SMS Hannover
Encyclopedia
SMS Hannover ("His Majesty's ship Hannover") was the second of five Deutschland-class
pre-dreadnought
s of the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). Hannover and the three subsequently constructed ships differed slightly in both design and construction from the lead ship in their propulsion systems and slightly thicker armor. Hannover was laid down in November 1904 and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet
in October 1907; this was ten months after the revolutionary "all-big-gun" was commissioned into the Royal Navy
. As a result, Hannover was obsolete as a capital ship
before she was even completed; Dreadnoughts more powerful main battery and higher speed would have made it unwise for a ship like Hannover to engage her in the line of battle
. The ship was named after the Prussian
province of Hannover, now in Lower Saxony
.
Hannover and her sisters saw extensive service with the fleet. The ship took part in all major training maneuvers until World War I
broke out in July 1914. Hannover and her sisters were immediately pressed into guard duties in the mouth of the Elbe River while the rest of the fleet mobilized. The ship took part in a number of fleet advances, which culminated in the Battle of Jutland
on 31 May – 1 June 1916. During the battle, Hannover served as the flagship
for the IV Division of the II Battle Squadron. After Jutland, Hannover and her three surviving sisters were removed from active duty with the fleet to serve as guard ships. In 1917, Hannover was briefly used as a target ship
before being returned to guard duties in the Baltic Sea
. The ship was decommissioned in December 1918, shortly after the end of the war.
Hannover was brought back to active service in the Reichsmarine
, the post-war Germany navy. She served with the fleet for ten years, from 1921 to 1931, before she was again decommissioned. The navy planned to convert the ship into a radio-controlled target ship for aircraft, but this was never carried out. The ship was ultimately broken up for scrap between 1944 and 1946 in Bremerhaven
. Her bell is preserved at the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden
.
with the other battleships of the High Seas Fleet
. The ship was laid down on 7 November 1904 at the Kaiserliche Werft
shipyard in Wilhelmshaven
. She was launched on 29 May 1905 and commissioned for trials on 1 October 1907, but the fleet exercises in the Skagerrak
in November interrupted the trials. Trials resumed after the maneuvers were completed, and by 13 February 1908 Hannover was ready to join the active fleet. She was assigned to the II Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet
, joining her sisters and . However, the new British battleship —armed with ten 12-inch (30.5 cm) guns—was commissioned in December 1906, well before Hannover entered service. Dreadnoughts revolutionary design rendered obsolete every ship of the German navy, including the brand-new Hannover.HMS Dreadnoughts ten main guns more than doubled the number of heavy guns mounted on Hannover and the other members of her class. The British ship, which was equipped with powerful turbine engines and could steam at a speed of 21 knots (11.4 m/s), had a 3-knot advantage over the German vessels. See: Gardiner & Gray, p. 21
Hannover was 127.6 metre long, had a beam of 22.2 metre, and a draft of 8.21 metre. She had a full-load displacement of 14218 tonnes (13,993 LT). The ship was equipped with triple expansion engines that produced a rated 16000 ihp and a top speed of 18 kn (9.8 m/s). At a cruising speed of 10 kn (5.4 m/s), she could steam for 4850 nautical miles (8,982.2 km).
The ship's primary armament consisted of four 28 cm (11 in) SK L/40
guns in two twin turrets.In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnellfeuerkanone) denotes that the gun is 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 times long as it is in diameter. See: Grießmer, p. 177 She was also equipped with fourteen 17 cm (6.7 in) guns mounted in casemates and twenty 8.8 cm (3.46 in) guns in pivot mounts. The ship was also armed with six 45 cm (17.72 in) torpedo tube
s, all of which were submerged in the hull.
. From the following month until August, the fleet conducted a training cruise into the Atlantic. During the cruise, Hannover stopped in Punta Delgado in the Azores
from 23 July to 1 August. The annual autumn exercises began in September; after these were completed Hannover was transferred to the I Squadron, where she served as the flagship for two years. In November, fleet and unit exercises were conducted in the Baltic Sea
.
The training regimen in which Hannover participated followed a similar pattern over the next five years. This included another cruise into the Atlantic, from 7 July to 1 August 1909. February 1910 saw the I Squadron conduct individual training in the Baltic. The unit was subsequently transferred from Kiel
to the base in Wilhelmshaven
on 1 April. Fleet maneuvers were conducted shortly thereafter, followed by a summer cruise to Norway
, and additional fleet training in the fall. On 3 October 1911, the ship was transferred back to the II Squadron. Due to the Agadir Crisis
in July, the summer cruise only went into the Baltic. On 14 July 1914, the annual summer cruise to Norway began, but the threat of war in Europe caused the excursion to be cut short; within two weeks Hannover and the rest of the II Squadron had returned to Wilhelmshaven.
in the mouth of the Elbe River during the period of mobilization for the rest of the fleet. In late October, the ships were sent to Kiel to have modifications made to their underwater protection systems to make them more resilient. Hannover then joined the battleship support for the battlecruisers that bombarded Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby
on 15–16 December 1914. During the operation, the German battle fleet of some 12 dreadnoughts and eight pre-dreadnoughts came to within 10 nmi (18.5 km) of an isolated squadron of six British battleships. However, skirmishes between the rival destroyer
screens convinced the German commander, Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl
, that he was confronted with the entire Grand Fleet, and so he broke off the engagement and turned for home.
Hannover put to sea during the Battle of Dogger Bank
on 24 January 1915 to support the beleaguered German battlecruisers, but quickly returned to port. On 17–18 April, Hannover supported a minelaying operation off the Swarte Bank by the light cruiser
s of the II Reconnaissance Group. A fleet advance to the Dogger Bank
followed on 21–22 April. On 16 May, Hannover was sent to Kiel to have one of her 28 cm guns replaced. The ship returned to Kiel on 28 June to have supplemental oil firing installed for her boilers; work lasted until 12 July. On 11–12 September, II Reconnaissance Group conducted another minelaying operation off the Swarte Bank with Hannover and the rest of II Squadron in support. This was followed by another resultless sweep by the fleet on 23–24 October. During the fleet advance of 5–7 March 1916, Hannover and the rest of II Squadron remained in the German Bight
, ready to sail in support. They then rejoined the fleet during the operation to bombard Yarmouth and Lowestoft
on 24–25 April. During this operation, the battlecruiser was damaged by a British mine and had to return to port prematurely. Visibility was poor, so the operation was quickly called off before the British fleet could intervene.
, the commander of the German fleet, immediately planned another advance into the North Sea, but the damage to Seydlitz delayed the operation until the end of May. Hannover was the flagship in the IV Division of the II Battle Squadron, which was positioned at the rear of the German line. The II Battle Squadron was commanded by Rear Admiral Franz Mauve. During the "Run to the North", Admiral Scheer ordered the fleet to pursue the retreating battleships of the British V Battle Squadron at top speed. Hannover and her sisters were significantly slower than the faster dreadnoughts and quickly fell behind. During this period, Admiral Scheer directed Hannover to place itself at the rear of the German line, so he would have a flagship on either end of the formation. By 19:30, the Grand Fleet had arrived on the scene and confronted Admiral Scheer with significant numerical superiority. The German fleet was severely hampered by the presence of the slower Deutschland class ships; if Scheer ordered an immediate turn towards Germany, he would have to sacrifice the slower ships to make good his escape.
Admiral Scheer decided to reverse the course of the fleet with the Gefechtskehrtwendung, a maneuver that required every unit in the German line to turn 180° simultaneously. As a result of their having fallen behind, the ships of the II Battle Squadron could not conform to the new course following the turn. Hannover and the other five ships of the squadron therefore were located on the disengaged side of the German line. Admiral Mauve considered moving his ships to the rear of the line, astern of the III Battle Squadron dreadnoughts, but decided against it when he realized the movement would interfere with the maneuvering of Admiral Franz von Hipper
's battlecruisers. Instead, he attempted to place his ships at the head of the line.
Later on the first day of the battle, the hard-pressed battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group were being pursued by their British opponents. Hannover and the other so-called "five-minute ships" came to their aid by steaming in between the opposing battlecruiser squadrons.The men of the German navy referred to ships as "five-minute ships" because that was the length of time they were expected to survive if confronted by a dreadnought. See: Tarrant, p. 62 The ships were very briefly engaged, owing in large part to the poor visibility. Hannover fired eight rounds from her 28 cm guns during this period. The British battlecruiser fired on Hannover several times until the latter was obscured by smoke. Hannover was struck once by fragments from one of the 13.5 inches (34.3 cm) shells fired by Princess Royal. Admiral Mauve decided it would be inadvisable to continue the fight against the much more powerful battlecruisers, and so ordered an 8-point turn to starboard.
Late on the 31st, the fleet organized for the night march back to Germany; Deutschland, Pommern, and Hannover fell in behind and the other dreadnoughts of the III Battle Squadron towards the rear of the line. Hannover was then joined by the , , and . Hessen situated itself between Hannover and Pommern, while the other two ships fell in at the rear of the line. Shortly after 01:00, the leading ships of the German line came into contact with the armored cruiser
; Black Prince was quickly destroyed in a hail of gunfire from the German dreadnoughts. was forced to heel out of line to avoid the sinking British ship, and an hour later rejoined the formation directly ahead of Hannover. At around 03:00, British destroyers conducted a series of attacks against the fleet, some of which targeted Hannover. Shortly thereafter, Pommern was struck by at least one torpedo from the destroyer ; the hit detonated an ammunition magazine which destroyed the ship in a tremendous explosion. Hannover was astern of Pommern and was forced to turn hard to starboard in order to avoid the wreck. Simultaneously, a third torpedo from Onslaught passed closely astern of Hannover, which forced the ship to turn away. Shortly after 04:00, Hannover and several other ships fired repeatedly at what were thought to be submarines; in one instance, the firing from Hannover and Hessen nearly damaged the light cruiser
s and , which prompted Admiral Scheer to order them to cease firing. Hannover and several other ships again fired at imaginary submarines shortly before 06:00.
Despite the ferocity of the night fighting, the High Seas Fleet punched through the British destroyer forces and reached Horns Reef
by 04:00 on 1 June. The German fleet reached Wilhelmshaven a few hours later, where the undamaged dreadnoughts of the and es took up defensive positions. Over the course of the battle, Hannover had fired eight 28 cm shells, twenty-one 17 cm rounds, and forty-four shells from her 8.8 cm guns. She emerged from the battle completely unscathed.
in the Baltic. On 21 March, Hannover had some of her guns removed; the ship was then converted into a guard ship from 25 June to 16 September. During this period, on 15 August, the II Battle Squadron was officially disbanded. On 27 September, Hessen was assigned to guard duties in the Baltic, where she replaced the older battleship .
. According to the terms of the Armistice, the most modern components of Germany's surface fleet were interned in the British naval base at Scapa Flow
, while the rest of the fleet was demilitarized. On the day the armistice took effect, Hannover was sent briefly to Swinemünde, before returning to Kiel on 14–15 November along with Schlesien. Hannover was decommissioned a month later on 17 December in accordance with the terms of the Armistice.
The terms of the Treaty of Versailles
, signed on 21 June 1919, permitted Germany to retain a surface fleet of eight obsolete battleships. This amounted to three of the Deutschland class battleships, Hannover, Schleswig-Holstein and Schlesien, as well as the five s.
Hannover was the first of all the old battleships to come in service with the Reichsmarine in February 1921 as fleet flagship in the Baltic. Her first homeport was Swinemünde but she was transferred to Kiel in 1922. In 1923 the German Navy adopted a new command structure and became flagship of the Fleet. In October 1925, Hannover was moved to the North Sea station. She was decommissioned in March 1927 when Schlesien returned to active service. With newly built masts but still three funnels she entered service again replacing Elsass in February 1930 until September 1931.
The ship was struck from the naval register in 1936, after which the navy intended to rebuild Hannover for use as a target ship
. The conversion, however, never occurred. Ultimately, the ship was broken up between May 1944 and October 1946 in Bremerhaven
. Her bell now resides in the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden
.
Citations
Deutschland class battleship
The Deutschland class was a group of five pre-dreadnought battleships built for the German Kaiserliche Marine. The class comprised , , , , and . Built between 1903 and 1908, the ships closely resembled those of the preceding , though they had stronger armor protection...
pre-dreadnought
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...
s of the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). Hannover and the three subsequently constructed ships differed slightly in both design and construction from the lead ship in their propulsion systems and slightly thicker armor. Hannover was laid down in November 1904 and commissioned into 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...
in October 1907; this was ten months after the revolutionary "all-big-gun" was commissioned into the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. As a result, Hannover was obsolete as a capital ship
Capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...
before she was even completed; Dreadnoughts more powerful main battery and higher speed would have made it unwise for a ship like Hannover to engage her in the line of battle
Line of battle
In naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line end to end. A primitive form had been used by the Portuguese under Vasco Da Gama in 1502 near Malabar against a Muslim fleet.,Maarten Tromp used it in the Action of 18 September 1639 while its first use in...
. The ship was named after the Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
province of Hannover, now in Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
.
Hannover and her sisters saw extensive service with the fleet. The ship took part in all major training maneuvers until 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...
broke out in July 1914. Hannover and her sisters were immediately pressed into guard duties in the mouth of the Elbe River while the rest of the fleet mobilized. The ship took part in a number of fleet advances, which culminated in 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...
on 31 May – 1 June 1916. During the battle, Hannover served as the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
for the IV Division of the II Battle Squadron. After Jutland, Hannover and her three surviving sisters were removed from active duty with the fleet to serve as guard ships. In 1917, Hannover was briefly used as a target ship
Target ship
A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing.-Rationale:Sinking redundant warships is an effective way of testing new weapons and warships in as realistic a manner as possible. Whilst practice torpedoes are fired...
before being returned to guard duties in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. The ship was decommissioned in December 1918, shortly after the end of the war.
Hannover was brought back to active service 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...
, the post-war Germany navy. She served with the fleet for ten years, from 1921 to 1931, before she was again decommissioned. The navy planned to convert the ship into a radio-controlled target ship for aircraft, but this was never carried out. The ship was ultimately broken up for scrap between 1944 and 1946 in Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
. Her bell is preserved at the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
.
Construction
Hannover was intended to fight in the German battle lineLine of battle
In naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line end to end. A primitive form had been used by the Portuguese under Vasco Da Gama in 1502 near Malabar against a Muslim fleet.,Maarten Tromp used it in the Action of 18 September 1639 while its first use in...
with the other battleships 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 ship was laid down on 7 November 1904 at the Kaiserliche Werft
Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven
Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven was a German shipbuilding company in Wilhelmshaven, Prussian Hanover. It was founded in 1853, first as Königliche Werft Wilhelmshaven but renamed in 1871 with the proclamation of the German Empire...
shipyard in Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
. She was launched on 29 May 1905 and commissioned for trials on 1 October 1907, but the fleet exercises in the Skagerrak
Skagerrak
The Skagerrak is a strait running between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area, which leads to the Baltic Sea.-Name:...
in November interrupted the trials. Trials resumed after the maneuvers were completed, and by 13 February 1908 Hannover was ready to join the active fleet. She was assigned to the II 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...
, joining her sisters and . However, the new British battleship —armed with ten 12-inch (30.5 cm) guns—was commissioned in December 1906, well before Hannover entered service. Dreadnoughts revolutionary design rendered obsolete every ship of the German navy, including the brand-new Hannover.HMS Dreadnoughts ten main guns more than doubled the number of heavy guns mounted on Hannover and the other members of her class. The British ship, which was equipped with powerful turbine engines and could steam at a speed of 21 knots (11.4 m/s), had a 3-knot advantage over the German vessels. See: Gardiner & Gray, p. 21
Hannover was 127.6 metre long, had a beam of 22.2 metre, and a draft of 8.21 metre. She had a full-load displacement of 14218 tonnes (13,993 LT). The ship was equipped with triple expansion engines that produced a rated 16000 ihp and a top speed of 18 kn (9.8 m/s). At a cruising speed of 10 kn (5.4 m/s), she could steam for 4850 nautical miles (8,982.2 km).
The ship's primary armament consisted of four 28 cm (11 in) SK L/40
28 cm SK L/40 gun
The 28 cm SK L/40 was a German naval gun that was used in World War I and World War II by all German pre-dreadnought battleships...
guns in two twin turrets.In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnellfeuerkanone) denotes that the gun is 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 times long as it is in diameter. See: Grießmer, p. 177 She was also equipped with fourteen 17 cm (6.7 in) guns mounted in casemates and twenty 8.8 cm (3.46 in) guns in pivot mounts. The ship was also armed with six 45 cm (17.72 in) torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s, all of which were submerged in the hull.
Service
Upon her commissioning, Hannover joined the II Battle Squadron. From May to June 1908, Hannover took part in maneuvers in the North SeaNorth Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. From the following month until August, the fleet conducted a training cruise into the Atlantic. During the cruise, Hannover stopped in Punta Delgado in the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
from 23 July to 1 August. The annual autumn exercises began in September; after these were completed Hannover was transferred to the I Squadron, where she served as the flagship for two years. In November, fleet and unit exercises were conducted in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
.
The training regimen in which Hannover participated followed a similar pattern over the next five years. This included another cruise into the Atlantic, from 7 July to 1 August 1909. February 1910 saw the I Squadron conduct individual training in the Baltic. The unit was subsequently transferred from Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
to the base in Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
on 1 April. Fleet maneuvers were conducted shortly thereafter, followed by a summer cruise to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, and additional fleet training in the fall. On 3 October 1911, the ship was transferred back to the II Squadron. Due to the Agadir Crisis
Agadir Crisis
The Agadir Crisis, also called the Second Moroccan Crisis, or the Panthersprung, was the international tension sparked by the deployment of the German gunboat Panther, to the Moroccan port of Agadir on July 1, 1911.-Background:...
in July, the summer cruise only went into the Baltic. On 14 July 1914, the annual summer cruise to Norway began, but the threat of war in Europe caused the excursion to be cut short; within two weeks Hannover and the rest of the II Squadron had returned to Wilhelmshaven.
World War I
Following the outbreak of World War I, Hannover was tasked with guard duty in the Altenbruch roadsteadRoadstead
A roadstead is a place outside a harbor where a ship can lie at anchor. It is an enclosed area with an opening to the sea, narrower than a bay or gulf. It has a surface that cannot be confused with an estuary. It can be created artificially by jetties or dikes...
in the mouth of the Elbe River during the period of mobilization for the rest of the fleet. In late October, the ships were sent to Kiel to have modifications made to their underwater protection systems to make them more resilient. Hannover then joined the battleship support for the battlecruisers that bombarded Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby
Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby
The raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, which took place on 16 December 1914, was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British seaport towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool, and Whitby. The attack resulted in 137 fatalities and 592 casualties, many of which were civilians...
on 15–16 December 1914. During the operation, the German battle fleet of some 12 dreadnoughts and eight pre-dreadnoughts came to within 10 nmi (18.5 km) of an isolated squadron of six British battleships. However, skirmishes between the rival destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
screens convinced the German commander, Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl
Friedrich von Ingenohl
Gustav Heinrich Ernst Friedrich von Ingenohl was a German admiral from Neuwied best known for his command of the German High Seas Fleet at the beginning of World War I....
, that he was confronted with the entire Grand Fleet, and so he broke off the engagement and turned for home.
Hannover put to sea during the Battle of Dogger Bank
Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)
The Battle of Dogger Bank was a naval battle fought near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea on 24 January 1915, during the First World War, between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet....
on 24 January 1915 to support the beleaguered German battlecruisers, but quickly returned to port. On 17–18 April, Hannover supported a minelaying operation off the Swarte Bank by the light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s of the II Reconnaissance Group. A fleet advance to the Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England. It extends over approximately , with its dimensions being about long and up to broad. The water depth ranges from 15 to 36 metres , about shallower than the surrounding sea. It is a...
followed on 21–22 April. On 16 May, Hannover was sent to Kiel to have one of her 28 cm guns replaced. The ship returned to Kiel on 28 June to have supplemental oil firing installed for her boilers; work lasted until 12 July. On 11–12 September, II Reconnaissance Group conducted another minelaying operation off the Swarte Bank with Hannover and the rest of II Squadron in support. This was followed by another resultless sweep by the fleet on 23–24 October. During the fleet advance of 5–7 March 1916, Hannover and the rest of II Squadron remained in the German Bight
German Bight
German Bight is the southeastern bight of the North Sea bounded by the Netherlands and Germany to the south, and Denmark and Germany to the east . To the north and west it is limited by the Dogger Bank. The Bight contains the Frisian and Danish Islands. The Wadden Sea is approximately ten to...
, ready to sail in support. They then rejoined the fleet during the operation to bombard Yarmouth and Lowestoft
Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft
The Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft was a naval battle fought during the First World War between the German Empire and the British Empire in the North Sea....
on 24–25 April. During this operation, the battlecruiser was damaged by a British mine and had to return to port prematurely. Visibility was poor, so the operation was quickly called off before the British fleet could intervene.
Battle of Jutland
Admiral Reinhard ScheerReinhard 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...
, the commander of the German fleet, immediately planned another advance into the North Sea, but the damage to Seydlitz delayed the operation until the end of May. Hannover was the flagship in the IV Division of the II Battle Squadron, which was positioned at the rear of the German line. The II Battle Squadron was commanded by Rear Admiral Franz Mauve. During the "Run to the North", Admiral Scheer ordered the fleet to pursue the retreating battleships of the British V Battle Squadron at top speed. Hannover and her sisters were significantly slower than the faster dreadnoughts and quickly fell behind. During this period, Admiral Scheer directed Hannover to place itself at the rear of the German line, so he would have a flagship on either end of the formation. By 19:30, the Grand Fleet had arrived on the scene and confronted Admiral Scheer with significant numerical superiority. The German fleet was severely hampered by the presence of the slower Deutschland class ships; if Scheer ordered an immediate turn towards Germany, he would have to sacrifice the slower ships to make good his escape.
Admiral Scheer decided to reverse the course of the fleet with the Gefechtskehrtwendung, a maneuver that required every unit in the German line to turn 180° simultaneously. As a result of their having fallen behind, the ships of the II Battle Squadron could not conform to the new course following the turn. Hannover and the other five ships of the squadron therefore were located on the disengaged side of the German line. Admiral Mauve considered moving his ships to the rear of the line, astern of the III Battle Squadron dreadnoughts, but decided against it when he realized the movement would interfere with the maneuvering of 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...
's battlecruisers. Instead, he attempted to place his ships at the head of the line.
Later on the first day of the battle, the hard-pressed battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group were being pursued by their British opponents. Hannover and the other so-called "five-minute ships" came to their aid by steaming in between the opposing battlecruiser squadrons.The men of the German navy referred to ships as "five-minute ships" because that was the length of time they were expected to survive if confronted by a dreadnought. See: Tarrant, p. 62 The ships were very briefly engaged, owing in large part to the poor visibility. Hannover fired eight rounds from her 28 cm guns during this period. The British battlecruiser fired on Hannover several times until the latter was obscured by smoke. Hannover was struck once by fragments from one of the 13.5 inches (34.3 cm) shells fired by Princess Royal. Admiral Mauve decided it would be inadvisable to continue the fight against the much more powerful battlecruisers, and so ordered an 8-point turn to starboard.
Late on the 31st, the fleet organized for the night march back to Germany; Deutschland, Pommern, and Hannover fell in behind and the other dreadnoughts of the III Battle Squadron towards the rear of the line. Hannover was then joined by the , , and . Hessen situated itself between Hannover and Pommern, while the other two ships fell in at the rear of the line. Shortly after 01:00, the leading ships of the German line came into contact with the armored cruiser
Armored 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...
; Black Prince was quickly destroyed in a hail of gunfire from the German dreadnoughts. was forced to heel out of line to avoid the sinking British ship, and an hour later rejoined the formation directly ahead of Hannover. At around 03:00, British destroyers conducted a series of attacks against the fleet, some of which targeted Hannover. Shortly thereafter, Pommern was struck by at least one torpedo from the destroyer ; the hit detonated an ammunition magazine which destroyed the ship in a tremendous explosion. Hannover was astern of Pommern and was forced to turn hard to starboard in order to avoid the wreck. Simultaneously, a third torpedo from Onslaught passed closely astern of Hannover, which forced the ship to turn away. Shortly after 04:00, Hannover and several other ships fired repeatedly at what were thought to be submarines; in one instance, the firing from Hannover and Hessen nearly damaged the light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s and , which prompted Admiral Scheer to order them to cease firing. Hannover and several other ships again fired at imaginary submarines shortly before 06:00.
Despite the ferocity of the night fighting, the High Seas Fleet punched through the British destroyer forces and reached Horns Reef
Horns Reef
Horns Rev is a shallow area in the eastern North Sea, about 15 km / 10 miles off the westernmost point of Denmark, Blåvands Huk...
by 04:00 on 1 June. The German fleet reached Wilhelmshaven a few hours later, where the undamaged dreadnoughts of the and es took up defensive positions. Over the course of the battle, Hannover had fired eight 28 cm shells, twenty-one 17 cm rounds, and forty-four shells from her 8.8 cm guns. She emerged from the battle completely unscathed.
Later actions
After Jutland, Hannover went into dock for periodic maintenance on 4 November. Hannover and the rest of II Battle Squadron were then detached from the High Seas Fleet on 30 November and reassigned to picket duty in the mouth of the Elbe. In early 1917, Hannover was used as a target shipTarget ship
A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing.-Rationale:Sinking redundant warships is an effective way of testing new weapons and warships in as realistic a manner as possible. Whilst practice torpedoes are fired...
in the Baltic. On 21 March, Hannover had some of her guns removed; the ship was then converted into a guard ship from 25 June to 16 September. During this period, on 15 August, the II Battle Squadron was officially disbanded. On 27 September, Hessen was assigned to guard duties in the Baltic, where she replaced the older battleship .
Postwar service
On 11 November 1918, Germany entered into the Armistice with the Western AlliesAllies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
. According to the terms of the Armistice, the most modern components of Germany's surface fleet were interned in the British naval base at Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
, while the rest of the fleet was demilitarized. On the day the armistice took effect, Hannover was sent briefly to Swinemünde, before returning to Kiel on 14–15 November along with Schlesien. Hannover was decommissioned a month later on 17 December in accordance with the terms of the Armistice.
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...
, signed on 21 June 1919, permitted Germany to retain a surface fleet of eight obsolete battleships. This amounted to three of the Deutschland class battleships, Hannover, Schleswig-Holstein and Schlesien, as well as the five s.
Hannover was the first of all the old battleships to come in service with the Reichsmarine in February 1921 as fleet flagship in the Baltic. Her first homeport was Swinemünde but she was transferred to Kiel in 1922. In 1923 the German Navy adopted a new command structure and became flagship of the Fleet. In October 1925, Hannover was moved to the North Sea station. She was decommissioned in March 1927 when Schlesien returned to active service. With newly built masts but still three funnels she entered service again replacing Elsass in February 1930 until September 1931.
The ship was struck from the naval register in 1936, after which the navy intended to rebuild Hannover for use as a target ship
Target ship
A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing.-Rationale:Sinking redundant warships is an effective way of testing new weapons and warships in as realistic a manner as possible. Whilst practice torpedoes are fired...
. The conversion, however, never occurred. Ultimately, the ship was broken up between May 1944 and October 1946 in Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
. Her bell now resides in the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
.
Footnotes
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