Global InformationList of battleships of Germany information
The German navies—specifically the Kaiserliche Marine and Kriegsmarine of Imperial and Nazi Germany, respectively—built a series of battleships between the 1890s and 1940s. To defend its North and Baltic Sea coasts in wartime, Germany had previously built a series of smaller ironclad warships, including coastal defense ships, and armored frigates.[a][1] With the accession to the throne of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1888, the Kaiserliche Marine began a program of naval expansion befitting a Great Power.[2] The navy immediately pushed for the construction of the four Brandenburg-class battleships, after which soon followed five Kaiser Friedrich III-class ships.[3] The appointment of Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz to the post of State Secretary of the Navy in 1897 accelerated naval construction. Tirpitz's "risk theory" planned a fleet that would be sufficiently powerful so that Great Britain, then the world's preeminent naval power, would avoid risking war with Germany in order to preserve its superiority.[4]
Tirpitz secured a series of Naval Laws between 1900 and 1912 that drastically increased the budget of the navy and authorized scores of battleships; the final law envisioned a fleet of some 41 battleships, 25 of which would have been assigned to the High Seas Fleet, with the remainder in reserve.[5] Following the Kaiser Friedrich III class were the Wittelsbach, Braunschweig, and Deutschland classes, the last pre-dreadnoughts built in Germany.[6] The launch of the "all-big-gun" HMS Dreadnought in 1906 revolutionized battleship construction, and forced Tirpitz to radically alter his shipbuilding plan.[7] In order to remain in the battleship race, Tirpitz secured the funds for the first four German dreadnoughts, the Nassau class, which were laid down beginning in June 1907.[8] The four Helgolands followed in 1908, as well as the five Kaisers in 1909–1910.[9] Four König-class battleships were laid down in 1911–1912, and four Bayern-class battleships were laid down in 1913–1915,[10] though only two—Bayern and Baden—were completed.[11] Germany's defeat in 1918 resulted in the internment of the majority of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow; the ships were eventually scuttled on 21 June 1919 to prevent them from being seized by the British Royal Navy.[12] Of the ten battleships interned, only one, Baden, was prevented from sinking; she was later expended as a gunnery target by the Royal Navy.[11]
Following the war, Germany was limited to eight pre-dreadnought battleships, two of which would be in reserve. New warships were severely limited in terms of armament and size.[13] Admiral Erich Raeder was appointed the commander of the German navy in 1928.[14] Raeder initially employed a cautious strategy vis a vis the government of the Weimar Republic. However, the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in 1933 allowed Raeder opportunity to expand the fleet. Hitler's government negotiated the Anglo-German Naval Agreement in 1935, which stipulated the German navy could rebuild to 35 percent of the strength of the Royal Navy.[15] The first new battleships built in Germany were the two Scharnhorst-class ships, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in 1935. The two Bismarck-class battleships followed in 1936; Bismarck was completed in 1940 and Tirpitz in 1941.[16] Plan Z was formulated in 1939 to rebuild the German navy; the plan called for six additional battleships of the H-39 class.[17] Two of them were laid down in mid-1939, though they were canceled within two months, due to the outbreak of World War II in September 1939. The other four were canceled without any work being done.[18] Bismarck, Tirpitz, and Scharnhorst were sunk during the war and Gneisenau was scuttled in Gotenhafen in 1945.[19] Further design studies were drawn up, culminating in the massive H-44 class, but they were not serious proposals due to the infeasibility and expense of the ships.[20]
| Main guns | The number and type of the main battery guns |
|---|---|
| Displacement | Ship displacement at full combat load |
| Propulsion | Number of shafts, type of propulsion system, and top speed generated |
| Service | The dates work began and finished on the ship and its ultimate fate |
| Laid down | The date the keel began to be assembled |
| Commissioned | The date the ship was commissioned |
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- ^ Herwig, pp. 13–14.
- ^ Herwig, pp. 17–18.
- ^ Herwig, pp. 24–26.
- ^ Campbell & Sieche, p. 134.
- ^ Campbell & Sieche, pp. 134–135.
- ^ Gröner, pp. 16–20.
- ^ Herwig, pp. 54–57.
- ^ Herwig, p. 59.
- ^ Gröner, pp. 24–26.
- ^ Gröner, pp. 27–28.
- ^ a b Gröner, p. 30.
- ^ Herwig, p. 256.
- ^ Sieche, p. 218.
- ^ Bird, p. 73.
- ^ Sieche, pp. 219–220.
- ^ Gröner, pp. 31–33.
- ^ Sieche, p. 220.
- ^ Sturton, p. 48.
- ^ Sieche, pp. 224–225.
- ^ Gröner, pp. 37–38.