The Bayern class was a class of four super-dreadnought battleships built by the German Kaiserliche Marine. The class comprised Bayern, Baden, Sachsen, and Württemberg. Only Baden and Bayern were completed, due to shipbuilding priorities changing as the war dragged on.
About Bayern-class battleship in brief
The Bayern class was a class of four super-dreadnought battleships built by the German Kaiserliche Marine. The class comprised Bayern, Baden, Sachsen, and Württemberg. Construction started on the ships shortly before World War I. Only Baden and Bayern were completed, due to shipbuilding priorities changing as the war dragged on. Bayern and Baden were interned at Scapa Flow following the Armistice in November 1918. Both ships were sunk on 21 June 1919; Bayern was successfully scuttled, though British guards managed to beach Baden to prevent her from sinking. Bayern was raised in 1934 and broken up the following year. Sachsen and Wurstemberg, both at various stages of completion when the war ended, were broken up for scrap metal. The ships were originally projected to be armed with eight 8cm anti-aircraft guns, though it was hoped that by the time they were completed they would have eight 8 cm guns. In August that year, the design staff prepared studies for ships armed with 35 cm, 38 cm, and 40 cm guns. The 40 cm caliber was set as the maximum, since it was assumed that British wire-wound guns larger than that could not be built. The decision to adopt the 38cm gun was formally taken on 6 January 1912, though the staff hoped that it was by the end of the year that the third member of the class would be completed. The ship was completed on 26 September 1914. It was commissioned into the fleet in July 1916 and March 1917, respectively, though neither ship took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May and 1 June 1916.
In October 1917, Bayern was assigned to the naval force that drove the Imperial Russian Navy from the Gulf of Riga during Operation Albion, though she was severely damaged by a mine and had to be withdrawn to Kiel for repairs. Baden replaced Friedrich der Grosse as the flagship of the High Seas Fleet, but saw no combat. In May 1910, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the State Secretary of the Reichsmarineamt, decided that budgetary constraints precluded the adoption of larger weapons. The next German battleship would also have to incorporate larger guns. It had become clear that other navies were moving to guns bigger than 30. 5 cm. The Weapons Department suggested a 32 cm gun, but the decision was made to go with a 35-cm gun. In September 1911, the Design Department proposed a 28,100 t ship armed with ten 35 cm guns in five turrets. This design was adopted as the basis for the next class of battleship on the basis that it would cost 57 million marks per vessel. The design staff also adopted the traditional steam turbines for the third ship, though they were not completed with any traditional steam turbine engines. By the time the ships were completed in 1914, the ship was expected to cost around 59.7 million marks.
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