Bayern class battleship
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The Bayern class of battleships were the last and best German Kaiserliche Marine battleships of World War I.
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[edit] Design
The class had a displacement of 32,000 tons and mounted eight 15" guns in four twin turrets. The secondary guns were placed in casemates just below the deckline. They were comparable to British battleships developed at the same time also using 15" guns. However the guns for the Bayern class used a lighter shell which gave poorer accuracy at long range. Also they were slower because Germany had no secure wartime supply of oil and therefore continued using coal.
[edit] General Characteristics
Source Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1922
- Displacement: 28000 tons standard, 31,700 tons full load
- Length: 179.8 m (589 feet)
- Beam: 30 m (98 ft)
- Draught: 9.4 m (31 ft)
- Machinery: 3 shaft geared turbines, 14 boilers 48,000 hp
- Speed: 21 knots
- Range: 5000 nm at 13 knots
- Armament: 8 15 inch (38 cm) (4 × 2), 16 5.9 inch (150 mm), 8 × 88 mm AA guns, 5 × 60 cm torpedo tubes
- Armour: 14 to 4.7 inch (350 mm -120 mm) belt, 14 in to 4 inch (350 mm to 100 mm turrets)
- Crew: 1187 to 1271
[edit] Ships
The class was planned to include four ships
- SMS Baden - Built by Schichau, Danzig, launched 30 October 1915, completed February 1917
- SMS Bayern- Built by Howaldtswerke, Kiel, launched 18 February 1915, completed 30 June 1916
- SMS Sachsen - Built by AG Vulcan, Hamburg, launched 20 June 1917, not completed
- SMS Württemberg- Built by Germaniawerft, Kiel, launched 21 September 1917, not completed
All were laid down by 1913, the Baden in late 1912. The last two were launched but never completed before the end of the First World War and were scrapped at their dockyards in 1920/21.
The Bayern and Baden were launched in 1915 missing the Battle of Jutland and seeing little action during the war. Bayern was damaged by a mine in the Gulf of Riga on 12 October 1917 during Operation Albion while bombarding Russian shore batteries on the Sworbe Peninsula, she was heavily flooded and brought into Kiel with great difficulty after 19 days. After the armistice the Bayern and Baden were taken to Scapa Flow and scuttled with the rest of the German fleet on 21 June 1919. Only the Baden was saved from sinking and it was carefully examined by the British. She was sunk as a target by the British in August 1921
- That the basic design of the Bayern class was carried over into the Bismarck class twenty years later is just a legend. The only similarity between the Bayern and Bismarck class is the arrangement of the main artillery in 4 turrets with 2 barrels.
- The Bayern class strongly resembled the Revenge class.
