the Jade estuary, the Nassau-class battleships Nassau, Westfalen, and Posen and the Helgoland-class battleships Helgoland and Thüringen took up guard duties in the outer roadstead. The Kaiser-class battleships Kaiser, Kaiserin, and Prinzregent Luitpold, took up defensive positions outside the Wilhelmshaven locks. The four König-class ships, along with other capital ships—those that were still in fighting condition—had their fuel and ammunition stocks replenished in the inner harbor.[53] Kronprinz was the only member of the class to emerge from the action undamaged.[54]
Subsequent operations
König, Grosser Kurfürst, and Markgraf underwent repairs through July and then conducted training in the Baltic in August before taking part in the sortie that led to the action of 19 August 1916; during the operation, Markgraf and Grosser Kurfürst were temporarily attached to I Scouting Group as several of its battlecruisers had been badly mauled at Jutland and were still under repair. Scheer intended to bombard the British coast, but broke off after he received reports that the Grand Fleet was at sea; in the inconclusive action, German U-boats sank a pair of British light cruisers, and in return one German battleship was damaged by a mine. Further bouts of training in the Baltic, along with fruitless sweeps into the North Sea continued through the rest of 1916. During an operation to recover a pair of U-boats that had grounded off the Danish coast, a British submarine torpedoed Grosser Kurfürst and Kronprinz, though both ships returned to port for repairs. In 1917, the heavy units of the High Seas Fleet were largely restricted to guard duty in the German Bight, as the strategic priority of the German fleet had shifted to the U-boat campaign. During this period, the ships underwent refits that included the installation of the heavy tubular foremasts that Kronprinz had received when initially completed.[55][56]
In September, as the
Fate
The High Seas Fleet saw little significant activity for the rest of 1917 and into mid-1918, apart from routine training exercises and guard duties in the German Bight.
Following the
Grosser Kurfürst was eventually raised, on 29 April 1938. The ship was towed to Rosyth, where she was broken up for scrap metal. The other three ships remain on the sea floor, and were sold to Britain in 1962.[17] The wrecks have been used as sources of low-background steel, which has occasionally been removed for use in scientific devices.[65] The vessels are popular diving sites,[66] and in 2017, marine archaeologists from the Orkney Research Center for Archaeology conducted extensive surveys of the wrecks.[67] A diving contractor, Tommy Clark, came to own the three battleships and the light cruiser Karlsruhe in 1981, which he later placed for sale in 2019. König, Kronprinz, and Markgraf were all purchased by a Middle Eastern company.[68][69]
Notes
Footnotes
- ^ In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnelladekanone) denotes that the gun is quick loading, 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 as long as it is in bore diameter.[21]
- ^ For example, the front section of the forward superfiring turret, which was shielded by the turret in front of it.
- ^ The times mentioned in this section are in CET, which is congruent with the German perspective. This is one hour ahead of UTC, the time zone commonly used in British works.
Citations
- ^ Herwig, p. 62.
- ^ Campbell & Sieche, pp. 145–146.
- ^ a b Campbell & Sieche, p. 135.
- ^ Nottelmann, p. 281.
- ^ Herwig, p. 63.
- ^ Gröner, pp. 26–27.
- ^ Nottelmann, pp. 282–283.
- ^ Nottelmann, pp. 283–285.
- ^ a b c Dodson, p. 89.
- ^ a b c Dodson, pp. 89–90.
- ^ Breyer, p. 276.
- ^ Nottelmann, pp. 287–289 293.
- ^ Nottelmann, p. 293.
- ^ a b Dodson, p. 90.
- ^ Nottelmann, pp. 291–292.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gröner, pp. 27–28.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Gröner, p. 28.
- ^ a b Tarrant, p. 286.
- ^ a b c Dodson, p. 222.
- ^ Campbell, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Grießmer, p. 177.
- ^ Friedman, p. 136.
- ^ Herwig, p. 70.
- ^ Friedman, pp. 135–137.
- ^ Friedman, pp. 143–144.
- ^ Campbell & Sieche, p. 140.
- ^ Friedman, p. 147.
- ^ Nottelmann, p. 295.
- ^ Friedman, pp. 337–338.
- ^ Nottelmann, p. 297.
- ^ a b Campbell, p. 15.
- ^ a b c d Gröner, p. 27.
- ^ Campbell, pp. 13, 19.
- ^ Campbell, pp. 13, 15.
- ^ Campbell, pp. 14–15.
- ^ Nottelmann, pp. 295, 297–299.
- ^ Nottelmann, pp. 299–300.
- ^ Staff, pp. 29, 32.
- ^ Nottelmann, p. 300.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 31–33.
- ^ Staff, pp. 29–35.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 54.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 94–95.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 100–101.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 110.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 110–111.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 111.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 114.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 116.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 137.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 138.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 140, 169, 172–175.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 263.
- ^ Staff, p. 36.
- ^ Massie, pp. 682–683.
- ^ Staff, pp. 30–36.
- ^ Halpern, pp. 213–218.
- ^ Staff, pp. 31–36.
- ^ Preston, p. 80.
- ^ Massie, pp. 747–748.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 280–282.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 282.
- ^ Herwig, p. 256.
- ^ Gröner, pp. 28, 51.
- ^ Butler, p. 229.
- ^ Konstam, p. 187.
- ^ Gannon.
- ^ "Scapa Flow: Sunken WW1 battleships up for sale on eBay". BBC News. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ "Sunken WW1 Scapa Flow warships sold for £85,000 on eBay". BBC News. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
References
- Breyer, Siegfried (1973). Battleships and Battlecruisers 1905–1970: Historical Development of the Capital Ship. Garden City: Doubleday and Company. ISBN 978-0-385-07247-2.
- Butler, Daniel Allen (2006). Distant Victory: The Battle of Jutland and the Allied Triumph in the First World War. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-99073-2.
- Campbell, N. J. M. (1977). Preston, Antony (ed.). "German Dreadnoughts and Their Protection". Warship. I (4). London: Conway Maritime Press: 12–20. ISSN 0142-6222.
- Campbell, N. J. M. & Sieche, Erwin (1986). "Germany". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 134–189. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
- ISBN 978-1-84832-229-5.
- 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.
- Gannon, Megan (4 August 2017). "Archaeologists Map Famed Shipwrecks and War Graves in Scotland". Livescience.com. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- 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.
- 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.
- Konstam, Angus (2002). The History of Shipwrecks. New York: Lyons Press. ISBN 978-1-58574-620-0.
- ISBN 978-0-345-40878-5.
- Nottelmann, Dirk (2018). "From Ironclads to Dreadnoughts: The Development of the German Navy 1864–1918, Part IX: "Summit and Decline"". Warship International. LV (4). ISSN 0043-0374.
- ISBN 978-0-8117-0211-9.
- Staff, Gary (2010). German Battleships: 1914–1918. Vol. 2: Kaiser, König And Bayern Classes. Oxford: Osprey Books. ISBN 978-1-84603-468-8.
- Tarrant, V. E. (2001) [1995]. Jutland: The German Perspective. London: Cassell Military Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0-304-35848-9.
Further reading
- Dodson, Aidan; Cant, Serena (2020). Spoils of War: The Fate of Enemy Fleets after the Two World Wars. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4198-1.
- Koop, Gerhard & Schmolke, Klaus-Peter (1999). Von der Nassau – zur König-Klasse [From the Nassau to König Class] (in German). Bonn: Bernard & Graefe Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7637-5994-1.