SMS Elsaß
Encyclopedia
SMS Elsass."SMS" stands for Seiner Majestät Schiff (English: "His Majesty's Ship") was the second of five pre-dreadnought
battleship
s of the Braunschweig class
in the German Imperial Navy
laid down in 1901 and commissioned 1904. She was named for the German state of Elsass,Alsace
is now spelled Elsass in German; it was also spelled Elsaß until around the time of the German orthography reform of 1996, using the German "sharp S". See ß
. now the French region of Alsace
. Her sister ships were Braunschweig
, Hessen
, Preussen and Lothringen
.
The ship served in the II Squadron of the German fleet after commissioning, though by the outbreak of World War I she had been moved to the IV Squadron. Elsass saw action in the Baltic Sea against the Russian Navy. In August 1915, the ship participated in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga
, during which she engaged the Russian battleship Slava
. In 1916, the ship was placed in reserve owing to crew shortages. She spent the remainder of World War I as a training ship.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
, she was retained after the end of the war and modernized in 1923–24. Elsass served in the reformed Reichsmarine
with the surface fleet until 1930, when she was again placed in reserve. She was stricken in 1931 used for a short time as a hulk
in Wilhelmshaven. She was sold to Norddeutscher Lloyd
in late 1935 and subsequently broken up for scrap
the following year.
in Danzig under construction number 97. The second unit of her class, she was ordered under the contract name "J" as a new unit for the fleet. The ship cost 23,983,000 marks
. Elsass was launched on 26 May 1903 and commissioned into the fleet on 29 November 1904.
The ship was 127.7 m (419 ft) long overall and had a beam
of 22.2 m (72.8 ft) and a draft
of 8.1 m (26.6 ft) forward. The ship was powered by three 3-cylinder vertical triple expansion engines that drove three screws. Steam was provided by eight naval and six cylindrical boilers, all of which burned coal. Elsasss powerplant was rated at 16000 ihp, which generated a top speed of 18 knots (35.3 km/h).
Elsasss armament consisted of a main battery of four 28 cm (11 in) SK L/40 guns in twin gun turret
s,In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnellfeuerkanone) denotes that the gun quick firing, while the L/40 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/40 gun is 40 calibers, meaning that the gun is 40 as times long as it is in diameter. See: Grießmer, p. 177 one fore and one aft of the central superstructure
. Her secondary armament consisted of fourteen 17 cm (6.7 inch) SK L/40 guns and eighteen 8.8 cm (3.45 in) SK L/35 quick-firing guns. The armament suite was rounded out with six 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, all mounted submerged in the hull.
s and six protected cruiser
s. Kapitän zur See Reinhard Scheer
assumed command of the vessel in 1907; he would go on to command the entire High Seas Fleet
at the Battle of Jutland
and eventually serve as the Chief of Naval Staff. Scheer held command of the ship for two years.
In 1909, the ship was transferred to the III Division, II Squadron alongside her sisters and ; by this time, enough battleships had been built to increase the size of each division from three to four vessels. In March 1909, a mine exploded aboard the ship during training in Kiel. Two sailors were killed and another six men were wounded.
After the outbreak of World War I
in 1914, Elsass was assigned to the IV Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet
. The squadron was commanded by Vice Admiral Ehrhard Schmidt. In July 1915, following the loss of the minelaying
cruiser in the Baltic, the IV Squadron ships were transferred to reinforce the German naval forces in the area. On 11 and 19 July, German cruisers, with the IV Squadron ships in support, conducted sweeps in the Baltic, though without engaging Russian forces.
In August 1915, the German fleet attempted to clear the Gulf of Riga
of Russian naval forces, in order to aid the German Army advancing on the city. The IV Squadron was joined by the I Squadron, which consisted of the eight and s, from the High Seas Fleet, along with three battlecruiser
s and a host of smaller craft. The task force was placed under command of Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper
, though operational command remained with Vice Admiral Schmidt. On the morning of 8 August, the Germans made their initial push into the Gulf; Elsass and Braunschweig were tasked with engaging the Russian pre-dreadnought Slava
and preventing her from disrupting the German minesweepers. However, when it became clear that the minesweepers could not clear the minefield before nightfall, Schmidt called off the attempt. A second attempt was made on 16 August; this time, Elsass remained outside the Gulf while the dreadnought
s and took over the task of dealing with Slava. By 19 August, the Russian minefields had been cleared and the flotilla entered the Gulf. Reports of Allied submarines in the area, however, prompted the Germans to call off the operation the following day.
Due to manpower shortages, the IV Squadron ships were demobilized. On 25 July 1916, Elsass became a drill ship, as well as a floating barracks, based in Kiel. The Treaty of Versailles
, which ended the war, specified that Germany was permitted to retain six battleships of the "Deutschland or Lothringen types." She was subsequently used as a training ship in the Reichsmarine
.
In 1923, the ship was taken in hand for a major overhaul. Elsass was dry-docked in the Kriegsmarinewerft
in Wilhelmshaven, where the conning tower
was rebuilt. Work lasted until 1924. She and Braunschweig, along with the , were assigned to the North Sea Station. Elsass served with the fleet until 1930; she was withdrawn from active service on 25 February 1930. The ship was stricken from the naval register on 31 March 1931 and used as a hulk
in Wilhelmshaven until 1935. The Reichsmarine sold the old battleship to Technischer Betrieb des Norddeutscher Lloyd
on 31 October. Elsass was broken up for scrap the following year.
Pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea-going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...
battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s of the Braunschweig class
Braunschweig class battleship
The Braunschweig class battleships were pre-dreadnought battleships of the Kaiserliche Marine . The class comprised five ships: , , , , and...
in the German Imperial Navy
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
laid down in 1901 and commissioned 1904. She was named for the German state of Elsass,Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
is now spelled Elsass in German; it was also spelled Elsaß until around the time of the German orthography reform of 1996, using the German "sharp S". See ß
ß
In the German alphabet, ß is a letter that originated as a ligature of ss or sz. Like double "s", it is pronounced as an , but in standard spelling, it is only used after long vowels and diphthongs, while ss is used after short vowels...
. now the French region of Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
. Her sister ships were Braunschweig
SMS Braunschweig
SMS Braunschweig"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff" was the first of five pre-dreadnought battleships of the Braunschweig class in the German Kaiserliche Marine . She was laid down in 1901 and commissioned in October 1904, at a cost of 23,983,000 marks. She was named after the then Duchy of...
, Hessen
SMS Hessen
SMS Hessen"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff" was the third of five pre-dreadnought battleships of the Braunschweig class. She was laid down in 1902, launched the following year, and commissioned into the German Imperial Navy in 1905. She was named after the state of Hesse. Her sister ships...
, Preussen and Lothringen
SMS Lothringen
SMS Lothringen"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff" was the fifth of five pre-dreadnought battleships of the Braunschweig class in the German Imperial Navy laid down in 1902 and commissioned 1906. She was named for the then German province of Lothringen, now Lorraine, a region of France...
.
The ship served in the II Squadron of the German fleet after commissioning, though by the outbreak of World War I she had been moved to the IV Squadron. Elsass saw action in the Baltic Sea against the Russian Navy. In August 1915, the ship participated in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga
Battle of the Gulf of Riga
The Battle of the Gulf of Riga was a World War I naval operation of the German High Seas Fleet against the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea in August 1915...
, during which she engaged the Russian battleship Slava
Russian battleship Slava
Slava was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, the last of the five s. Commissioned too late to participate in the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War, she survived while all of her sister ships were either sunk during the battle or surrendered to the Imperial...
. In 1916, the ship was placed in reserve owing to crew shortages. She spent the remainder of World War I as a training ship.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, she was retained after the end of the war and modernized in 1923–24. Elsass served in the reformed Reichsmarine
Reichsmarine
The Reichsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the Reichswehr, existing from 1918 to 1935...
with the surface fleet until 1930, when she was again placed in reserve. She was stricken in 1931 used for a short time as a hulk
Hulk (ship)
A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Although sometimes used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, the term most often refers to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed, retaining only its flotational qualities...
in Wilhelmshaven. She was sold to Norddeutscher Lloyd
Norddeutscher Lloyd
Norddeutsche Lloyd was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on February 20, 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was instrumental in the economic...
in late 1935 and subsequently broken up for scrap
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
the following year.
Construction
Elsass was laid down in 1901, at the Schichau-WerkeSchichau-Werke
The Schichau-Werke was a German engineering works and shipyard based in Elbing, formerly part of the German Empire, and which is today the town of Elbląg in northern Poland. It also had a subsidiary shipyard in Danzig .-Early years:...
in Danzig under construction number 97. The second unit of her class, she was ordered under the contract name "J" as a new unit for the fleet. The ship cost 23,983,000 marks
German gold mark
The Goldmark was the currency used in the German Empire from 1873 to 1914.-History:Before unification, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16⅔ grams of pure silver...
. Elsass was launched on 26 May 1903 and commissioned into the fleet on 29 November 1904.
The ship was 127.7 m (419 ft) long overall and had a beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 22.2 m (72.8 ft) and a draft
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
of 8.1 m (26.6 ft) forward. The ship was powered by three 3-cylinder vertical triple expansion engines that drove three screws. Steam was provided by eight naval and six cylindrical boilers, all of which burned coal. Elsasss powerplant was rated at 16000 ihp, which generated a top speed of 18 knots (35.3 km/h).
Elsasss armament consisted of a main battery of four 28 cm (11 in) SK L/40 guns in twin gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s,In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnellfeuerkanone) denotes that the gun quick firing, while the L/40 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/40 gun is 40 calibers, meaning that the gun is 40 as times long as it is in diameter. See: Grießmer, p. 177 one fore and one aft of the central superstructure
Superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships...
. Her secondary armament consisted of fourteen 17 cm (6.7 inch) SK L/40 guns and eighteen 8.8 cm (3.45 in) SK L/35 quick-firing guns. The armament suite was rounded out with six 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, all mounted submerged in the hull.
Service history
Upon commissioning in November 1904, Elsass was assigned to the IV Division of the II Squadron of the German fleet. She joined her sister and the old battleship . The German Navy in 1905 consisted of four divisions of three battleships each, with two divisions per squadron. This was supported by a cruiser division, composed of two armored cruiserArmored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
s and six protected cruiser
Protected cruiser
The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...
s. Kapitän zur See Reinhard Scheer
Reinhard Scheer
Reinhard Scheer was an Admiral in the German Kaiserliche Marine. Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet; he progressed through the ranks, commanding cruisers and battleships, as well as major staff positions on land. At the outbreak of World War I, Scheer was the commander of the II...
assumed command of the vessel in 1907; he would go on to command the entire High Seas Fleet
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
at the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
and eventually serve as the Chief of Naval Staff. Scheer held command of the ship for two years.
In 1909, the ship was transferred to the III Division, II Squadron alongside her sisters and ; by this time, enough battleships had been built to increase the size of each division from three to four vessels. In March 1909, a mine exploded aboard the ship during training in Kiel. Two sailors were killed and another six men were wounded.
After the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1914, Elsass was assigned to the IV Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
. The squadron was commanded by Vice Admiral Ehrhard Schmidt. In July 1915, following the loss of the minelaying
Minelayer
Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...
cruiser in the Baltic, the IV Squadron ships were transferred to reinforce the German naval forces in the area. On 11 and 19 July, German cruisers, with the IV Squadron ships in support, conducted sweeps in the Baltic, though without engaging Russian forces.
In August 1915, the German fleet attempted to clear the Gulf of Riga
Gulf of Riga
The Gulf of Riga, or Bay of Riga, is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. According to C.Michael Hogan, a saline stratification layer is found at a depth of approximately seventy metres....
of Russian naval forces, in order to aid the German Army advancing on the city. The IV Squadron was joined by the I Squadron, which consisted of the eight and s, from the High Seas Fleet, along with three battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
s and a host of smaller craft. The task force was placed under command of Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper
Franz von Hipper
Franz Ritter von Hipper was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy . Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern...
, though operational command remained with Vice Admiral Schmidt. On the morning of 8 August, the Germans made their initial push into the Gulf; Elsass and Braunschweig were tasked with engaging the Russian pre-dreadnought Slava
Russian battleship Slava
Slava was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, the last of the five s. Commissioned too late to participate in the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War, she survived while all of her sister ships were either sunk during the battle or surrendered to the Imperial...
and preventing her from disrupting the German minesweepers. However, when it became clear that the minesweepers could not clear the minefield before nightfall, Schmidt called off the attempt. A second attempt was made on 16 August; this time, Elsass remained outside the Gulf while the dreadnought
Dreadnought
The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...
s and took over the task of dealing with Slava. By 19 August, the Russian minefields had been cleared and the flotilla entered the Gulf. Reports of Allied submarines in the area, however, prompted the Germans to call off the operation the following day.
Due to manpower shortages, the IV Squadron ships were demobilized. On 25 July 1916, Elsass became a drill ship, as well as a floating barracks, based in Kiel. The Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, which ended the war, specified that Germany was permitted to retain six battleships of the "Deutschland or Lothringen types." She was subsequently used as a training ship in the Reichsmarine
Reichsmarine
The Reichsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the Reichswehr, existing from 1918 to 1935...
.
In 1923, the ship was taken in hand for a major overhaul. Elsass was dry-docked in the Kriegsmarinewerft
Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven
Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven was the naval shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, Prussian Hanover, between 1918 and 1945 in the German Navy's extensive base located there.-History:...
in Wilhelmshaven, where the conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
was rebuilt. Work lasted until 1924. She and Braunschweig, along with the , were assigned to the North Sea Station. Elsass served with the fleet until 1930; she was withdrawn from active service on 25 February 1930. The ship was stricken from the naval register on 31 March 1931 and used as a hulk
Hulk (ship)
A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Although sometimes used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, the term most often refers to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed, retaining only its flotational qualities...
in Wilhelmshaven until 1935. The Reichsmarine sold the old battleship to Technischer Betrieb des Norddeutscher Lloyd
Norddeutscher Lloyd
Norddeutsche Lloyd was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on February 20, 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was instrumental in the economic...
on 31 October. Elsass was broken up for scrap the following year.