SMS Brandenburg
Lithograph of SMS Brandenburg in 1902
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History | |
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German Empire | |
Name | Brandenburg |
Namesake | Province of Brandenburg |
Builder | AG Vulcan Stettin |
Laid down | May 1890 |
Launched | 21 September 1891 |
Commissioned | 19 November 1893 |
Fate | Scrapped in 1920 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Brandenburg-class battleship |
Displacement |
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Length | 115.7 m (379 ft 7 in) loa |
Beam | 19.5 m (64 ft) |
Draft | 7.6 m (24 ft 11 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) |
Range | 4,300 nautical miles (8,000 km; 4,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement |
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Armament |
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Armor |
SMS Brandenburg
Brandenburg served with
Design
Brandenburg was the first
Brandenburg and her sister ships—
The ship was unusual for its time in that it possessed a
The ship was protected with
Service history
Construction to 1896
Ordered as battleship A, Brandenburg was
Trials continued into 1894, and while conducting
Repair work was completed by 16 April, allowing Brandenburg to return to trials which lasted until the middle of August, and included a cruise through the
The year 1895 began with what became the normal training cruises to
On 10 August, the fleet returned to Wilhelmshaven and began preparations for the autumn maneuvers later that month. The first exercises began in the
1897–1900
Brandenburg and the rest of the fleet operated under the normal routine of individual and unit training in the first half of 1897. Early in the year, the naval command considered deploying I Division to another naval demonstration off Morocco to protest the murder of two German nationals there, but a smaller squadron of sailing frigates was sent instead. The typical routine was interrupted in early August when Wilhelm II and
In early December, I Division conducted maneuvers in the Kattegat and the Skagerrak, though they were cut short due to shortages in officers and men.[16] Additionally, while steaming through the Great Belt, Brandenburg collided with the ironclad Württemberg, damaging both vessels and forcing them to put into Kiel for repairs. After temporary repairs to Brandenburg were completed, she moved to Wilhelmshaven, where a new ram bow had to be installed.[12] The fleet followed the typical routine of individual and fleet training in 1898 without incident, though a voyage to the British Isles was also included and the fleet stopped in Queenstown, Greenock, and Kirkwall. The fleet assembled in Kiel on 14 August for the annual autumn exercises: the maneuvers included a mock blockade of the coast of Mecklenburg and a pitched battle with an "Eastern Fleet" in the Danzig Bay. While steaming back to Kiel, a severe storm hit the fleet, causing significant damage to many ships and sinking the torpedo boat S58. The fleet then transited the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal and continued the maneuvers in the North Sea. Training finished on 17 September in Wilhelmshaven. In December, I Division conducted artillery and torpedo training in Eckernförde Bay, followed by divisional training in the Kattegat and Skagerrak. During these maneuvers, the division visited Kungsbacka, Sweden, from 9 to 13 December. After returning to Kiel, the ships of I Division went into dock for their winter repairs.[17]
During a snowstorm on 22 March 1899, the anchor chain for the ironclad
In July, the fleet conducted squadron maneuvers in the North Sea, which included coast defense exercises with soldiers from the X Corps. On 16 August, the fleet assembled in Danzig once again for the annual autumn maneuvers.[18] The exercises started in the Baltic and on 30 August the fleet passed through the Kattegat and Skagerrak and steamed into the North Sea for further maneuvers in the German Bight, which lasted until 7 September. After a third phase of the maneuvers in the Kattegat and the Great Belt from 8 to 26 September, the fleet went into port for annual maintenance. The year 1900 began with the usual routine of individual and divisional exercises. In the second half of March, the squadrons met in Kiel, followed by torpedo and gunnery practice in April and a voyage to the eastern Baltic. From 7 to 26 May, the fleet went on a major training cruise to the northern North Sea, which included stops in Shetland from 12 to 15 May and in Bergen from 18 to 22 May.[19] On 8 July, the ships of I Division were reassigned to II Division.[20]
Boxer Uprising
During the
On 7 July, KAdm
By the time the German fleet had arrived, the siege of Beijing had already been lifted by forces from other members of the Eight-Nation Alliance that had formed to deal with the Boxers.
On 26 May, the German high command recalled the expeditionary force to Germany. The fleet took on supplies in Shanghai and departed Chinese waters on 1 June. The ships stopped in Singapore from 10 to 15 June and took on coal before proceeding to Colombo, where they stayed from 22 to 26 June. Steaming against the
1901–1914
Upon their return, Brandenburg and her sisters were assigned to I Squadron. On 21 August, the annual fleet maneuvers began; these were interrupted on 11 September when Nicholas II visited the fleet while on another visit to Germany. The ships conducted a
In the early 1900s, the four Brandenburgs were taken into the drydocks at the Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven for major reconstruction. Brandenburg was modernized between 1903 and 1904.[1] During the modernization, a second conning tower was added in the aft superstructure, along with a gangway.[35] Brandenburg and the other ships had their boilers replaced with newer models, and also had the hamper amidships reduced.[2] She was recommissioned on 4 April 1905 and was assigned to II Squadron of what was now renamed the Active Battlefleet, though she remained in service only briefly. She participated in the normal routine of training exercises through 1905, 1906, and 1907, before being decommissioned again on 30 September 1907. During this period, the only noteworthy incident involving Brandenburg was a minor grounding outside Stockholm that did not inflict any damage on the ship. Upon her second decommissioning, her crew was again sent to staff a new battleship, this time Hannover. Brandenburg was thereafter assigned to the Reserve Formation of the North Sea.[36]
By 1910, the first
World War I and subsequent activity
At the outbreak of
The squadron returned to the North Sea for guard duties, but was withdrawn from front-line service in February 1915. Shortages of trained crews in the High Seas Fleet, coupled with the risk of operating older ships in wartime, necessitated the deactivation of the V Squadron ships.[39] Brandenburg had her crew reduced in Kiel, and she was briefly assigned to the reserve division in the Baltic. From July to December, she underwent shipyard maintenance, before being transferred to Libau. On 20 December, she was decommissioned there, for use as a water distillation and barracks ship. Her heavy guns were removed for use in the Ottoman Empire, but there is no record of them ever having been shipped to the Ottomans. Near the end of the war, Brandenburg was taken back to Danzig, where work began to convert her into a target ship, but the war ended before the reconstruction was completed.[36] Brandenburg was struck from the naval register on 13 May 1919 and sold for scrapping.[40] The ship was purchased by Norddeutsche Tiefbaugesellschaft, a shipbreaking firm headquartered in Berlin, and she was then broken up for scrap in Danzig.[35]
Footnotes
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b c d e Gröner, p. 13.
- ^ a b c d Hore, p. 66.
- ^ Sondhaus Weltpolitik, pp. 179–181.
- ^ Grießmer, p. 177.
- ^ a b Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2, p. 109.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2, pp. 109–110.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, p. 175.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, pp. 175–176.
- ^ a b Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, p. 176.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, p. 75.
- ^ a b c Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, p. 179.
- ^ a b c d e f Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2, p. 110.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, pp. 176–178.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, p. 178.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, pp. 180–181.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, p. 181.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, pp. 181–183.
- ^ a b Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, p. 183.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, pp. 184–185.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, p. 186.
- ^ Bodin, pp. 5–6.
- ^ Bodin, p. 1.
- ^ Holborn, p. 311.
- ^ Bodin, p. 6.
- ^ Harrington, p. 29.
- ^ Bodin, p. 11.
- ^ Bodin, pp. 11–12.
- ^ Herwig, p. 106.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, pp. 186–187.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, p. 187.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, pp. 188–189.
- ^ Herwig, p. 103.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2, pp. 110–111.
- ^ a b Gröner, p. 14.
- ^ a b c d Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2, p. 111.
- ^ Campbell & Sieche, pp. 141, 144–145.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, pp. 62–63.
- ^ a b Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 5, p. 63.
- ^ Campbell & Sieche, p. 141.
References
- Bodin, Lynn E. (1979). The Boxer Rebellion. London: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85045-335-5.
- 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.
- 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.
- Harrington, Peter (2001). Peking 1900: The Boxer Rebellion. London: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84176-181-7.
- 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 (Band 2) [The German Warships: Biographies: A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present (Vol. 2)] (in German). Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8364-9743-5.
- Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien: ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart (Band 5) [The German Warships: Biographies: A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present (Vol. 5)] (in German). Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7822-0456-9.
- Holborn, Hajo (1982). A History of Modern Germany: 1840–1945. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-00797-7.
- Hore, Peter (2006). The Ironclads. London: Southwater Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84476-299-6.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (1997). Preparing for Weltpolitik: German Sea Power Before the Tirpitz Era. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-745-7.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval Warfare, 1815–1914. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-21478-0.
Further reading
- Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
- 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 (2002). Die Brandenburg-Klasse: Höhepunkt des deutschen Panzerschiffbaus [The Brandenburg Class: High Point of German Armored Ship Construction] (in German). Hamburg: Mittler. ISBN 978-3-8132-0740-8.