SMS Yorck
Encyclopedia
SMS Yorck"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff
", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was the second and final ship of the Roon-class
of armored cruiser
s built for the German Imperial Navy
. Yorck was named for Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg, a Prussian field marshal
. She was laid down in 1903 at the Blohm & Voss
shipyard in Hamburg
, and finished in November 1905, at the cost of 16,241,000 Mark
s. She displaced up to 9875 tonnes (9,719 LT) and was armed with a main battery of four 21 cm (8.3 in) guns. Her top speed was 20.4 kn (11.1 m/s).
The ship had a short career; she served with the fleet for the first seven years, after which she was decommissioned and placed in reserve. After the outbreak of World War I
, she was reactivated and returned to front-line service. After returning from the raid on Yarmouth
on 3–4 November, the ship made a navigational error in heavy fog and accidentally sailed into a German defensive minefield. The ship sank quickly with heavy loss of life, though sources disagree on the exact number of fatalities. Her commander was subsequently brought before a court martial and convicted of negligence. Yorck was broken up incrementally, with work occurring in 1929–30, 1965, and finally completed in 1982.
under construction number 167. Her keel was laid in 1902 and she was launched on 14 May 1904. Fitting-out
work was completed by 21 November 1905, being commissioned into the Imperial German Navy
the same day. She had cost the Imperial German Government 16,241,000 Goldmarks
.
Yorck displaced 9087 t (8,943.5 LT) as built and 9875 t (9,719 LT) fully loaded, with a length of 126.5 m (415 ft), a beam of 19.6 m (64.3 ft) and a draft of 7.43 m (24.4 ft) forward. She was powered by three vertical triple expansion engines, which developed a total of 17272 ihp and yielded a maximum speed of 20.4 kn (11.1 m/s) on trials. She carried up to 1630 t (1,604.3 LT) of coal, which enabled a maximum range of up to 5080 nautical miles (9,408.2 km) at a cruising speed of 12 kn (6.5 m/s).
She was armed with four 21 cm (8.3 in) guns arranged in two twin gun turret
s, one on either end of the superstructure
. Her secondary armament consisted of ten 15 cm (5.9 in) guns, fourteen 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns and four 45 cm (17.7 in) underwater torpedo tubes, one in the bow, one in the stern, and one on both beams.
Wilhelm von Hahnke
spoke, saying, "old wisdom, si vis pacem, para bellum—he who wants peace shall be prepared for war...may the guns and machines of the Yorck be operated only by men with iron hearts and an iron will, men who know no other order than to put their lives at risk when the might, the greatness and honor of the German people are being fought for." After her commissioning, Yorck served with the fleet in the cruiser squadron. From 1 October 1911 to 26 January 1912 Franz von Hipper
, later commander-in-chief of the German navy, served as the ship's commanding officer.
In early March 1913, the fleet conducted maneuvers off the island of Helgoland in the North Sea. Early on 4 March, the destroyer fell out of formation in heavy seas and attempted to cross in front of Yorck. The destroyer was caught by a large wave and thrown into Yorck , which cut S178 in half. Out of a crew of 83 men, only 13 were pulled from the stormy sea. Yorck was decommissioned and laid up in the reserve fleet in May 1913 with most of her crew transferring to the newly completed battlecruiser . Hipper, by now the deputy commander of the battlecruiser squadron, stated that "the Seydlitz has a fine spirit and high morale, having carried over the spirit of the old Yorck crew." On 12 August 1914 Yorck was recommissioned and assigned to III Scouting Group.
, which primarily consisted of the battlecruisers , , and and the large armored cruiser . The I Scouting Group, commanded by Rear Admiral Hipper, was ordered to bombard Great Yarmouth
on the English coast. The four large cruisers bombarded the port but inflicted little damage; minelayers laid minefields off the coast, which sank the submarine . Upon returning to the Helgoland Bight
late that day, Hipper's forces encountered heavy fog. The fog prevented the ships from entering Wilhelmshaven
; instead, they anchored for the night in the Schillig
roadstead
. Yorck attempted to enter Wilhelmshaven early on the 4th, but her crew made a navigational error which led the ship into a defensive minefield. She struck two German mines
and capsized and sank with heavy loss of life.
Sources disagree on the exact figures; V. E. Tarrant's Jutland: The German Perspective, states that 127 men out of a crew of 629 were rescued, while Erich Gröner's German Warships 1815–1945 indicates that there were only 336 fatalities. Daniel Butler's Distant Victory states that "some 235" men perished in the sinking. A contemporary New York Times article reported that the ship sank with the "loss of over 300 men." Yorck's commanding officer, Captain Piper, was among those rescued. In December 1914, he was subjected to a court-martial and convicted of negligence and failure to follow orders. The ship's wreck was partially scrapped in 1929–30; more work was done in 1965, though the ship was not completely removed until work resumed in 1982.
Seiner Majestät Schiff
Seiner Majestät Schiff was the ship prefix used by the Prussian Maritime Enterprise , the Prussian Navy, the Imperial German Navy and the Austro-Hungarian Navy...
", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was the second and final ship of the Roon-class
Roon class armored cruiser
The Roon class was a pair of armored cruisers built for the German Imperial Navy after the turn of the 20th century. The class comprised and , which closely resembled the earlier Prinz Adalbert class ships, but incorporated slight incremental improvements. The ships were easily distinguished from...
of 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...
s built for 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...
. Yorck was named for Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg, a Prussian field marshal
Generalfeldmarschall
Field Marshal or Generalfeldmarschall in German, was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire; in the Austrian Empire, the rank Feldmarschall was used...
. She was laid down in 1903 at the Blohm & Voss
Blohm + Voss
Blohm + Voss , is a German shipbuilding and engineering works. It is a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems; there were plans to sell 80% of Blohm + Voss to Abu Dhabi Mar Group, but talks collapsed in July 2011.-History:It was founded on April 5, 1877, by Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss as a...
shipyard 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...
, and finished in November 1905, at the cost of 16,241,000 Mark
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...
s. She displaced up to 9875 tonnes (9,719 LT) and was armed with a main battery of four 21 cm (8.3 in) guns. Her top speed was 20.4 kn (11.1 m/s).
The ship had a short career; she served with the fleet for the first seven years, after which she was decommissioned and placed in reserve. 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...
, she was reactivated and returned to front-line service. After returning from the raid on Yarmouth
Raid on Yarmouth
The Raid on Yarmouth, which took place on 3 November 1914, was an attack by the German Navy on the British North Sea port and town of Great Yarmouth. Little damage was done to the town since shells only landed on the beach after German ships laying mines offshore were interrupted by British...
on 3–4 November, the ship made a navigational error in heavy fog and accidentally sailed into a German defensive minefield. The ship sank quickly with heavy loss of life, though sources disagree on the exact number of fatalities. Her commander was subsequently brought before a court martial and convicted of negligence. Yorck was broken up incrementally, with work occurring in 1929–30, 1965, and finally completed in 1982.
Construction
Yorck was ordered under the provisional name Ersatz Deutschland and built at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in HamburgHamburg
-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...
under construction number 167. Her keel was laid in 1902 and she was launched on 14 May 1904. Fitting-out
Fitting-out
Fitting-out, or "outfitting”, is the process in modern shipbuilding that follows the float-out of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her owners...
work was completed by 21 November 1905, being commissioned into the Imperial German 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...
the same day. She had cost the Imperial German Government 16,241,000 Goldmarks
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...
.
Yorck displaced 9087 t (8,943.5 LT) as built and 9875 t (9,719 LT) fully loaded, with a length of 126.5 m (415 ft), a beam of 19.6 m (64.3 ft) and a draft of 7.43 m (24.4 ft) forward. She was powered by three vertical triple expansion engines, which developed a total of 17272 ihp and yielded a maximum speed of 20.4 kn (11.1 m/s) on trials. She carried up to 1630 t (1,604.3 LT) of coal, which enabled a maximum range of up to 5080 nautical miles (9,408.2 km) at a cruising speed of 12 kn (6.5 m/s).
She was armed with four 21 cm (8.3 in) guns arranged in two 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, one on either end of the 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 ten 15 cm (5.9 in) guns, fourteen 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns and four 45 cm (17.7 in) underwater torpedo tubes, one in the bow, one in the stern, and one on both beams.
Peacetime
Yorck was launched on 14 May 1904, and commissioned into the German navy on 21 November 1905. At the commissioning Field MarshalField Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Wilhelm von Hahnke
Wilhelm von Hahnke
Wilhelm Gustav Karl Bernhard von Hahnke was a Prussian Field Marshal.In 1888 he was appointed Chief of the German Imperial Military Cabinet....
spoke, saying, "old wisdom, si vis pacem, para bellum—he who wants peace shall be prepared for war...may the guns and machines of the Yorck be operated only by men with iron hearts and an iron will, men who know no other order than to put their lives at risk when the might, the greatness and honor of the German people are being fought for." After her commissioning, Yorck served with the fleet in the cruiser squadron. From 1 October 1911 to 26 January 1912 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...
, later commander-in-chief of the German navy, served as the ship's commanding officer.
In early March 1913, the fleet conducted maneuvers off the island of Helgoland in the North Sea. Early on 4 March, the destroyer fell out of formation in heavy seas and attempted to cross in front of Yorck. The destroyer was caught by a large wave and thrown into Yorck , which cut S178 in half. Out of a crew of 83 men, only 13 were pulled from the stormy sea. Yorck was decommissioned and laid up in the reserve fleet in May 1913 with most of her crew transferring to the newly completed battlecruiser . Hipper, by now the deputy commander of the battlecruiser squadron, stated that "the Seydlitz has a fine spirit and high morale, having carried over the spirit of the old Yorck crew." On 12 August 1914 Yorck was recommissioned and assigned to III Scouting Group.
First World War
On 3 November, Yorck participated in the first offensive operation of the war conducted by the German fleet. She augmented the forces assigned to the I Scouting GroupI Scouting Group
The I Scouting Group was a special reconnaissance unit within the German Kaiserliche Marine. The unit was famously commanded by Admiral Franz von Hipper during World War I. The I Scouting Group was one of the most active formations in the High Seas Fleet during the war; the unit took part in every...
, which primarily consisted of the battlecruisers , , and and the large armored cruiser . The I Scouting Group, commanded by Rear Admiral Hipper, was ordered to bombard Great Yarmouth
Raid on Yarmouth
The Raid on Yarmouth, which took place on 3 November 1914, was an attack by the German Navy on the British North Sea port and town of Great Yarmouth. Little damage was done to the town since shells only landed on the beach after German ships laying mines offshore were interrupted by British...
on the English coast. The four large cruisers bombarded the port but inflicted little damage; minelayers laid minefields off the coast, which sank the submarine . Upon returning to the Helgoland Bight
Heligoland Bight
The Heligoland Bight, also known as Helgoland Bight, is a bay which forms the southern part of the German Bight, itself a bay of the North Sea, located at the mouth of the Elbe river...
late that day, Hipper's forces encountered heavy fog. The fog prevented the ships from entering 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:...
; instead, they anchored for the night in the Schillig
Schillig
Schillig is a village in the Friesland district of Lower Saxony in Germany. It is situated on the west coast of Jade Bay and is north of the town of Wilhelmshaven.The approaches to the Bay and Willhelmshaven are known in English as the Schillig Roads....
roadstead
Roadstead
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...
. Yorck attempted to enter Wilhelmshaven early on the 4th, but her crew made a navigational error which led the ship into a defensive minefield. She struck two German mines
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
and capsized and sank with heavy loss of life.
Sources disagree on the exact figures; V. E. Tarrant's Jutland: The German Perspective, states that 127 men out of a crew of 629 were rescued, while Erich Gröner's German Warships 1815–1945 indicates that there were only 336 fatalities. Daniel Butler's Distant Victory states that "some 235" men perished in the sinking. A contemporary New York Times article reported that the ship sank with the "loss of over 300 men." Yorck's commanding officer, Captain Piper, was among those rescued. In December 1914, he was subjected to a court-martial and convicted of negligence and failure to follow orders. The ship's wreck was partially scrapped in 1929–30; more work was done in 1965, though the ship was not completely removed until work resumed in 1982.