SMS Lothringen
Encyclopedia
SMS Lothringen"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff" (His Majesty's Ship) was the fifth of five pre-dreadnought
battleship
s 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. Her sister ships were , , , and .
Lothringen served in the II Battle Squadron of the German High Seas Fleet
for the majority of her career. She participated in a fleet advance in December 1914 in support of the Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby
during which the German fleet encountered and briefly clashed with a detachment of the British Grand Fleet. Her poor condition necessitated her withdrawal from fleet service in 1916, after which she was used as a guard ship in the Baltic Sea, and later as a training ship. After the war, Lothringen was retained by the re-formed Reichsmarine
and converted into a depot ship for F-type minesweepers. She was stricken in March 1931 and sold to ship breakers later that year.
in Danzig under construction number 716. The fifth and final unit of her class, she was ordered under the contract name "M" as a new unit for the fleet. The ship cost 23,801,000 marks
. Lothringen was launched on 27 May 1904 and commissioned into the fleet on 18 May 1906.
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. Lothringens powerplant was rated at 16000 ihp, which generated a top speed of 18 knots (35.3 km/h).
Lothringens 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.
festival in Amsterdam
on 24 March 1907. In 1909, Lothringen and the older battleship won the annual Kaiser's Prize for accurate shooting. By 1911, Germany's first two classes of dreadnought battleships—the and es—were entering service. These ships were assigned to I Battle Squadron; all of the older and vessels , armed with only 24 cm (9.4 in) guns, were placed in reserve. Germany now had a battleship fleet armed entire with guns 28 cm (11 in) or larger.
Lothringen was present during the fleet cruise to Norway in July 1914, which was cut short by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and subsequent rise in international tensions. On 25 July the ship's crew was made aware of Austria-Hungary
's ultimatum to Serbia
; Lothringen left Norway to rendezvous with the rest of the fleet the following day.
, including Lothringen, participated was the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby
on 15–16 December 1914. The main fleet acted as distant support for Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper
's battlecruiser squadron while it raided the coastal towns. On the evening of 15 December, the fleet came to within 10 nmi (18.5 km) of an isolated squadron of six British battleships. However, skirmishes between the rival destroyer
screens in the darkness convinced the German fleet commander, Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl
, that the entire Grand Fleet was deployed before him. Under orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II, von Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battlefleet back towards Germany.
Like her sister Preussen, Lothringen missed the Battle of Jutland
on 31 May – 1 June 1916, though for different reasons. Preussen had been temporarily transferred to guard duties in the Baltic, while Lothringen was in such poor condition that Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer
, the fleet commander, removed her from the squadron. Jutland proved to Scheer that the pre-dreadnought battleships were too vulnerable to take part in a major fleet action, and so detached the II Squadron from the High Seas Fleet. Lothringen became a guard ship in the Baltic after she left the battle fleet. The following year she was transferred to Wilhelmshaven
, where she was used as an exercise ship, as well as to train engineers. She served in this capacity until the end of the war in 1918.
, which ended the war, specified that Germany was permitted to retain six battleships of the "Deutschland or Lothringen types." Lothringen was among those ships chosen to remain on active service with the newly reformed Reichsmarine
. Like her sister Preussen, Lothringen was converted into a parent ship for F-type minesweepers
at the Kriegsmarinewerft
in Wilhelmshaven in 1919; the ship was disarmed and platforms for holding the minesweepers were installed.
Lothringen served in this capacity with the newly reformed Reichsmarine
from 1922 until 1926, after which she was placed in reserve. She was stricken from the naval register on 31 March 1931; the Reichsmarine then sold her, minus her armor plating, to ship breakers that year for 269,650 Reichsmarks. Lothringen was subsequently broken up for scrap by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg
.
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 1902 and commissioned 1906. She was named for the then German province of Lothringen, now Lorraine
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
, a region of France. Her sister ships were , , , and .
Lothringen served in the II Battle Squadron of the German 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...
for the majority of her career. She participated in a fleet advance in December 1914 in support of the Raid on 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...
during which the German fleet encountered and briefly clashed with a detachment of the British Grand Fleet. Her poor condition necessitated her withdrawal from fleet service in 1916, after which she was used as a guard ship in the Baltic Sea, and later as a training ship. After the war, Lothringen was retained by the re-formed 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...
and converted into a depot ship for F-type minesweepers. She was stricken in March 1931 and sold to ship breakers later that year.
Construction
Lothringen was laid down in 1902, 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 716. The fifth and final unit of her class, she was ordered under the contract name "M" as a new unit for the fleet. The ship cost 23,801,000 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...
. Lothringen was launched on 27 May 1904 and commissioned into the fleet on 18 May 1906.
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. Lothringens powerplant was rated at 16000 ihp, which generated a top speed of 18 knots (35.3 km/h).
Lothringens 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
After commissioning, Lothringen was assigned to the II Battle Squadron of the German fleet. Lothringen participated in the de RuyterMichiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter is the most famous and one of the most skilled admirals in Dutch history. De Ruyter is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. He fought the English and French and scored several major victories against them, the best known probably...
festival in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
on 24 March 1907. In 1909, Lothringen and the older battleship won the annual Kaiser's Prize for accurate shooting. By 1911, Germany's first two classes of dreadnought battleships—the and es—were entering service. These ships were assigned to I Battle Squadron; all of the older and vessels , armed with only 24 cm (9.4 in) guns, were placed in reserve. Germany now had a battleship fleet armed entire with guns 28 cm (11 in) or larger.
Lothringen was present during the fleet cruise to Norway in July 1914, which was cut short by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and subsequent rise in international tensions. On 25 July the ship's crew was made aware of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
's ultimatum to Serbia
July Ultimatum
The July Crisis was a diplomatic crisis among the major powers of Europe in the summer of 1914 that led to the First World War...
; Lothringen left Norway to rendezvous with the rest of the fleet the following day.
World War I
After the outbreak of war in August 1914, the High Seas Fleet conducted a series of operations designed to lure out a portion of the numerically superior British Grand Fleet and destroy it. By achieving a rough equality of forces, the German navy could then force a decisive battle in the southern portion of the North Sea. The first such operation in which the High Seas FleetHigh 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...
, including Lothringen, participated was the raid on 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. The main fleet acted as distant support for Rear 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 battlecruiser squadron while it raided the coastal towns. On the evening of 15 December, the fleet 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 in the darkness convinced the German fleet 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 the entire Grand Fleet was deployed before him. Under orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II, von Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battlefleet back towards Germany.
Like her sister Preussen, Lothringen missed 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, though for different reasons. Preussen had been temporarily transferred to guard duties in the Baltic, while Lothringen was in such poor condition that Vice Admiral 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...
, the fleet commander, removed her from the squadron. Jutland proved to Scheer that the pre-dreadnought battleships were too vulnerable to take part in a major fleet action, and so detached the II Squadron from the High Seas Fleet. Lothringen became a guard ship in the Baltic after she left the battle fleet. The following year she was transferred to 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:...
, where she was used as an exercise ship, as well as to train engineers. She served in this capacity until the end of the war in 1918.
Post-war career
The Treaty of VersaillesTreaty 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." Lothringen was among those ships chosen to remain on active service with the newly 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...
. Like her sister Preussen, Lothringen was converted into a parent ship for F-type minesweepers
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
at 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 in 1919; the ship was disarmed and platforms for holding the minesweepers were installed.
Lothringen served in this capacity with the newly 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...
from 1922 until 1926, after which she was placed in reserve. She was stricken from the naval register on 31 March 1931; the Reichsmarine then sold her, minus her armor plating, to ship breakers that year for 269,650 Reichsmarks. Lothringen was subsequently broken up for scrap by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
.