SMS Ostfriesland
SMS Ostfriesland
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History | |
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German Empire | |
Name | SMS Ostfriesland |
Namesake | East Frisia |
Builder | Kaiserliche Werft , Wilhelmshaven |
Laid down | 19 October 1908 |
Launched | 30 September 1909 |
Commissioned | 1 August 1911 |
Decommissioned | 16 December 1918 |
In service | 22 September 1911 |
Stricken | 5 November 1919 |
Fate | Ceded to United States, 1920 |
United States | |
Name | USS Ostfriesland |
Acquired | 7 April 1920 |
Commissioned | 7 April 1920 |
Decommissioned | 20 September 1920 |
Fate | Sunk as a target by aircraft, 21 July 1921 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Helgoland-class battleship |
Displacement |
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Length | 167.20 m (548 ft 7 in) |
Beam | 28.50 m (93 ft 6 in) |
Draft | 8.94 m (29 ft 4 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 21.2 knots (39.3 km/h; 24.4 mph) |
Range | 5,500 nautical miles (10,190 km; 6,330 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement |
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Armament |
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Armor |
SMS Ostfriesland
Along with her three sister ships, Helgoland, Thüringen, and Oldenburg, Ostfriesland participated in all of the major fleet operations of World War I in the North Sea against the British Grand Fleet. This included the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, the largest naval battle of the war. The ship also saw action in the Baltic Sea against the Russian Navy. She was present during the unsuccessful first incursion into the Gulf of Riga in August 1915.
After the German collapse in November 1918, most of the High Seas Fleet was interned in
Design
The ship was 167.2 m (548 ft 7 in) long, had a
Ostfriesland was armed with a
Her main
Service history
Ostfriesland was ordered by the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) under the provisional name Ersatz Oldenburg, as a replacement for the old
After commissioning, Ostfriesland conducted
On 14 July 1914, the annual summer cruise to Norway began.
World War I
The first major naval action in the North Sea, the
Ostfriesland was present during the first sortie by the German fleet into the North Sea, which took place on 2–3 November 1914. No British forces were encountered during the operation. A second operation followed on 15–16 December.
The
The eight I Squadron ships went into the Baltic on 22 February 1915 for unit training, which lasted until 13 March. Following their return to the North Sea, the ships participated in a series of uneventful fleet sorties on 29–30 March, 17–18 April, 21–22 April, 17–18 May, and 29–30 May. Ostfriesland and the rest of the fleet remained in port until 4 August, when I Squadron returned to the Baltic for another round of training maneuvers.
On 23–24 October, the High Seas Fleet undertook its last major offensive operation under the command of Admiral Pohl, though it ended without contact with British forces.
Battle of Jutland
Ostfriesland was present during the fleet operation that resulted in the battle of Jutland, which took place on 31 May and 1 June 1916. The German fleet again sought to draw out and isolate a portion of the Grand Fleet and destroy it before the main British fleet could retaliate. During the operation, Ostfriesland was the lead ship in I Squadron's I Division and the ninth ship in the line, directly astern of the fleet flagship Friedrich der Grosse and ahead of her sister Thüringen. I Squadron was the center of the German line, behind the eight König- and Kaiser-class battleships of III Squadron. The six elderly pre-dreadnoughts of III and IV Divisions—II Battle Squadron—formed the rear of the formation. Ostfriesland flew the flag of Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) Erhardt Schmidt, the squadron commander during the battle and Scheer's deputy commander.[29][30]
Shortly before 16:00, 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
While the leading battleships engaged the British battlecruiser squadron, Ostfriesland and ten other battleships fired on the British 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron. Ostfriesland, Kaiser, and Nassau engaged the cruiser Southampton, though only Nassau scored a hit.[34] After about 15 minutes, Ostfriesland shifted fire to Birmingham and Nottingham, though again failed to hit her targets.[35] Shortly after 19:15, the British dreadnought Warspite came into range; Ostfriesland opened fire at 19:25 with her main battery guns, at ranges of 10,800 to 15,000 yd (9,900 to 13,700 m). Ostfriesland claimed hits from her third and fourth salvos. Warspite was hit by a total of thirteen heavy shells during this period.[36]
By 20:15, the German battle line had faced the entire deployed Grand Fleet a second time. Scheer ordered a 180-degree turn at 20:17, which was covered by a charge by the battlecruiser squadron and a torpedo-boat attack. In order to hasten the maneuver, Schmidt ordered Ostfriesland to turn immediately without waiting for Thüringen behind him. This move caused some difficulty for the III Squadron ships ahead, though the ships quickly returned to their stations.[37] At around 23:30, the German fleet reorganized into the night cruising formation. Ostfriesland was the eighth ship, stationed toward the front of the 24-ship line.[38] An hour later, the leading units of the German line encountered British light forces and a violent firefight at close range ensued. Sometime around 01:10, the armored cruiser Black Prince stumbled into the German line. Thüringen illuminated the vessel with her spotlights and poured salvos of 30.5 cm rounds into the ship. Ostfriesland fired with her 15 cm guns and Kaiser fired both 30.5 cm and 15 cm guns. In the span of less than a minute, two massive explosions tore the cruiser apart and killed the entire 857-man crew.[39]
Despite the ferocity of the night fighting, the High Seas Fleet punched through the British destroyer forces and reached
Later operations
On 18 August 1916, Scheer attempted a repeat of the 31 May operation. The two serviceable German battlecruisers, Moltke and Von der Tann, supported by three dreadnoughts, were to bombard the coastal town of
On 25–26 September, Ostfriesland and the rest of I Squadron provided support for a sweep out to the
The end of the war
Ostfriesland 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, under the command of Rear Admiral
US bombing target
In July 1921, the United States Navy and Army Air Service conducted a series of bombing tests off Cape Henry, led by General Billy Mitchell. The targets included demobilized American and former German warships, including the old battleship Iowa, the cruiser Frankfurt, and finally Ostfriesland on 20 July. At 13:30 ET, the first attack wave, armed with 230 lb (100 kg) bombs, struck the stationary ship. Eight of thirty-three bombs found their mark, after which the ship was inspected. The second wave was also armed with 230 lb bombs, and the third and fourth carried 600 lb (270 kg) bombs. Five 600 lb bombs found their mark, but little damage was done to the ship's topside. The bombs that nearly missed the ship, however, had done significant underwater damage to the hull, which allowed some flooding and created a list of five degrees to port and three additional feet of draft at the stern. The bombing schedule was interrupted by a storm in the late afternoon.[61]
Early on the morning of 21 July, the fifth wave of bombers began their attack. At 08:52, the first Army bomber dropped a 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb that hit the ship; four more bombers followed and scored two further hits. Inspectors again went aboard Ostfriesland following the fifth attack and noted that the hits had not seriously damaged the ship, though one had created a large hole on her starboard side that allowed further flooding. By noon, she was down five feet at the stern and one foot at the bow. At 12:19, the next attack wave, equipped with 2,000 lb (910 kg) bombs, struck. Six bombs were dropped, none of which hit, though three detonated very close to the hull. At 12:30, Ostfriesland began to sink rapidly by the stern and the list to port increased dramatically. At 12:40, the ship rolled over and sank. The results of the tests were widely publicized and Mitchell became both a national hero and the "infallible prophet of aviation".[61]
The leadership of the US Navy, however, was outraged by Mitchell's handling of the tests; the 2,000 lb bombs had not been sanctioned by the Navy, which had set the rules for the engagement. Mitchell's bombers had also not allowed inspectors aboard the ship between bombing runs as stipulated by the Navy. The joint Army–Navy report on the tests, issued a month later and signed by General John J. Pershing, stated that "the battleship is still the backbone of the fleet."[62] Mitchell wrote his own, contradictory account of the tests, which was then leaked to the press. The sinking of the battleship sparked great controversy in the American public sphere; Mitchell's supporters exaggerated the significance of the tests by falsely claiming Ostfriesland to be an unsinkable "super-battleship" and that "old sea dogs ... wept aloud."[62] Senator William Borah argued that the tests had rendered battleships obsolete. Mitchell was widely supported in the press, though his increasingly combative tactics eventually resulted in a court-martial for insubordination that forced him to retire from the military.[63]
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Ostfriesland, Frankfurt, and other former German ships off the Virginia Capes, July 1921
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Ostfriesland at anchor prior to the tests
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A bomb explodes off Ostfriesland's port bow
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Inspection teams aboard the ship, evaluating damage
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The ship already settling by the stern, another bomb explodes underwater
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Ostfriesland sinking by the stern
Notes
Footnotes
- Seiner Majestät Schiff" (German: His Majesty's Ship).
- ^ In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnelladekanone) denotes that the gun is quick firing, 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 its diameter.[3]
- ^ German ships were ordered under provisional names; new additions to the fleet were given a letter designation, while those ordered as replacements for older vessels were named "Ersatz (ship name)." Once the ship was finished, the vessel would be commissioned with its intended name. For example, Derfflinger was ordered as a new addition to the fleet, and so was given the provisional designation "K." Hindenburg, was ordered to replace the old cruiser Hertha, and so was named Ersatz Hertha before she was formally commissioned.[5]
- ^ The Germans were on Central European Time, which is one hour ahead of UTC, the time zone commonly used in British works.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Derfflinger and Seydlitz had been seriously damaged at the Battle of Jutland, and Lützow had been sunk.[48][49]
Citations
- ^ a b c d Gröner, p. 24.
- ^ a b c Gröner, p. 25.
- ^ Grießmer, p. 177.
- ^ Campbell & Sieche, p. 146.
- ^ Gröner, p. 56.
- ^ Staff (Volume 1), p. 42.
- ^ a b c d e Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 200.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Staff (Volume 1), p. 43.
- ^ Staff (Volume 1), p. 8.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 201.
- ^ Staff (Volume 1), p. 11.
- ^ Staff (Volume 2), p. 14.
- ^ Heyman, p. xix.
- ^ Staff (Volume 1), pp. 11, 43.
- ^ a b Osborne, p. 41.
- ^ Stumpf, pp. 40–41.
- ^ Stumpf, p. 42.
- ^ Stumpf, p. 46.
- ^ Herwig, pp. 149–150.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 31–33.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 38.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 43.
- ^ Halpern, p. 196.
- ^ Halpern, pp. 197–198.
- ^ Herwig, p. 161.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 50.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 53.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 54.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 286.
- ^ Campbell, p. 200.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 94–95.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 100–101.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 110.
- ^ Campbell, p. 54.
- ^ Campbell, p. 99.
- ^ Campbell, p. 154.
- ^ Campbell, pp. 200–201.
- ^ Campbell, p. 275.
- ^ Campbell, p. 290.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 246–247.
- ^ Smith, p. 21.
- ^ Campbell, p. 314.
- ^ Campbell, p. 320.
- ^ Campbell, pp. 334–335.
- ^ Campbell, p. 336.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 292.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 296, 298.
- ^ Gröner, pp. 56, 57.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 277.
- ^ Massie, p. 682.
- ^ Staff (Volume 2), p. 15.
- ^ Massie, p. 683.
- ^ Staff (Volume 1), pp. 43–44.
- ^ a b c Staff (Volume 1), p. 44.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 280–281.
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 281–282.
- ^ a b Tarrant, p. 282.
- ^ Herwig, p. 252.
- ^ Herwig, p. 256.
- ^ a b "Ostfriesland". history.navy.mil. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
- ^ a b Johnson.
- ^ a b Budiansky, p. 149.
- ^ Budiansky, pp. 149–151.
References
- Budiansky, Stephen (1998). Air Power: The Men, Machines, and Ideas That Revolutionized War, from Kitty Hawk to Iraq. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-303474-2.
- 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.
- 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.
- Heyman, Neil M. (1997). World War I. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-29880-6.
- Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart [The German Warships: Biographies − A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present] (in German). Vol. 6. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7822-0237-4.
- Johnson, Alfred W. (9 April 2015). "The Naval Bombing Experiments Off the Virginia Capes – June and July 1921". Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-345-40878-5.
- Osborne, Eric W. (2006). The Battle of Heligoland Bight. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34742-8.
- Smith, Peter C. (2005). Into the Minefields: British Destroyer Minelaying 1918–1980. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-84415-271-1.
- Staff, Gary (2010). German Battleships: 1914–1918. Vol. 1: Deutschland, Nassau and Helgoland Classes. Oxford: Osprey Books. ISBN 978-1-84603-467-1.
- Staff, Gary (2010). German Battleships: 1914–1918. Vol. 2: Kaiser, König And Bayern Classes. Oxford: Osprey Books. ISBN 978-1-84603-468-8.
- Stumpf, Richard (1967). Horn, Daniel (ed.). War, Mutiny and Revolution in the German Navy: The World War I Diary of Seaman Richard Stumpf. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
- 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.