Mackensen class battlecruiser

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mackensen class was the last class of battlecruisers to be built by Germany in World War I. None of them were ever completed as shipbuilding priorities were concentrated on U-boats and destroyers. They were broken up in the early 1920s.

The design of the Mackensens was a much improved version of the previous Derfflinger class. They featured a new 350 mm (13.8-inch) gun.

In response to the Mackensens, the British laid down the Admiral class battlecruisers for the Royal Navy, all but one of which would be cancelled later, the sole survivor (completed after the war) being HMS Hood (51).

[edit] General Characteristics

From Conway's all the World's Fighting Ships 1906 -1921

Displacement: 30,000 tons standard, 35,000 tons full load
Length: 223 m (732 ft)
Beam: 30.4 m, (99.5 feet)
Draught: 8.4 m (27.5 ft)
Machinery: 4 shaft geared steam turbines, 32 boilers, 90,000 hp
Speed: 28 knots
Range: 8000 nm
Armour:
- Belt 300 -100 mm (12-4 in),
- Turrets 320-110 mm (12.8 -4.3 in)
Armament:
- 8 - 350 mm (13.8 in) guns (4x2),
- 12 - 150 mm (5.9 in) guns,
- 8 - 88 mm guns,
- 6 x 60 mm torpedo tubes
Crew: 1186

[edit] Ships

There were supposed to be four ships in the class.

Mackensen - (named after Field Marshall August von Mackensen) was laid down 30 January 1915 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg. She was launched on 21 April 1917, but never completed and eventually broken up in 1923-1924.

Graf Spee - (named after Admiral Maximilian von Spee) was laid down 30 November 1915 in the Schichau yards in Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland). She was launched on 15 September 1917. Construction stopped on 17 November 1918, over a year before completion, and she was broken up in 1921-1923.