Brandenburg-class battleship
SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: | |
| Succeeded by: | Kaiser Friedrich III-class battleship |
| Built: | 1890—94 |
| In commission: | 1893—1938 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| Scrapped: | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Battleship |
| Displacement: | 10,013 t (9,855 long tons) |
| Length: | 115.7 m (379 ft 7 in) |
| Beam: | 19.5 m (64 ft 0 in) |
| Draft: | 7.6 m (24 ft 11 in) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
| Range: | 4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 568 |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: | |
The four Brandenburg-class pre-dreadnought battleships were Germany's first ocean-going battleships. They were also the first German warship, of any type, to be fitted with wireless communications. The class comprised Brandenburg, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm, Weissenburg, and Wörth. All were laid down in 1890 and completed by 1893, except for Weissenburg, which was completed in 1894. The lead ship, Brandenburg, was built at the cost of 9.3 million Marks and Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm cost 11.23 million Marks. The British Royal Navy derisively referred to the ships as the "whalers."
Brandenburg and her three sisters served in a wide range of roles. In 1900, the four ships were deployed to China during the Boxer Rebellion, after which they were substantially modernized. In 1910, two of the ships, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm and Weissenburg, were sold to the Ottoman Navy. Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm was sunk in 1915 by a British submarine while Weissenburg survived the war, only to be broken up in 1938. Brandenburg and Wörth saw limited service during World War I as coastal defense ships before they were withdrawn for auxiliary duties. Both ships were sold for scrapping in May 1919.
The Brandenburg-class ships were the first ocean-going battleships built by the German Navy. They followed a number of coastal defense ships, including the Siegfried and Odin classes that were only intended for local defense of the German coastline. Design work on the ships began in late 1888, under the leadership of Vice Admiral Alexander von Monts, who also secured funding for the new ships from the Reichstag. Admiral von Monts was the first naval officer appointed by the recently crowned Kaiser Wilhelm II.
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Wikipedia