SMS Oldenburg

SMS Oldenburg

SMS Oldenburg was the fourth vessel of the Helgoland class of battleships of the Imperial German Navy. She was assigned to I Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet for the majority of her career, including World War I. Oldenburg participated in all of the major fleet operations of the war against the British Grand Fleet, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May and 1 June 1916. She also saw action in the Baltic Sea against the Imperial Russian Navy. After the German collapse in November 1918, she was interned and then scuttled in Scapa Flow during the peace negotiations. In 1920, Japan sold the vessel to a British ship-breaking firm, and she was broken up for scrap in Dordrecht in

About SMS Oldenburg in brief

Summary SMS OldenburgSMS Oldenburg was the fourth vessel of the Helgoland class of battleships of the Imperial German Navy. 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 I Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet for the majority of her career, including World War I. Oldenburg participated in all of the major fleet operations of the war against the British Grand Fleet, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May and 1 June 1916. She also saw action in the Baltic Sea against the Imperial Russian Navy. After the German collapse in November 1918, she was interned and then scuttled in Scapa Flow during the peace negotiations. In 1920, Japan sold the vessel to a British ship-breaking firm, and she was broken up for scrap in Dordrecht in 1921. Her three sisters had been ordered for 1908, but because of budget constraints, Oldenburg’s order was delayed until 1909. She had a crew of 42 officers and 1,027 enlisted men, and displaced 24,700 metric tons at full load. Her main armored belt was 300 mm thick in the central portion, and was composed of Krupp cemented armor. Her main battery gun turrets were protected by the same thickness of KCA on the sides and faces, as well as the barbettes that supported the turrets.

Her secondary battery consisted of fourteen 15 cm SK L45 guns, all of which were mounted in casemates in the side of the upper deck. For defense against torpedo boats, she carried fourteen 8.8 cm SK L 45 guns. After 1914, two of the 8. 8  cm guns were removed and replaced by 8. 4 cm anti-aircraft guns; later, an additional two 8. 6 cm  guns were replaced with anti- aircraft guns. She could steam for 5,500 nautical miles at a speed of 10 knots. After 1915 the boilers were modified to burn oil, which would be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate; the ship could carry up to 197 metric tons. She was 167. 2 m long, had a beam of 28.5 m and a draft of 8. 94 m, and displaced 24,700  metric tons at full load. The engines were rated at 28,000 metric horsepower and were capable of producing a topSpeed of 20. 8 knots. The vessel was built under the provisional name Ersatz Frithjof, as a replacement for the old coastal defense ship FrithJof. The contract for the ship was awarded to the Schichau-Werke shipyard in Danzig under construction number 828. The State Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, gave the contract to the shipbuilder before the shipbuilding budget had been approved.