SMS Wiesbaden

Coordinates: 57°00′05″N 05°53′37″E / 57.00139°N 5.89361°E / 57.00139; 5.89361
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Wiesbaden's sister ship Frankfurt
History
German Empire
NameSMS Wiesbaden
Builder
A.G. Vulcan
Laid down1913
Launched20 January 1915
Commissioned23 August 1915
FateSunk at the Battle of Jutland, 1 June 1916
General characteristics
Class and typeWiesbaden-class light cruiser
Displacement
Length145.30 m (476 ft 8 in)
Beam13.90 m (45 ft 7 in)
Draft5.76 m (18.9 ft)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph)
Range4,800 nmi (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Crew
  • 17 officers
  • 457 enlisted
Armament
Armor

SMS Wiesbaden[a] was a light cruiser of the Wiesbaden class built for the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). She had one sister ship, SMS Frankfurt; the ships were very similar to the previous Karlsruhe-class cruisers. The ship was laid down in 1913, launched in January 1915, and completed by August 1915. Armed with eight 15 cm SK L/45 guns, Wiesbaden had a top speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph) and displaced 6,601 t (6,497 long tons; 7,276 short tons) at full load.

Wiesbaden saw only one major action, the

armored cruisers
. Heavy fire from the British fleet prevented evacuation of the ship's crew. Wiesbaden remained afloat until the early hours of 1 June and sank sometime between 01:45 and 02:45. Only one crew member survived the sinking; the wreck was located by German Navy divers in 1983.

Design

Main article: Wiesbaden-class cruiser

Wiesbaden was 145.30 meters (476 ft 8 in)

screw propellers. They were designed to give 31,000 shaft horsepower (23,000 kW). These were powered by ten coal-fired Marine-type water-tube boilers and two oil-fired double-ended boilers. These gave the ship a top speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph). Wiesbaden carried 1,280 t (1,260 long tons) of coal, and an additional 470 t (460 long tons) of oil that gave her a range of 4,800 nautical miles (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Wiesbaden had a crew of 17 officers and 457 enlisted men.[1]

The ship was armed with a

armored belt that was 60 mm (2.4 in) thick amidships. The conning tower had 100 mm (3.9 in) thick sides, and the deck was covered with up to 60 mm thick armor plate.[2]

Service history

Wiesbaden was ordered under the contract name "

sea trials.[3]

Battle of Jutland

The British fleet sailed from northern Britain to the east while the Germans sailed from Germany in the south; the opposing fleets met off the Danish coast
Maps showing the maneuvers of the British (blue) and German (red) fleets on 31 May – 1 June 1916

Commanded by Captain Fritz Reiss, Wiesbaden was assigned to II Scouting Group of light cruisers under Konteradmiral Friedrich Boedicker, which took part in the Battle of Jutland on 30 May and 1 June 1916.[4] Wiesbaden's sister ship Frankfurt served as Boedicker's flagship. The unit was assigned to screen for the battlecruisers of Vizeadmiral Franz von Hipper's I Scouting Group. At the start of the battle, Wiesbaden was cruising to starboard, which placed her on the disengaged side when Elbing, Pillau, and Frankfurt first engaged the British cruiser screen.[5]

At around 18:30,

Rear Admiral Horace Hood's three battlecruisers intervened. His flagship HMS Invincible scored a hit on Wiesbaden that exploded in her engine room and disabled the ship. Konteradmiral Paul Behncke, the commander of the leading element of the German battle line, ordered his dreadnoughts to cover the stricken Wiesbaden. Simultaneously, the light cruisers of the British 3rd and 4th Light Cruiser Squadrons attempted to make a torpedo attack on the German line; while steaming into range, they battered Wiesbaden with their main guns. The destroyer HMS Onslow steamed to within 2,000 yards (1,800 m) of Wiesbaden and fired a single torpedo at the crippled cruiser. It hit directly below the conning tower, but the ship remained afloat. In the ensuing melee, the armored cruiser HMS Defence blew up and HMS Warrior was fatally damaged.[6] Wiesbaden launched her torpedoes while she remained immobilized, scoring one hit against the battleship HMS Marlborough.[7]

Shortly after 20:00, III Flotilla of torpedo boats attempted to rescue Wiesbaden's crew, but heavy fire from the British battle line drove them off.[8] Another attempt to reach the ship was made, but the torpedo boat crews lost sight of the cruiser and were unable to locate her. The ship finally sank sometime between 01:45 and 02:45. Only one crew member survived the sinking; he was picked up by a Norwegian steamer the following day.[9] Among the 589 killed was the well-known writer of poetry and fiction dealing with the life of fishermen and sailors, Johann Kinau, known under his pseudonym of Gorch Fock, who has since then been honored by having two training windjammers of the Kriegsmarine and the German Navy, respectively, named after him.[10][11][12] The wreck of Wiesbaden was found in 1983 by divers of the German Navy, who removed both of the ship's screws. The ship lies on the sea floor upside down, and was the last German cruiser sunk at Jutland to be located.[13]

Notes

Footnotes

  1. Seiner Majestät Schiff
    " (German: His Majesty's Ship).
  2. ^ 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)".
  3. ^ 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.

Citations

  1. ^ Gröner, p. 111.
  2. ^ a b Gröner, pp. 111–112.
  3. ^ Campbell & Sieche, p. 162.
  4. ^ Bennett, p. 222.
  5. ^ Tarrant, pp. 62, 70, 96.
  6. ^ Tarrant, pp. 127–128, 137–141.
  7. ^ Campbell, p. 164.
  8. ^ Tarrant, pp. 170–171.
  9. ^ Campbell, pp. 214, 294–295.
  10. ^ Gröner, p. 112.
  11. ^ Furness & Humble, p. 87.
  12. ^ Hadley, p. 65.
  13. ^ Thomas Nielsen (2010). "Battle of Jutland 2010". No Limits Diving. Retrieved 28 December 2011.

References

Further reading

57°00′05″N 05°53′37″E / 57.00139°N 5.89361°E / 57.00139; 5.89361

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