SMS was the first of four dreadnought battleships of the Imperial German Navy () during World War I. () was named in honor of King William II of Württemberg. The battleship was armed with ten guns in five twin turrets and could steam at a top speed of . Laid down in October 1911, the ship was launched on 1 March 1913. The construction of was completed shortly after the outbreak of World War I; she was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 9 August 1914.
Along with her three sister ships, , , and , took part in most of the fleet actions during the war. As the leading ship in the German line on 31 May 1916 in the Battle of Jutland, was heavily engaged by several British battleships and suffered ten large-caliber shell hits. In October 1917, she forced the Russian pre-dreadnought battleship to scuttle herself in the Battle of Moon Sound, which followed Germany's successful Operation Albion.
was interned, along with the majority of the High Seas Fleet, at Scapa Flow in November 1918 following the Armistice. On 21 June 1919, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter gave the order to scuttle the fleet, including , while the British guard ships were out of the harbor on exercises. Unlike most of the scuttled ships, was never raised for scrapping; the wreck is still on the bottom of the bay.
Design
The four s were ordered as part of the Anglo-German naval arms race; they were the fourth generation of German dreadnought battleships, and they were built in response to the British that had been ordered in 1909. The s represented a development of the earlier , with the primary improvement being a more efficient arrangement of the main battery. The ships had also been intended to use a diesel engine on the center propeller shaft to increase their cruising range, but development of the diesels proved to be more complicated than expected, so an all-steam turbine powerplant was retained.
displaced as built and fully loaded, with a length of , a beam of and a draft of . She was powered by three Parsons steam turbines, with steam provided by three oil-fired and twelve coal-fired Schulz-Thornycroft water-tube boilers, which developed a total of and yielded a maximum speed of . The ship had a range of at a cruising speed of . Her crew numbered 41 officers and 1,095 enlisted men.
She was armed with ten SK L/50 guns arranged in five twin gun turrets: two superfiring turrets each fore and aft and one turret amidships between the two funnels. was the first German battleship to mount all of her main battery artillery on the centerline. Like the earlier -class battleships, could bring all of her main guns to bear on either side, but the newer vessel enjoyed a wider arc of fire due to the all-centerline arrangement. Her secondary armament consisted of fourteen SK L/45 quick-firing guns and six SK L/45 quick-firing guns, all mounted singly in casemates. As was customary for capital ships of the period, she was also armed with five underwater torpedo tubes, one in the bow and two on each beam.
The ship's armored belt consisted of Krupp cemented steel that was thick in the central citadel that protected the propulsion machinery spaces and the ammunition magazines, and was reduced to forward and aft. In the central portion of the ship, horizontal protection consisted of a deck, which was reduced to on the bow and stern. The main battery turrets had of armor plate on the sides and on the roofs, while the casemate guns had of armor protection. The sides of the forward conning tower were also 30 cm thick.
Service was ordered under the provisional name "S" and built at the Kaiserliche Werft dockyards in Wilhelmshaven, under construction number 33. Her keel was laid down in October 1911 and she was launched on 1 March 1913 by the King's cousin, Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg. Fitting-out work was completed by 9 August 1914, the day she was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet. Directly after commissioning, conducted sea trials, which were completed by 23 November 1914. Her crew consisted of 41 officers and 1,095 enlisted men. Afterward, the ship was attached to V Division of III Battle Squadron of the German High Seas Fleet, where she would later be joined by her sister ships. On 9 December, ran aground in the Wilhelmshaven roadstead. Her sister ship , following right behind, rammed her stern and caused some minor damage. was then freed from the bottom and taken back to Wilhelmshaven; repair work lasted until 2 January 1915.
Operations in the North Sea
took part in several fleet sorties in support of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's battlecruisers of I Scouting Group; however, due to her grounding outside Wilhelmshaven, the ship missed the first operation of these battlecruisers on the night of 15/16 December 1914, when they were tasked with bombarding the English coast to lure out a portion of the British Grand Fleet to the waiting German fleet. On 22 January 1915, and the rest of III Squadron were detached from the fleet to conduct maneuver, gunnery, and torpedo training in the Baltic. They returned to the North Sea on 11 February, too late to assist I Scouting Group at the Battle of Dogger Bank.
then took part in several sorties into the North Sea. On 29 March, the ship led the fleet out to Terschelling. Three weeks later, on 17–18 April, she supported an operation in which the light cruisers of II Scouting Group laid mines off the Swarte Bank. Another fleet advance occurred on 22 April, again with in the lead. On 23 April, III Squadron returned to the Baltic for another round of exercises lasting until 10 May. Another minelaying operation was conducted by II Scouting Group on 17 May, with the battleship again in support.
participated in a fleet advance into the North Sea which ended without combat from 29 until 31 May. She was then briefly assigned to picket duty in the German defensive belt. The ship again ran aground on 6 July, though damage was minimal. The ship supported a minelaying operation on 11–12 September off Texel. Another fleet advance followed on 23–24 October; after returning, went into drydock for maintenance, rejoining the fleet by 4 November. The ship was then sent back to the Baltic for more training on 5–20 December. On the return voyage, she was slightly damaged after grounding in the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal during a snow storm. was in the Baltic on 17 January 1916 for further training, then on 24 January returned to the North Sea. Two fleet advances followed on 5–6 March and 21–22 April.
was available on 24 April 1916 to support a raid on the English coast, again as support for the German battlecruiser force in I Scouting Group. The battlecruisers left the Jade Estuary at 10:55, and the rest of the High Seas Fleet followed at 13:40. The battlecruiser struck a mine while en route to the target, and had to withdraw. The other battlecruisers bombarded the town of Lowestoft unopposed, but during the approach to Yarmouth, they encountered the British cruisers of the Harwich Force. A short artillery duel ensued before the Harwich Force withdrew. Reports of British submarines in the area prompted the retreat of I Scouting Group. At this point, Admiral Reinhard Scheer, who had been warned of the sortie of the Grand Fleet from its base at Scapa Flow, also withdrew to safer German waters. then went to the Baltic for another round of exercises, including torpedo drills off Mecklenburg.
Battle of Jutland
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. , followed by her sisters , , and , made up V Division of III Battle Squadron, and they were the vanguard of the fleet. III Battle Squadron was the first of three battleship units; directly astern were the -class battleships of VI Division, III Battle Squadron. Directly astern of the -class ships were the and es of I Battle Squadron; in the rear guard were the obsolescent pre-dreadnoughts of II Battle Squadron.
Shortly before 16:00 CET, 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 , shortly after 17:00, and , less than half an hour later. By this time, the German battlecruisers were steaming south to draw the British ships toward the main body of the High Seas Fleet. At 17:30, 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.
, , and were the first to reach effective gunnery range; they engaged the battlecruisers , , and , respectively, at a range of 21,000 yards. s first salvos fell short of her target, and so she shifted her fire to the nearer Tiger. Simultaneously, and her sisters began firing on the destroyers and with their secondary battery. The two destroyers closed in on the German line, and after having endured a hail of gunfire, maneuvered into a good firing position. Each ship launched two torpedoes apiece at and , although all four weapons missed. In return, a secondary battery shell from one of the battleships hit Nestor and wrecked her engine room. The ship, along with the destroyer , was crippled and lying directly in the path of the advancing German line. Both of the destroyers were sunk, and German torpedo boats stopped to pick up survivors. At around 18:00, and her three sister ships shifted their fire to the approaching s of 5th Battle Squadron. initially engaged until that ship was out of range, then shifted to . However, the faster British battleships were able to move out of effective gunnery range quickly.
Shortly after 19:00, the German cruiser had become disabled by a shell from the British battlecruiser ; Rear Admiral Paul Behncke in attempted to maneuver his four ships to cover the stricken cruiser. Simultaneously, the British III and IV Light Cruiser Squadrons began a torpedo attack on the German line; while advancing to torpedo range, they smothered with fire from their main guns. and her sisters fired heavily on the British cruisers, but even sustained fire from the battleships' main guns failed to drive off the British cruisers. In the ensuing melee, the British armored cruiser 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.
Shortly after 19:20, again entered gunnery range of the battleship and opened fire on her target. She was joined by the dreadnoughts , , , and . However, rapidly lost sight of Warspite, as she had been in the process of turning east-northeast. Nearly simultaneously, British light cruisers and destroyers attempted to make a torpedo attack against the leading ships of the German line, including . Shortly thereafter, the main British line came into range of the German fleet; at 19:30 the British battleships opened fire on both the German battlecruiser force and the -class ships. came under especially heavy fire during this period. In the span of 5 minutes, fired 9 salvos at from a range of 12,000 yards; only one shell hit the ship. The 13.5-inch shell struck the forward conning tower but instead of penetrating, the shell ricocheted off and detonated some 50 yards past the ship. Rear Admiral Behncke was injured, though he remained in command of the ship. The ship was then obscured by smoke that granted a temporary reprieve.