SMS Markgraf
Recognition drawing of a König-class battleship
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History | |
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German Empire | |
Builder | AG Weser, Bremen |
Laid down | November 1911 |
Launched | 4 June 1913 |
Commissioned | 1 October 1914 |
Fate | Scuttled 21 June 1919 in Gutter Sound, Scapa Flow |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | König-class battleship |
Displacement |
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Length | 175.4 m (575 ft 6 in) |
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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SMS Markgraf.
Along with her three sister ships, König, Grosser Kurfürst, and Kronprinz, Markgraf took part in most of the fleet actions during the war, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May and 1 June 1916. At Jutland, Markgraf was the third ship in the German line and heavily engaged by the opposing British Grand Fleet; she sustained five large-caliber hits and her crew suffered 23 casualties. Markgraf also participated in Operation Albion, the conquest of the Gulf of Riga, in late 1917. The ship was damaged by a mine while en route to Germany following the successful conclusion of the operation.
After Germany's defeat in the war and the signing of the
Design
The four
Markgraf
She was armed with ten
The ship's
Service history
Markgraf was ordered under the provisional name Ersatz Weissenburg and built at the
In the aftermath of the loss of
Vice Admiral
Battle of Jutland
Markgraf was present during the fleet operation that resulted in the Battle of
Shortly before 16:00 the battlecruisers of I Scouting Group encountered the British
Markgraf opened fire on the battlecruiser Tiger at a range of 21,000 yards (19,000 m).[20] Markgraf and her two sisters fired their secondary guns on British destroyers attempting to make torpedo attacks against the German fleet.[21][e] Markgraf continued to engage Tiger until 18:25, by which time the faster battlecruisers managed to move out of effective gunnery range.[22] During this period, the battleships Warspite and Valiant of the 5th Battle Squadron fired on the leading German battleships.[23] At 18:10, one of the British ships scored a 15-inch (38 cm) shell hit on Markgraf.[24] Shortly thereafter, the destroyer Moresby fired a single torpedo at Markgraf and missed from a range of about 8,000 yd (7,300 m).[25] Malaya fired a torpedo at Markgraf at 19:05, but the torpedo missed due to the long range.[26] Around the same time, Markgraf engaged a cruiser from the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron before shifting her fire back to the 5th Battle Squadron for ten minutes.[27] During this period, two more 15-inch shells hit Markgraf, though the timing is unknown. The hit at 18:10 struck on a joint between two 8-inch-thick side armor plates; the shell burst on impact and holed the armor. The main deck was buckled and approximately 400 t (390 long tons; 440 short tons) of water entered the ship. The other two shells failed to explode and caused negligible damage.[28]
Shortly after 19:00, the German cruiser Wiesbaden had become disabled by a shell from the British battlecruiser Invincible; Rear Admiral Paul Behncke in König attempted to position his four ships to cover the stricken cruiser.[29] 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 obsolescent armored cruisers of the 1st Cruiser Squadron also joined in the melee. Markgraf and her sisters fired heavily on the British cruisers, but even sustained fire from the battleships' main guns failed to drive them off.[30] Markgraf fired both her 30.5 cm and 15 cm guns at the armored cruiser Defence. Under a hail of fire from the German battleships, Defence exploded and sank;[31] credit is normally given to the battlecruiser Lützow, though Markgraf's gunners also claimed credit for the sinking.[32]
Markgraf then fired on the battlecruiser Princess Royal and scored two hits.[31] The first hit struck the 9-inch armor covering "X" barbette, was deflected downward, and exploded after penetrating the 1-inch deck armor. The crew for the left gun were killed, the turret was disabled, and the explosion caused serious damage to the upper deck. The second shell penetrated Princess Royal's 6-inch belt armor, ricocheted upward off the coal bunker, and exploded under the 1-inch deck armor. The two shells killed 11 and wounded 31.[33] At the same time, Markgraf's secondary guns fired on the cruiser Warrior, which was seriously damaged by 15 heavy shells and forced to withdraw. Warrior foundered on the trip back to port the following morning.[34]
Around 19:30, Admiral John Jellicoe's main force of battleships entered the battle;[35] Orion began firing at Markgraf at 19:32; she fired four salvos of 13.5-inch Armor-Piercing, Capped (APC) shells and scored a hit with the last salvo.[36] The shell exploded upon impacting the armor protecting the No. 6 15 cm gun casemate. The shell failed to penetrate but holed the armor and disabled the gun. The explosion seriously injured two and killed the rest of the gun crew. A heavy shell nearly struck the ship at the same time, and at 19:44, a bent propeller shaft forced Markgraf's crew to turn off the port engine; naval historian John Campbell speculated that this shell was the one that damaged the shaft.[37] Her speed dropped to 17 or 18 kn (31 or 33 km/h; 20 or 21 mph), though she remained in her position in the line.[38]
Shortly after 20:00, the German battleships engaged the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron; Markgraf fired primarily 15 cm shells.[39] In this period, Markgraf was engaged by Agincourt's 12-inch guns, which scored a single hit at 20:14.[40] The shell failed to explode and shattered on impact on the 8-inch side armor, causing minimal damage. Two of the adjoining 14-inch plates directly below the 8-inch armor were slightly forced inward and some minor flooding occurred.[41] The heavy fire of the British fleet forced Scheer to order the fleet to turn away.[42] Due to her reduced speed, Markgraf turned early in an attempt to maintain her place in the battle line; this, however, forced Grosser Kurfürst to fall out of formation. Markgraf fell in behind Kronprinz while Grosser Kurfürst steamed ahead to return to her position behind König.[43] After successfully withdrawing from the British, Scheer ordered the fleet to assume night cruising formation, though communication errors between Scheer aboard Friedrich der Grosse and Westfalen, the lead ship, caused delays.[44] Several British light cruisers and destroyers stumbled into the German line around 21:20. In the ensuing short engagement Markgraf hit the cruiser Calliope five times with her secondary guns.[45] The fleet fell into formation by 23:30, with Grosser Kurfürst the 13th vessel in the line of 24 capital ships.[44]
Around 02:45, several British destroyers mounted a torpedo attack against the rear half of the German line. Markgraf initially held her fire as the identities of the destroyers were unknown. But gunners aboard Grosser Kurfürst correctly identified the vessels as hostile and opened fire while turning away to avoid torpedoes, which prompted Markgraf to follow suit.[46] Heavy fire from the German battleships forced the British destroyers to withdraw.[47] At 05:06, Markgraf and several other battleships fired at what they thought was a submarine.[48]
The High Seas Fleet managed to punch through the British light forces without drawing the attention of Jellicoe's battleships, and subsequently reached
Subsequent operations
Following repairs in July 1916, Markgraf went into the Baltic for trials. The ship was then temporarily assigned to I Scouting Group for the fleet operation on 18–19 August. Due to the serious damage incurred by Seydlitz and Derfflinger at Jutland, the only battlecruisers available for the operation were Von der Tann and Moltke, which were joined by Markgraf, Grosser Kurfürst, and the new battleship Bayern.[9] The British were aware of the German plans, and sortied the Grand Fleet to meet them. By 14:35 during the action of 19 August 1916, Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet's approach and, unwilling to engage the whole of the Grand Fleet just 11 weeks after the decidedly close engagement at Jutland, turned his forces around and retreated to German ports.[54]
Markgraf was present for the uneventful advance in the direction of Sunderland on 18–20 October. Unit training with III Squadron followed from 21 October to 2 November. Two days later, the ship formally rejoined III Squadron. On the 5th, a pair of U-boats grounded on the Danish coast. Light forces were sent to recover the vessels, and III Squadron, which was in the North Sea en route to Wilhelmshaven, was ordered to cover them.[9] During the operation, the British submarine J1 torpedoed both Grosser Kurfürst and Kronprinz and caused moderate damage.[55] For most of 1917, Markgraf was occupied with guard duties in the North Sea, interrupted only by a refit period in January and periodic unit training in the Baltic.[9]
Operation Albion
In early September 1917, following the German conquest of the Russian port of
Opposing the Germans were the old Russian
The operation began on 12 October, when Moltke and the four König-class ships covered the landing of ground troops by suppressing the shore batteries covering
Markgraf struck a pair of mines in quick succession while in the
Fate
Markgraf and her three sisters were to have taken part in a
Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918, most of the High Seas Fleet ships, under the command of Rear Admiral
The fleet remained in captivity during the negotiations that ultimately produced the
Markgraf was never raised for scrapping, unlike most of the other capital ships that were scuttled.[4] Markgraf and her two sisters had sunk in deeper water than the other capital ships, which made any salvage attempt more difficult. The outbreak of World War II in 1939 put a halt to all salvage operations, and after the war it was determined that salvaging the deeper wrecks was financially impractical.[69] The rights to future salvage operations on the wrecks were sold to Britain in 1962.[4] Owing to the fact that the steel that composed their hulls was produced before the advent of nuclear weapons, Markgraf and her sisters are among the few accessible sources of low-background steel, which has occasionally been removed for use in scientific devices.[69]
The wrecks of Markgraf and the battleships König and Kronprinz Wilhelm were designated maritime scheduled ancient monuments on 23 May 2001.[70] The wrecks are popular dive sites, and are protected by a policy barring divers from recovering items from them.[71] In 2017, marine archaeologists from the Orkney Research Center for Archaeology conducted extensive surveys of Markgraf and nine other wrecks in the area, including six other German and three British warships. The archaeologists mapped the wrecks with sonar and examined them with remotely operated underwater vehicles as part of an effort to determine how the wrecks are deteriorating.[72]
The wreck at some point came into the ownership of the firm Scapa Flow Salvage, which sold the rights to the vessel to Tommy Clark, a diving contractor, in 1981. Clark listed the wreck for sale on eBay with a "buy-it-now" price of £250,000, with the auction lasting until 28 June 2019. Three other wrecks—those of Kronprinz Wilhelm, König, and the light cruiser Karlsruhe—all also owned by Clark, were also placed for sale.[73] The wrecks of Markgraf and her two sisters ultimately sold for £25,500 apiece to a company from the Middle East, while Karlsruhe sold to a private buyer for £8,500.[74]
Notes
Footnotes
- Seiner Majestät Schiff", or English: His Majesty's Ship.
- ^ 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.[5]
- ^ 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)". See Gröner, p. 27.
- ^ The compass can be divided into 32 points, each corresponding to 11.25 degrees. A two-point turn to port would alter the ships' course by 22.5 degrees.
- ^ V. E. Tarrant states that Nicator and Nestor launched four torpedoes against Grosser Kurfürst and König, though all four missed their targets. John Campbell, however, states that these two ships instead targeted Derfflinger and Lützow, and it was Moorsom that fired the four torpedoes, though at Grosser Kurfürst and Markgraf. See: Tarrant, p. 114, and Campbell, pp. 55–56, respectively.
Citations
- ^ Herwig, p. 70.
- ^ Campbell & Sieche, pp. 147–148.
- ^ a b Gröner, p. 27.
- ^ a b c d e f g Gröner, p. 28.
- ^ Grießmer, p. 177.
- ^ Staff, p. 27.
- ^ Campbell & Sieche, p. 147.
- ^ a b Koop & Schmolke, p. 131.
- ^ a b c d e f g Staff, p. 35.
- ^ Staff, p. 29.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 43–44.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 49.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 50.
- ^ Staff, pp. 32, 35.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 53.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 54.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 286.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 94–95.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 100–101.
- ^ a b Tarrant, p. 110.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 110–111.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 116.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 118.
- ^ Campbell, p. 100.
- ^ Campbell, p. 101.
- ^ Campbell, p. 110.
- ^ Campbell, p. 111.
- ^ Campbell, pp. 144–145.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 137.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 138.
- ^ a b Campbell, pp. 152–153.
- ^ Campbell, p. 181.
- ^ Campbell, pp. 170–172.
- ^ Campbell, p. 153.
- ^ Campbell, p. 155.
- ^ Campbell, p. 156.
- ^ Campbell, pp. 193–195.
- ^ Campbell, p. 162.
- ^ Campbell, p. 204.
- ^ Campbell, p. 206.
- ^ Campbell, p. 245.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 172–174.
- ^ Campbell, p. 201.
- ^ a b Campbell, p. 275.
- ^ Campbell, pp. 250–251.
- ^ Campbell, pp. 298–299.
- ^ Campbell, pp. 300–301.
- ^ Campbell, p. 314.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 246–247.
- ^ Campbell, p. 320.
- ^ Campbell, p. 336.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 292.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 296, 298.
- ^ Massie, p. 683.
- ^ Preston, p. 80.
- ^ Halpern, p. 213.
- ^ Halpern, pp. 214–215.
- ^ a b Halpern, p. 215.
- ^ a b Staff, pp. 35–36.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 280–281.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 281–282.
- ^ a b Tarrant, p. 282.
- ^ Herwig, p. 252.
- ^ a b Herwig, p. 256.
- ^ Herwig, pp. 254–255.
- ^ Herwig, p. 255.
- ^ a b Herwig, p. 257.
- ^ Staff, p. 36.
- ^ a b Butler, p. 229.
- ^ "Scapa Flow, wrecks of 3 battleships of German High Seas Fleet (SM9298)". portal.historicenvironment.scot. Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ 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
- 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, John (1998). Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-1-55821-759-1.
- 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.
- 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.
- Koop, Gerhard; Schmolke, Klaus-Peter (1999). Von der Nassau – zur König-Klasse (in German). Bonn: Bernard & Graefe Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7637-5994-1.
- ISBN 978-0-345-40878-5.
- 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.