Helgoland Class Dreadnought Battleship

World War 1 Naval Combat

World War 1 Naval Combat

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Helgoland Class Helgoland Class.  They retained the same Hexagonal main turret layout of the Nassau class although using more powerful guns.  Visually they are easy to distinguish from the previous class by the three funnels and the lack of the distinctive crane.

SMS Helgoland
Built Howaldtswerke, Kiel, laid down December 1908, completed December 1911, cost 46,196,000 Marks

SMS Ostfriesland
Built Wilhelmshaven Navy Yard, laid down October 1908, completed September 1911, cost 43,579,000 Marks

SMS Thüringen
Built Weser, Bremen, laid down November 1908, completed September 1911, cost 46,314,000 Marks

SMS Oldenburg
Built Weser, Bremen, laid down March 1909, completed September 1911, cost 45,801,000 Marks

Size:
Length 548 feet 7 inches overall, 93 feet 6 inches beam, draught 29 feet 6 inches deep load, displacement 22,400 tons normal 25,200 tons deep load.

Propulsion:
3 shaft Vertical Triple Expansion, 28,000ihp, 20kts

Trials:
Helgoland 31,258 ihp = 20.8 knots
Ostfriesland 35,500 ihp = 21.2 knots
Thüringen 34,944 ihp = 21.0 knots.
Oldenburg 34,394 ihp = 21.3 knots

Armour:
12-3in belts, 12-2in barbettes, 12in turret, 2.5in decks

Armament:
12 x 12in SKL/50 (6 x 2), 14 x 5.9in (14 x 1), 14 x 3.45in (14 x 1), 6 x 19.7in TT

Comments:
Introduced the 12 inch gun to German battleships although the layout was still restricted by the use of triple expansion engines.  The internal layout was also modified with all of the boilers grouped together which also allowed a better arrangement of the wing turret magazines with all magazines below shell rooms.  Crew of 42 officers and and 1071 men.

World War 1 Service:
Helgoland
I Battle Squadron at the outbreak of the war.
1916 Battle of Jutland. Fired 63 12in rounds and received 1 15in hit.
After the war taken over by Britain as a  replacement for ships scuttled at Scapa Flow.
Scrapped 1924.

Ostfriesland
I Battle Squadron at start of the war as squadron flagship.
1916 Battle of Jutland. Fired 11 12in rounds and received no damage.
1 June 1916 on the journey back from the battle hits a mine.  1 dead 10 injured.
26 July 1916 repaired at Wilhelmshaven.
After the war taken over by USA.
July 1921 sunk as bombing target.

Thüringen
I Battle Squadron at the outbreak of the war.
1916 Battle of Jutland. Fired 107 12in rounds and received no damage.
After the war taken over by France and used as target.
1923 Scrapped.

Oldenburg
I Battle Squadron at the outbreak of the war.
Battle of Jutland 1916.  Fired 53 12in rounds and received 1 secondary armament hit.  8 killed and 14 injured.
Taken over by Japan after the war.
1921 Scrapped.

SMS Oldenburg.  Modern German battleships and battlecruisers had superior underwater protection to their British equivalents.  This was a result of greater beam, greater subdivision and a larger pumping capacity. SMS Oldenburg

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