SMS Wittelsbach

SMS Wittelsbach
History
Germany
NameWittelsbach
NamesakeHouse of Wittelsbach
BuilderKaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven
Laid down30 September 1899
Launched3 July 1900
Commissioned15 October 1902
Recommissioned1 June 1919
Decommissioned24 August 1916
Stricken8 March 1921
FateSold for scrap, 7 July 1921
General characteristics
Class and typeWittelsbach-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement
Length126.8 m (416 ft) (loa)
Beam22.8 m (74 ft 10 in)
Draft7.95 m (26 ft 1 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi); 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement
  • 30 officers
  • 650 enlisted men
Armament
Armor
  • Belt: 100 to 225 mm (3.9 to 8.9 in)
  • Turrets: 250 mm (9.8 in)
  • Deck: 50 mm (2 in)

SMS Wittelsbach[a] was the lead ship of the Wittelsbach class of pre-dreadnought battleships, built for the Imperial German Navy. She was the first capital ship built under the Navy Law of 1898, brought about by Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. Wittelsbach was laid down in 1899 at the Wilhelmshaven Navy Dockyard and completed in October 1902. She was armed with a main battery of four 24 cm (9.4 in) guns and had a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).

The ship served in I Squadron of the German fleet for the majority of her peacetime career, which spanned from 1902 to 1910. During this period, she was occupied with extensive annual training and making good-will visits to foreign countries. The training exercises during this period provided the framework for the High Seas Fleet's operations during World War I. She was decommissioned in September 1910, but was reactivated in 1911 for training ship duties, which lasted through 1914.

After the start of World War I in August 1914, Wittelsbach was brought back to active duty in IV Battle Squadron. The ship served in the Baltic Sea, including during the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915, but saw no combat with Russian forces. By late 1915, crew shortages and the threat from British submarines forced the Kaiserliche Marine to withdraw older battleships like Wittelsbach. The ship then saw service in auxiliary roles, first as a training ship and then as a ship's tender. After the war, she was converted into a tender for minesweepers in 1919. In July 1921, the ship was sold and broken up for scrap metal.
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