L 20e α-class battleship
Line-drawing of the L 20e α design
| |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | L 20e α class |
Operators | Imperial German Navy |
Preceded by | Bayern class |
Succeeded by | Scharnhorst class |
Planned | Unknown |
Completed | None |
General characteristics | |
Type | Super-dreadnought battleship |
Displacement |
|
Length | 238 m (781 ft) |
Beam | 33.5 m (110 ft) |
Draft |
|
Installed power | |
Propulsion | 4 shafts, 2 or 4 sets of steam turbines |
Speed | 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph) |
Armament |
|
Armor |
L 20e α was a design for a
Work on the design was completed by September 1918, but by then there was no chance for them to be built. Germany's declining war situation and the reallocation of resources to support the
Background
Just before the start of the 20th century, Germany embarked on a naval expansion to challenge British control of the seas, under the direction of Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) Alfred von Tirpitz. Over the following decade, Germany built some two dozen pre-dreadnought battleships over the Brandenburg, Kaiser Friedrich III, Wittelsbach, Braunschweig and Deutschland classes. The dreadnought revolution disrupted German plans but Tirpitz nevertheless continued his program, securing the construction of a further twenty-one dreadnought battleships by 1914, with the Nassau, Helgoland, Kaiser, König, and Bayern classes.[1][2]
Beginning before
By 1916, work had resumed on new battleship designs and, in April, the first three proposals were submitted: the L 1, L 2 and L 3 designs, which were similar to the Ersatz Yorck-class battlecruisers then also under development. The battleships were the same size as the battlecruisers and L 1 and L 3 had the same armament of eight 38 cm guns (L 2 would have mounted ten of those guns) but they would have had a top speed of 25 to 26 knots (46 to 48 km/h; 29 to 30 mph) compared to the 29 to 29.5 knots (53.7 to 54.6 km/h; 33.4 to 33.9 mph) speeds of the Ersatz Yorcks and heavier armor. Work on the designs continued at a slow pace, with thought given to armament alternatives, including batteries of eight or ten 38 cm or eight 42 cm (17 in) guns.[3]
Design[4] | Displacement[4] | Main battery[4] | Speed[4] | Length[4] | Beam[4] | Draft[4] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
L 1 | 34,000 t (33,463 long tons) | 8 × 38 cm guns | 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph) | 220 m (721 ft 9 in) | 30 m (98 ft 5 in) | 8.6 m (28 ft 3 in) |
L 2 | 10 × 38 cm guns | 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) | ||||
L 3 | 38,000 t (37,400 long tons) | 8 × 38 cm guns | 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph) | 230 m (754 ft 7 in) | 30.4 m (99 ft 9 in) | 8.8 m (28 ft 10 in) |
Development and cancellation
In January 1916, Vizeadmiral
By the end of 1916, design work on three proposals to meet Scheer's specifications was complete, all of which displaced around 42,000 metric tons (41,000 long tons). L 20b, L 21b and L 22c; L 20b would have eight 42 cm guns, L 21b and L 22c ten or eight 38 cm guns, respectively.[3] After the beginning of unrestricted submarine warfare in February 1917, Capelle argued that capital ship construction should not be halted in favor of U-boat construction.[9] Work on L 20b continued, as the naval command preferred the 42 cm gun variant, with a refined version submitted on 21 August 1917 as L 20e; a new design, L 24, was also submitted, which was similar to L 20e but was slightly longer, faster by 1.5 knots (2.8 km/h; 1.7 mph), had two extra boilers and a correspondingly wider funnel. It also differed in the placement of the torpedo armament. The L 20 design placed them in the hull below the waterline, while the L 24 proposal used above-water launchers.[3][9] Displacement for the designs was fixed at 45,000 t (44,000 long tons).[10] Both ships had a top speed of only 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph), which was unacceptable to Scheer.[11]
Design[4] | Displacement[4] | Main battery[4] | Speed[4] | Length[4] | Beam[4] | Draft[4] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
L 20b | 42,000 t (41,337 long tons) | 8 × 42 cm guns | 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph) | 235 m (771 ft) | 32 m (105 ft) | 9 m (29 ft 6 in) |
L 21a | 10 × 38 cm guns | Unknown | ||||
L 22c | 41,700 t (41,041 long tons) | 8 × 38 cm guns | ||||
L 20e | 42,000 t (41,337 long tons) | 8 × 42 cm guns | 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) | 235 to 237 m (777 ft 7 in) | ||
L 24 | 43,000 t (42,321 long tons) | 26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph) | 240 m (787 ft 5 in) | |||
L 24e α | 45,000 t (44,289 long tons) | 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph) | 33.5 m (109 ft 11 in) |
By October 1917, the L 20e and L 24e designs were refined into the L 20e α and L 24e α versions; these displaced 44,500 t (43,800 long tons) and 45,000 t respectively.
Two more proposals were completed in mid-1918; the first was almost the same as the L 20e α variant and the second was similar but had only six main battery guns and a top speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph). By 11 September 1918, the L 20e α variant was selected as the basis for the next battleship to be built.[3] During the design process, it was decided that the utmost concern was that the ships could be built and placed into service quickly. The ships were to discard the use of broadside belt armor below the waterline, the attachment of which was an extremely time-consuming process. It was believed that the higher speed of the class—26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph)—would make up for the vulnerability to torpedo attack and make the armor unnecessary.[13][a]
The ships were never built, primarily because the shipyard capacity available that late in the war had largely been diverted to support the
Characteristics
General characteristics and machinery
The L 20e α design was 238 m (781 ft)
Armament
The main battery was arranged in four twin-gun turrets, as in the preceding Bayern class, in a superfiring arrangement on the center line; the aft pair of turrets were separated by engine rooms. The four turrets each mounted two 42 cm SK L/45 guns,[b] for a total of eight guns on the broadside.[16][19] The 42 cm gun fired a 1,000-kilogram (2,200 lb) shell out to 33,000 m (36,000 yd) at the maximum elevation of 30 degrees. The estimated muzzle velocity was 800 meters per second (2,600 ft/s)[7] The ships were to have been armed with a secondary battery of twelve 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns mounted in casemates in the main deck around the superstructure. The anti-aircraft battery was to have consisted of either eight 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns or eight 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/45 guns. Four of these would have been mounted on either side of the forward conning tower on the upper deck and the other four would have been abreast of the rear superfiring turret on the main deck. The design was to have been equipped with three submerged torpedo tubes, either 60 or 70 cm (23.6 or 27.6 in) in diameter. One tube was placed in the bow, the other two on either beam to the rear of the engine rooms.[15][16]
Armor
The ships had a 350 mm (13.8 in) armored belt running from slightly forward of the fore barbette to slightly aft of the fourth barbette. Aft of the rearmost turret the belt was reduced to 300 mm (11.8 in), though it did not extend all the way to the stern. In the forward part of the ship, the belt was reduced to 250 mm (9.8 in) and the bow received only splinter protection in the form of 30 mm (1.2 in) thick plate. The belt began 35 cm (13.8 in) below the waterline and extended to 195 cm (76.8 in) above it.[16] Directly above the main belt was a 250 mm thick strake of armor plating which extended up to the upper deck.[20] The ships' armored deck was to have been 50 mm (2 in) thick forward, increased to 50–60 mm (2.4 in) amidships and 50 to 120 mm (4.7 in) aft. Additional horizontal protection forward consisted of a forecastle deck that was 20 to 40 mm (0.8 to 1.6 in) thick. The ships were also protected by a torpedo bulkhead that was 50–60 mm thick. A sloped 30 mm thick splinter bulkhead to protect against shell fragments, extended from the top of the torpedo bulkhead up to the upper deck.[15][16]
The barbettes were also 350 mm thick on the front and sides, decreasing to 250 mm on the rear. Their lower portions, which were protected by the belt armor, were significantly reduced to 100 mm (3.9 in). The main gun turrets had 350 mm faces, 250 mm sides, 305 mm (12 in) rears, and 150 to 250 mm (5.9 to 9.8 in) roofs. The secondary guns were protected with 170 mm (6.7 in) of armor plate. The forward conning tower had 350 to 400 mm (13.8 to 15.7 in) of armor protection and the aft conning tower received just 250 mm of side protection.[15][16][20]
Notes
Footnotes
- ^ In previous battleship designs, such as the Bayern class, the main belt armor extended to 35 cm (14 in) below the waterline and then tapered to 17.2 cm (6.8 in) at the bottom edge. The L 20e α design discarded the use of the lower section of belt armor.[14]
- ^ In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnelladekanone) denotes that the gun is quick loading, while the L/45 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/45 gun is 45 calibers, meaning that the gun is 45 times as long as it is in bore diameter.[18]
Citations
- ^ Herwig, pp. 33–81.
- ^ Campbell & Sieche, pp. 134–149.
- ^ a b c d e f g Dodson, p. 126.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Dodson, p. 230.
- ^ Herwig, p. 161.
- ^ Herwig, pp. 223–224.
- ^ a b Friedman, p. 131.
- ^ a b Mulligan, p. 1017.
- ^ a b Forstmeier & Breyer, p. 44.
- ^ Forstmeier & Breyer, p. 45.
- ^ Forstmeier & Breyer, p. 46.
- ^ Gröner, p. 30.
- ^ a b Weir, p. 179.
- ^ Campbell & Sieche, pp. 149–159.
- ^ a b c d Dodson, p. 232.
- ^ a b c d e f Campbell & Sieche, p. 150.
- ^ Forstmeier & Breyer, p. 83.
- ^ Grießmer, p. 177.
- ^ Campbell, p. 13.
- ^ a b Campbell, p. 20.
References
- 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.
- Forstmeier, Friedrich & Breyer, Siegfried (2002). Deutsche Großkampfschiffe 1915 bis 1918 – Die Entwicklung der Typenfrage im Ersten Weltkrieg [German Large Warships 1915 to 1918 –The Development of the Type in the First World War] (in German). Bonn: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 978-3-7637-6230-9.
- 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.
- ISBN 978-0-87021-790-6.
- Herwig, Holger (1998) [1980]. "Luxury" Fleet: The Imperial German Navy 1888–1918. Amherst: Humanity Books. ISBN 978-1-57392-286-9.
- Mulligan, Timothy P. (October 2005). "Ship-of-the-Line or Atlantic Raider? Battleship "Bismarck" between Design Limitations and Naval Strategy". S2CID 159780706.
- 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.