SMS Ostfriesland was the second vessel of the Helgoland class of battleships of the Imperial German Navy. Named for the region of East Frisia, her keel was laid in October 1908 at the Kaiserliche Werft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven. The ship was equipped with twelve 30.5 cm guns in six twin turrets, and had a top speed of 21. 2 knots. She was assigned to the I Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet for the majority of her career, including World War I.
About SMS Ostfriesland in brief
SMS Ostfriesland was the second vessel of the Helgoland class of battleships of the Imperial German Navy. Named for the region of East Frisia, her keel was laid in October 1908 at the Kaiserliche Werft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven. The ship was equipped with twelve 30. 5 cm guns in six twin turrets, and had a top speed of 21. 2 knots. She was assigned to the I Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet for the majority of her career, including World War I. She participated in all of the major fleet operations in the North Sea against the British Grand Fleet, including the Battle of Jutland. After the German collapse in November 1918, she and her sisters were spared the destruction of the fleet in Scapa Flow by the victorious Allied powers as war reparations. In July 1921 she was transferred to the United States Navy, but was sunk during air power trials off the Virginia Capes in July 1921. She had a crew of 42 officers and 1,071 enlisted men, and was armed with a main battery of 12 30.5 cm SK L50 guns, with one turret fore, one aft, and two on each flank of the ship. For defense against torpedo boats, she carried fourteen 8. 8 cm SK L45 guns, all of which were mounted in casemates in the side of the upper deck. Her main armored belt was 300 mm thick in the central portion and was composed of Krupp cemented armor.
After 1915 the boilers were modified to spray oil on the coal; the ship could carry up to 197 metric tons of fuel oil. She also had six 50-cm submerged torpedo tubes; one was in the bow, one in the stern, andTwo on each broadside. Ostfrisland was christened by the Princess of Innhausen and Knyusen, a representative of the oldest East. Frisian nobility, on 30 September 1909 and was commissioned into the fleet on 1 August 1911. On 22 August 1911 she was formally assigned to Battle Squadron I and was formally commissioned into High Fleet 1. After commissioning, Ostfreesland was assigned the name Kapitän zur zur Kapitat zur Walter Engelhardt, and served as the first commanding officer of Battle Squadron 1 for three years. On 15 September 1911, she conducted sea trials, which were completed by 15 September. On 19 October 1908 she was ordered by the German Imperial Navy under the provisional name Ersatz Oldenburg, as a replacement for the old coastal defense ship Oldenburg. Work began on 19 October 2008 with the laying of her keer, and the ship was launched less than a year later, with the ship being christened on 30September 1909. She was 167. 2 m long, had a beam of 28. 5m and a draft of 8. 94 m, and displaced 24,700 metric tons at full load.
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