SMS Kaiser (1911)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

SMS Kaiser
SMS Kaiser
History
German Empire
NameKaiser
BuilderKaiserliche Werft, Kiel
Laid downDecember 1909
Launched22 March 1911
Commissioned1 August 1912
FateScuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 June 1919
General characteristics
Class and typeKaiser-class battleship
Displacement
Length172.40 m (565 ft 7 in)
Beam29 m (95 ft 2 in)
Draft9.10 m (29 ft 10 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed23.4 knots (43.3 km/h; 26.9 mph)
Range7,900 nmi (14,600 km; 9,100 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Crew
  • 41 officers
  • 1,043 enlisted
Armament
Armor

SMS Kaiser

dreadnought battleships of the Imperial German Navy. Kaiser was built by the Imperial Dockyard at Kiel, launched on 22 March 1911 and commissioned on 1 August 1912. The ship was equipped with ten 30.5-centimeter (12 in) guns in five twin turrets, and had a top speed of 23.4 knots (43.3 km/h; 26.9 mph). Kaiser was assigned to III Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet for the majority of World War I
.

In 1913, Kaiser and her sister König Albert conducted a cruise to South America and South Africa. The ship participated in most of the major fleet operations during the war. She fought at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, during which she was hit twice and suffered negligible damage. The ship was also present during Operation Albion in the Baltic Sea in September and October 1917, and at the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in November 1917.

During peace negotiations after the end of the war in 1918, she was interned with other ships of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow. On 21 June 1919 the commander of the interned fleet, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, ordered the fleet to be scuttled to ensure that the British would not be able to seize the ships. The wreck was raised in 1929 and broken up in Rosyth in 1930.

Design

A large warship with five gun turrets, two tall masts, two funnels, and heavy armor protection.
Plan and profile drawing of the Kaiser class; the shaded areas represent the portions of the ship protected by armor

The ship was 172.40 m (565 ft 7 in) long

full load. She had a beam of 29 m (95 ft 2 in) and a draft of 9.10 m (29 ft 10 in) forward and 8.80 m (28 ft 10 in) aft. Kaiser was powered by three sets of Parsons turbines, supplied with steam by sixteen coal-fired water-tube boilers. The powerplant produced a top speed of 23.4 knots (43.3 km/h; 26.9 mph). She carried 3,600 metric tons (3,500 long tons) of coal, which enabled a maximum range of 7,900 nautical miles (14,600 km; 9,100 mi) at a cruising speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).[1]

Kaiser was armed with a

en echelon amidships, so that both could fire on the broadside.[3] The ship was also armed with a secondary battery of fourteen 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns in casemates amidships. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried eight 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns in casemates. The ship was also armed with four 8.8 cm L/45 anti-aircraft guns. The ship's armament was rounded out by five 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes, all mounted in the ship's hull; one was in the bow, and the other four were on the broadside.[1]

Her main

Krupp cemented armor (KCA). Her main battery gun turrets were protected by 300 mm (11.8 in) of KCA on the sides and faces. Kaiser's conning tower was heavily armored, with 400 mm (15.7 in) sides.[1]

Service history

Ordered under the contract name Ersatz Hildebrand as a replacement for the obsolete

Wilhelm II, attended the launching ceremony,[5] where German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg gave a speech while Kaiserin (Empress) Augusta Victoria christened the ship. Fitting-out work then began, which was completed by the end of July 1912. On 1 August, the ship was commissioned for sea trials. These were concluded by 7 December; the following day Kaiser joined the fleet as the flagship of V Division. Her crew consisted largely of men who had been transferred from the recently decommissioned battleships Elsass and Braunschweig.[4]

Kaiser in 1912

After joining the active fleet in December 1912, Kaiser was stationed in Kiel. The ship then conducted individual training. In February 1913, Kaiser was transferred to

Victor Emmanuel III inspected the ship. The annual summer cruise to Norway was conducted in July and August, followed immediately by the autumn maneuvers in August and September.[4] In September 1913, Captain Adolf von Trotha became the ship's commanding officer, a post he held until January 1916.[6]

Kaiser was selected to participate in a long-distance cruise to test the reliability of the new turbine propulsion system. The ship was joined by her sister

Valparaiso, Chile, arriving on 2 April and remaining for over a week.[8]

On 11 April, the ships departed Valparaiso for the long journey back to Germany. On the return trip, the ships visited several more ports, including

assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. As a result of rising international tensions, the cruise was cut short and the German fleet was back in Wilhelmshaven by 29 July.[8] At midnight on 4 August, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany.[9]

World War I

Two large gun turrets on a battleship
Kaiser's rear superfiring turrets

The High Seas Fleet, including Kaiser, conducted a number of sweeps and advances into the North Sea. The first occurred on 2–3 November 1914, though no British forces were encountered. Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, adopted a strategy in which the battlecruisers of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's I Scouting Group raided British coastal towns to lure out portions of the Grand Fleet where they could be destroyed by the High Seas Fleet.[10] The raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 15–16 December 1914 was the first such operation.[11] On the evening of 15 December, the German battle fleet of some twelve dreadnoughts—including Kaiser and her four sisters—and eight pre-dreadnoughts came to within 10 nmi (19 km; 12 mi) of an isolated squadron of six British battleships. However, skirmishes between the rival destroyer screens in the darkness convinced Ingenohl that he was faced with the entire Grand Fleet. Under orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II to avoid risking the fleet unnecessarily, Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battlefleet back toward Germany.[12]

Following the loss of

Horns Reef.[14]

On 12 January 1916, Admiral Reinhard Scheer replaced Pohl as the fleet commander.[14] Kaiser was present during the fleet advance on 5–7 March, though this too ended without action. While in port in Kiel, the old pre-dreadnought Hannover accidentally collided with Kaiser, though neither ship was seriously damaged. Scheer continued the series of fleet operations practiced by his predecessors; the fleet conducted sweeps of the North Sea on 26 March, 2–3 April, and 21–22 April. The battlecruisers conducted another raid on the English coast on 24–25 April, during which Kaiser and the rest of the fleet provided distant support.[8] Scheer planned another raid for mid-May, but the battlecruiser Seydlitz had struck a mine during the previous raid and the repair work forced the operation to be pushed back until the end of the month.[15]

Battle of Jutland

The German fleet sailed to the north and met the British fleet sailing from the west; both fleets conducted a series of turns and maneuvers during the chaotic battle.
Diagram of the Battle of Jutland showing the major movements

Almost immediately after the Lowestoft raid, Scheer began planning another foray into the North Sea. He had initially intended to launch the operation in mid-May, by which time the mine damage to Seydlitz was scheduled to be repaired—Scheer was unwilling to embark on a major raid without his battlecruiser forces at full strength. On 9 May, however, several battleships developed problems with their engines, which delayed the operation further, to 23 May.[16] On 22 May, Seydlitz was still not fully repaired, and the operation was again postponed, this time to 29 May.[15] At noon on 29 May, the repairs to Seydlitz were finally completed, and the ship returned to I Scouting Group.[17] The plan called for Hipper's battlecruisers to steam north to the Skagerrak, with the intention of luring out a portion of the British fleet so it could be destroyed by Scheer's waiting battleships.[18]

Kaiser and the rest of III Battle Squadron were the leading unit of the High Seas Fleet; the four

Jade estuary at 02:00 on 31 May; Scheer, with the High Seas Fleet, followed an hour and a half later.[17]

Shortly before 16:00 CET,[d] 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,[20] and Queen Mary, less than half an hour later.[21] 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's crew spotted both I Scouting Group and the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron approaching. The German battlecruisers were steaming 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.[22]

Between 17:48 and 17:52, Kaiser, Kronprinz, Friedrich der Grosse, and all eight battleships of I Squadron opened fire on several ships of the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron; Kaiser, Ostfriesland, and Nassau engaged HMS Southampton, though only Nassau managed to score a hit on the cruiser.[23] In the span of eight minutes, Kaiser fired eleven salvos at Southampton without success.[24] The 2nd LCS then moved back out of range, having largely escaped unscathed.[23] At 17:58, Scheer ordered the fleet to maximum speed; the greater speed of the Königs caused the distance between Kaiser and König to rapidly increase. At 18:05, Southampton again came into range, and Kaiser opened fire. Kaiser fired four salvos at a range of 12,000 m (13,000 yd), though again without scoring any hits. After three minutes of firing, Kaiser's guns again fell silent.[25]

Illustration of Kaiser underway

Starting at 18:10, Kaiser began firing on the 5th Battle Squadron battleship Malaya; in the span of 25 minutes, Kaiser fired 27 salvos at an average range of 17,300 m (18,900 yd).[26] The British destroyers Nestor and Nomad, which had been disabled earlier in the engagement, lay directly in the path of the advancing High Seas Fleet.[27] Shortly before 18:30, Kaiser and her three sister ships opened fire on Nomad with their secondary batteries. The hail of 15-cm shells smothered the ship; a fire was started and one shell detonated the ship's forward ammunition magazine. Nomad sank stern first at 18:30. Nestor was meanwhile destroyed by the battleships of I Squadron.[28]

Shortly after 19:00, the German cruiser Wiesbaden had become disabled by a shell from the British battlecruiser Invincible; Rear Admiral Behncke in König attempted to maneuver III Squadron to cover the stricken cruiser.[29] Simultaneously, the British 3rd and 4th 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 eight III Squadron battleships fired on the British cruisers, but even sustained fire from the battleships' main guns failed to drive off the British cruisers.[30] The armored cruisers Defence, Warrior, and Black Prince joined in the attack on the crippled Wiesbaden.[31] Between 19:14 and 19:17, Kaiser and several other battleships and battlecruisers opened fire on Defence and Warrior.[32] Defence was struck by several heavy caliber shells from the German dreadnoughts. One salvo penetrated the ship's ammunition magazines and, in a massive explosion, destroyed the cruiser.[33]

As Warrior limped away to the west, the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships of the 5th Battle Squadron joined the Grand Fleet as it entered the battle from the north. However, Warspite was forced to haul out of line to the south, towards the oncoming German fleet.[34] Warspite came under intense fire from the approaching German battleships; Kaiser scored a hit on Warspite that damaged her steering gear and forced her to steam in a circle, out of control.[35] After completing two full circles and sustaining 13 heavy hits, Warspite came back under control and rejoined the squadron. However, by 20:00 the steering gear had again failed, so the ship was forced to withdraw from the engagement.[36]

By 20:15, the German fleet had faced the Grand Fleet for a second time and was forced to turn away; in doing so, the order of the German line was reversed. Kaiser was now the fifth ship from the rear of the German line, ahead of only the four König-class battleships.

Common Pointed, Capped, shells came from the 30 cm (12 in) guns of Agincourt. One shell penetrated the upper deck and landed in a hammock stowage compartment below the No. 7 casemate; the shell failed to explode and instead broke up on impact, starting a small fire that was quickly put out. The other shell probably exploded outside the ship.[39]

Shortly before 21:30, Kaiser, Prinzregent Luitpold, and Markgraf spotted British light forces approaching. The German ships opened fire at a range of around 7,300 m (8,000 yd) with both their main and secondary armament. The light cruiser Calliope was badly damaged, which forced the British ships to withdraw.[40] At around 23:30, the German fleet reorganized into the night cruising formation. Kaiser was the twelfth ship, in the center of the 24-ship line.[41]

After a series of night engagements between the leading battleships and British destroyers, the High Seas Fleet punched through the British light forces and reached Horns Reef by 04:00 on 1 June.[42] The German fleet reached Wilhelmshaven a few hours later; the I Squadron battleships took up defensive positions in the outer roadstead and Kaiser, Kaiserin, Prinzregent Luitpold, and Kronprinz stood ready just outside the entrance to Wilhelmshaven.[43] The remainder of the battleships and battlecruisers entered Wilhelmshaven, where those that were still in fighting condition replenished their stocks of coal and ammunition.[44] The two shell hits suffered by Kaiser had been largely ineffectual, wounding only one crewmember.[45]

Subsequent operations

On 18 August, Admiral Scheer attempted a repeat of the 31 May operation; the two serviceable German battlecruisers—

Sunderland in an attempt to draw out and destroy Beatty's battlecruisers. The rest of the fleet, including Kaiser, would trail behind and provide cover.[46] The British were aware of the German plans and sortied the Grand Fleet to meet them, leading to the action of 19 August 1916. By 14:35, Admiral Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet's approach and, unwilling to engage the whole of the Grand Fleet just eleven weeks after the decidedly close call at Jutland, turned his forces around and retreated to German ports.[47]

Another fleet advance followed on 18–20 October, though it ended without encountering any British units. Two weeks later, on 4 November, Kaiser took part in an expedition to the western coast of Denmark to assist two U-boatsU-20 and U-30—that had become stranded there. On 1 December, the High Seas Fleet was reorganized; Kaiser and her sisters were transferred to the newly created IV Battle Squadron, with Kaiser as the flagship. In 1917, the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare was reinstated; the surface units of the German navy were therefore tasked with covering the departures and arrivals of the U-boats. As a result, Kaiser spent most of the year on picket duty in the German Bight. In May 1917, Kaiser went into the dock for periodic maintenance.[8]

Operation Albion

A small white boat filled with soldiers passes in front of a large warship with three tall funnels and several smaller transport ships.
German troops landing at Ösel

In early September 1917, following the German Army's conquest of the Russian port of

Sworbe peninsula.[48] On 18 September, the order was issued for a joint operation with the army to capture Ösel and Moon islands; the primary naval component was organized into a Special Unit, which comprised the flagship, Moltke, along with IV Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet. IV Squadron was composed of V and VI Divisions. V Division included the four König-class ships, and was by this time augmented with the new battleship Bayern. VI Division consisted of the five Kaiser-class battleships. Along with 9 light cruisers, 3 torpedo boat flotillas, and dozens of mine warfare ships, the entire force numbered some 300 ships, supported by over 100 aircraft and 6 zeppelins. The invasion force amounted to approximately 24,600 officers and enlisted men.[49] Opposing the Germans were the old Russian pre-dreadnoughts Slava and Tsesarevich, the armored cruisers Bayan, Admiral Makarov, and Diana, 26 destroyers, and several torpedo boats and gunboats. The garrison on Ösel numbered some 14,000 men.[50]

On 24 September, Kaiser left Kiel, bound for the

Putziger Wiek, where she rendezvoused with several other battleships. From there, the ship went to Libau, which she reached on 10 October. Two days later, on the morning of 12 October, Kaiser, joined by her sisters Kaiserin and Prinzregent Luitpold, opened fire on the Russian shore batteries at Cape Hundsort. On 14 October Kaiser engaged the Russian destroyer Grom and disabled the ship's engine with a single hit. Grom was captured and taken in tow, but she quickly foundered. Kaiser then bombarded Russian positions on Cape Toffri on 16 October.[51]

By 20 October, the fighting on the islands was winding down; Moon, Ösel, and Dagö were in German possession. The previous day, the Admiralstab had ordered the cessation of naval actions and the return of the dreadnoughts to the High Seas Fleet as soon as possible.[52] On 31 October Kaiser and the rest of the Special Unit were detached from the operation and sent back to Kiel, which they reached by 2 November. Kaiser was back in the North Sea on 7 November.[51]

Final operations

Kaiser and Kaiserin were assigned to security duty in the Bight on 17 November; they were tasked with providing support to II Scouting Group (II SG) and several minesweepers.

Second Battle of Helgoland Bight.[53] Kaiser and her sister intervened and hit one of the light cruisers.[51] The two ships briefly engaged the battlecruiser Repulse, but neither side scored any hits[54] and the German commander failed to press the attack.[51]

On 2 February 1918, the light cruiser Stralsund struck a mine; Kaiser was among those ships that sortied to escort the damaged cruiser back to port. The ship was also present during the fleet advance on 23–24 April.[51] The operation was intended to intercept a heavily escorted British convoy to Norway on 23–25 April, though the operation was canceled when the battlecruiser Moltke suffered mechanical damage.[55] In the final months of the war, Captain Hermann Bauer took command of the ship; his period in command lasted from August to November.[6]

Kaiser was to have taken part in a

Jade roadstead, with the intention of departing the following morning. However, starting on the night of 29 October, sailors on Thüringen mutinied.[57] The unrest spread to other battleships, which forced Hipper and Scheer to cancel the operation.[58]

Fate

A map designating the locations where the German ships were sunk
Map of the scuttled ships showing Kaiser (#18); click for a larger view

Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918, most of their fleet ships were interned in the British naval base in

Versailles Treaty.[59]

A copy of The Times informed Reuter that the Armistice was to expire at noon on 21 June 1919, the deadline by which Germany was to have signed the peace treaty. Reuter came to the conclusion that the British intended to seize the German ships after the Armistice expired. Unaware that the deadline had been extended to the 23rd, Reuter ordered the ships to be sunk.[e] On the morning of 21 June, the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers, and at 11:20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships.[59] Kaiser sank at 13:24; the ship was raised in 1929 and broken up for scrap in Rosyth starting in 1930.[1]

Notes

Footnotes

  1. Seiner Majestät Schiff" (German
    : His Majesty's Ship).
  2. ^ 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 45 times as long as it is in bore diameter.[2]
  3. ^ German warships were ordered under provisional names. For new additions to the fleet, they were given a single letter; for those ships intended to replace older or lost vessels, they were ordered as "Ersatz (name of the ship to be replaced)".
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ There is some contention as to whether Reuter was aware that the Armistice had been extended. Admiral Sydney Fremantle stated that he informed Reuter on the evening of the 20th, though Reuter claims he was unaware of the development. For Fremantle's claim, see Bennett, p. 307. For Reuter's statement, see Herwig, p. 256.

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e Gröner, p. 26.
  2. ^ Grießmer, p. 177.
  3. ^ a b Staff (Vol. 2), p. 4.
  4. ^ a b c Staff (Vol. 2), p. 10.
  5. ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 18.
  6. ^ a b Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 17.
  7. ^ Staff (Vol. 2), pp. 10–11.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Staff (Vol. 1), p. 11.
  9. ^ Herwig, p. 144.
  10. ^ Herwig, pp. 149–150.
  11. ^ Tarrant, p. 31.
  12. ^ Tarrant, pp. 31–33.
  13. ^ Tarrant, pp. 43–44.
  14. ^ a b c Staff (Vol. 2), p. 15.
  15. ^ a b Tarrant, p. 58.
  16. ^ Tarrant, pp. 55–56.
  17. ^ a b Tarrant, p. 62.
  18. ^ Tarrant, p. 61.
  19. ^ Tarrant, p. 286.
  20. ^ Tarrant, pp. 94–95.
  21. ^ Tarrant, pp. 100–101.
  22. ^ Tarrant, p. 110.
  23. ^ a b Campbell, p. 54.
  24. ^ Campbell, p. 99.
  25. ^ Campbell, pp. 98–99.
  26. ^ Campbell, p. 104.
  27. ^ Tarrant, p. 114.
  28. ^ Campbell, p. 101.
  29. ^ Tarrant, p. 137.
  30. ^ Tarrant, p. 138.
  31. ^ Tarrant, p. 139.
  32. ^ Campbell, p. 152.
  33. ^ Tarrant, p. 140.
  34. ^ Tarrant, p. 141.
  35. ^ Staff (Vol. 2), pp. 11–12.
  36. ^ Tarrant, p. 143.
  37. ^ Tarrant, p. 172.
  38. ^ Campbell, p. 206.
  39. ^ Campbell, p. 245.
  40. ^ Tarrant, p. 191.
  41. ^ Campbell, p. 275.
  42. ^ Tarrant, pp. 246–247.
  43. ^ Campbell, p. 320.
  44. ^ Tarrant, p. 263.
  45. ^ Tarrant, p. 298.
  46. ^ Massie, p. 682.
  47. ^ Massie, p. 683.
  48. ^ Halpern, p. 213.
  49. ^ Halpern, pp. 214–215.
  50. ^ Halpern, p. 215.
  51. ^ a b c d e f Staff (Vol. 2), p. 12.
  52. ^ Halpern, p. 219.
  53. ^ Campbell & Sieche, p. 60.
  54. ^ Konstam, p. 35.
  55. ^ Massie, pp. 748–749.
  56. ^ Tarrant, pp. 280–281.
  57. ^ Tarrant, pp. 281–282.
  58. ^ a b Tarrant, p. 282.
  59. ^ a b c Herwig, p. 256.
  60. ^ Herwig, pp. 254–255.
  61. ^ Herwig, p. 255.

References

Further reading