The Braunschweig Class (1904-6)
SMS Hessen of the Braunschweig class dressed and manned for review at Kiel Week, an annual yachting and naval extravaganza staged by the Kaiser.
The Braunschweigers marked the emergence of the Imperial German Navy as a truly competitive force. These flush-decked, high-freeboard ships with 11" guns, burly armor and 19-knot speed represented a big step forward from the 9"-gunned battleships that had preceded them. They mounted fourteen 6.7" guns, four of them in corner single turrets with a 150-degree arc of fire -- another first in the German fleet. The 11" turrets featured all-round loading (another first for Germany) and all the 11" and 6.7" had electric training with manual backup, plus electrically operated ammo lifts. The concave line of the stem dates to German armored cruiser design of circa 1897 and was used in the Braunschweig and Deutschland classes; the feature was copied by the French Républiques and Libertés -- a rare compliment, coming from the French master designer, Émile Bertin.
With higher forecastles and greater size came enhanced seaworthiness. The main guns rode a respectable 23 feet above the surface in calm conditions. For the first time, Germany had a true ocean-going battle fleet rather than a seagoing coast defense force -- an important benchmark in Tirpitz' grand strategy. Still, Germany's battleships were built with limited accommodation and intended mainly for short excursions into the North Sea, not for ocean voyaging or long stationing in imperial ports of call, as were British and French fleet units -- and German cruisers. This design reflected a less vital rôle than that expected in Great Britain's fleet. Germany's Continental military predominance led Winston Churchill to characterize the Kaiser's navy as a "luxury fleet" as compared to the Royal Navy -- a phrase Churchill would later regret as he tried to lure the Germans into arms-control talks.
One element of the class which was definitely more decorative than military was the bronze eagle figurehead of the Preussen. As the ship represented Prussia, the seat of the Hohenzollern dynasty that controlled the new German Empire, the great bird was affixed to the ship's prow, together with steel bars to protect it from collision damage or wear and tear. As the ship was retired from active duty with the fleet early in the War, the figurehead at least did no harm, and may conceivably have served as a morale booster in a fleet that was restrained from open-sea activity during most of the conflict, by the very hand that had created it. The remaining ships in the class were content with the standard-issue heraldic shields common to all German battleships.
The Braunschweig class and the succeeding Deutschland class -- near copies of the Braunschweigers -- had a relatively short service life with the High Seas Fleet, becoming obsolete within less than 10 years. The dreadnought revolution had this effect worldwide, as it was intended to. Those nations determined to remain players in the international naval competition did not simply give up, however, as Britain's Lord Fisher had hoped in upping the ante with the Dreadnought. Instead Britain's rivals swallowed, assessed the greater resources needed, levied the necessary funds, and returned to the table ready to redouble their efforts in the high-stakes arms race. The most serious players in the race now were Britain, Germany, and the U.S.; but nobody expected the U.S. to war on Britain. No one doubted the German building was directed against Britain, despite the disingenuous disclaimers of Adm. Tirpitz and his flunkies.
SMS Hessen (seen at top) was the only member of her class to participate in the Battle of Jutland; her sisters had been relegated to coast defense work. Paradoxically, due to their being obsolete, these ships often led longer lives than the dreadnoughts built to replace them. Germany was permitted to retain six of her late pre-dreadnoughts after WWI. They were her only battleships available for naval training in the Twenties and in most cases survived into the early Thirties -- some even longer. Hessen was reconstructed and re-engined with turbines in 1935-37, emerging as a radio-controlled target ship. She survived WWII in this guise. Assigned to the Russians as war reparations in 1946 and renamed Tsel, she endured until 1968, placing her, with the Goeben, among the longest-lived of Imperial German-built warships.
Specifications for the Braunschweig class:
Dimensions: 430'(OA) x 73' x 26'7" Displacement: 14,167 tons deep laden. Armament: (4) 11"/40 (2x2), (14) 6.7"/40, (14) 3.4" 24-pdr, and (12) 1-pdr guns; (8) MG; (6) 17.7" torpedo tubes. Armor: 9/4" belt; 11" turrets and barbettes; 5" upper belt (lower deck sides); 12" conning tower; 6¾" secondary turrets; 6" battery and casemates; 5½" aft conning tower; 3" deck. Fuel capacity: 700 tons of coal std, 1,600 tons maximum; plus 200 tons of bunker oil in tanks within double bottom. Propulsion: (14) coal-fired boilers: 6 cylindrical plus (8) Schultz-Thornycroft; (3) 3-cyl vertical triple expansion engines developing 17,000 ihp, shafted to triple screw. Maximum speed: 18.7 kts. (except 18.2 kts. for the Hessen) Crew: 743. Cost: 23.8 - 23.9M gold marks each (£1,160,000 at 1904 value).
Ships in class: Braunschweig · Hessen · Elsass (Alsace) · Lothringen (Lorraine) · Preussen (Prussia).
Metric specifications:
Dimensions: 125m x 20m x 8.2m Displacement: 14,167 tons deep laden. Armament: (4) 28 cm/40 (2x2), (14) 17 cm/40, (14) 88 mm 24-pdr, and (12) 1-pdr guns; (8) MG; (6) 45 cm torpedo tubes. Armor: 229/102 mm belt; 280 mm turrets and barbettes; 127 mm upper belt (lower deck sides); 305 mm conning tower; 170 mm secondary turrets; 152 mm battery and casemates; 140 mm aft conning tower; 76 mm deck. Fuel capacity: 700 tons of coal std, 1,600 tons maximum, plus 200 tons of bunker oil in tanks within double bottom. Propulsion: (14) coal-fired boilers: 6 cylindrical plus (8) Schultz-Thornycroft; (3) 3-cyl vertical triple expansion engines developing 12,677 kW, shafted to triple screw. Maximum speed: 34.6 km/hr. (except 33.7 km/hr for the Hessen) Crew: 743. Cost: 23.8 - 23.9M gold marks each (£1,160,000 at 1904 value).
The entire class fills the foreground in a colourised period postcard of Kiel naval anchorage, c. 1905. Sub tender Vulkan at center rear.
Above, SMS Hessen of the Braunschweig class in picturesque Kiel Fjord between the wars. For a super enlarged image, click here.
With the Elsass leading the way, the High Seas Fleet comes out for maneuvers in the North Sea. A zeppelin motors overhead to provide aerial reconnaissance.
The class muscles its way through a North Sea chop in this photo from the 1920s. That's Hessen in the foreground. Enlarge
Hessen glides through the Kiel Canal at the obligatorische viewpoint, the Levensau High Bridge near Kiel. This shot dates from the late Twenties or very early Thirties. The forward 11" turret is rotated to port, pointing just to the left of the camera, foreshortening the gun barrels in this view. Aside from a new foretopmast added in a mid-Twenties refit (better seen in the Kiel Fjord photo at top), the ship appears little changed from her salad days with the old Imperial Navy (compare to the card immediately above). She was converted to oil fuel in 1931-32 and at that time her first two stacks were trunked into one fat, oblong funnel, destroying the fine proportions of her original design, but improving that chronic irritant of steam navy officers, smoke interference with the bridge.
