SMS Baden

SMS Baden

SMS Baden was a Bayern-class dreadnought battleship of the German Imperial Navy built during World War I. Launched in October 1915 and completed in March 1917, she was the last battleship completed for use in the war. The ship mounted eight 38-centimeter guns in four twin turrets, displaced 32,200 metric tons at full combat load, and had a top speed of 21 knots. She saw little action during her short career; the only major sortie in April 1918 ended without any combat.

About SMS Baden in brief

Summary SMS BadenSMS Baden was a Bayern-class dreadnought battleship of the German Imperial Navy built during World War I. Launched in October 1915 and completed in March 1917, she was the last battleship completed for use in the war. The ship mounted eight 38-centimeter guns in four twin turrets, displaced 32,200 metric tons at full combat load, and had a top speed of 21 knots. She was the largest and most powerfully armed battleship built by the Imperial Navy. Baden saw little action during her short career; the only major sortie in April 1918 ended without any combat. Following the German collapse in November 1918, Baden was interned with the majority of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow by the British Royal Navy. On 21 June 1919, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered the scuttling of the fleet. However, British sailors in the harbor managed to board Baden and beach her to prevent her sinking. In 1921, the ship was refloated, thoroughly examined, and eventually sunk in extensive gunnery testing by the Royal Navy in 1921. Her name was changed to SMS Ersatz in 1912 and she passed the final Naval Naval Law in 1912 under the name Wörthern in 1913. The Bayern class was the fourth and final ship to be completed by the German Navy during the war; two of her sisters—Sachsen and Württemberg—were incomplete when the war ended.

The ships were the first German warship armed with eight 38 cm SK L45 guns. Her secondary armament consisted of sixteen 15 cm and eight 8 cm guns, and five 60 cm underwater torpedo tubes, one in the bow and two on each beam. She had an armored belt that was 170–350 mm thick and an armored deck that was 60–100 mm thick. She carried a crew of 42 officers and 1,129 enlisted men, and was designed to carry a full load of combat supplies, fuel, and other operational necessities; at fullcombat load, she displaced up to 32,000 metric tons. Her design speed was 21 knots, but Baden achieved a maximum speed of 22. 1 knots. Baden’s displacement was more than 3,000 t greater than that of the preceding König-class ships, making her the largest battleshipBuilt in Danzig, Germany, the Bayern class began construction in 1913 and was completed on 30 October 1915. Work was delayed considerably by the start of World I, first by the Russian advance into East Prussia and then by the Battle of Tannenberg. Once work resumed in earnest, work on those projects were diverted to complete the exisers Elbing and Pillau and the light cruisers Lützow and Elbing, Pillau, Elbing and Pillau were completed in 1915 and 1915, respectively. In 1916, work was checked at the shipyards that threatened Prussia’s advance into the East East.