SUBMARINES.
“A” CLASS.—These submarines are the oldest in commission. The displacement is 204 tons, and on the surface they can travel at 12 knots, below water at 9 knots. They are armed with two torpedo tubes. Complement: 11 officers and men.
“B” CLASS.—These boats displace 314 tons, and have a surface and submerged speed of 13 and 9 knots respectively. They are armed with two torpedo tubes. Sixteen officers and men are carried.
“C” CLASS.—This class has a displacement of about 320 tons. Above water their speed is 14 knots, below it is 10 knots. They are fitted with two torpedo tubes, and have a crew of 16 officers and men.
“D” CLASS.—These are fairly new boats of about 550 tons displacement. On the surface the speed is 16 knots, below water it is 10 knots. They are armed with three torpedo tubes, and are also believed to have a quick-firing gun. The complement is about 20 officers and men.
“E” CLASS.
The “E” class comprises our latest boats, and no official details of the class have been published. The displacement, however, is about 800 tons, and the surface speed 16 knots. There are four torpedo tubes and two quick-firing guns, the latter being on disappearing mountings. About 25 officers and men are carried.
A.E. 1 and A.E. 2.
(Australian boats.)
These boats are identical with the “E” class.
NAUTILUS.
“F” CLASS.
SWORDFISH.
These boats, although not officially described, are known to be of extremely powerful type. They displace nearly 1,000 tons, can travel at 18 or 19 knots on the surface and 12 below, and are armed with six torpedo tubes and two guns. The complement is about 27 officers and men.
CHAPTER III
The German Navy
GERMAN BATTLESHIPS.
DREADNOUGHTS.
KÖNIG CLASS.
(Completed 1914-15.)
GROSSER KURFÜRST.
KÖNIG.
KRONPRINZ.
MARKGRAF.
The “König” class, to which these vessels belong, are the last battleships to carry the 12-in. gun, as the battleships laid down since are to be armed with 15-in. weapons. The “Königs” are considered by German experts to be very successful ships. The displacement is 25,500 tons, the length on the water-line 574 ft., and the engines are intended to develop 28,000 s.h.p. = 201⁄2 knots.
The normal coal supply is 1,000 tons, but, if necessary, no fewer than 3,600 tons of fuel, including oil, can be carried. Ten 12-in. guns, 50 cals. long, represent the main armament. They are mounted in five twin turrets, all on the centre line, so arranged that four guns can fire ahead or astern, and all ten on either broadside. Fourteen 5·9-in. quick-firing guns are mounted in an armoured broadside battery, seven being available on either beam.
There are also ten 21-pounder quick-firers for repelling torpedo attack. Five submerged torpedo tubes, to discharge the 193⁄4-in. torpedo, are fitted.
These ships are strongly armoured, having a belt 133⁄4 in. thick amidships, with good protection to guns and main fighting stations. The last vessel of this class, the “Kronprinz,” is not expected to be ready before next year.
The complement numbers 1,130.
KAISER CLASS.
(Completed 1912-13.)
KAISER.
FRIEDRICH DER GROSSE.
KAISERIN.
PRINZREGENT LUITPOLD.
KÖNIG ALBERT.
In design the ships of this class are very similar to our “Neptune” class, but are much larger, the displacement being 24,300 tons. The designed speed is 201⁄2 knots, but some ships of the class did much better than this on trial, one of them, the “Kaiser,” steaming at 231⁄2 knots for a short period. These were the first German battleships to be fitted with turbines.
The armament consists of ten 12-in. guns, fourteen 5·9-in., and twelve 21-pounder quick-firers, with five submerged torpedo tubes. The big guns are twin-mounted in five turrets, two of which are placed diagonally amidships, whilst the other three turrets are on the centre line. By this means all the big guns can be trained on either broadside, through a fairly wide arc. Stern fire is nominally from eight, bow fire from six guns. The 5·9-in. quick-firers are in an armoured battery.
A feature of this class is the very strong armour belt, which is 133⁄4 in. over vital parts amidships. Each ship carries 1,080 officers and men, but the Friedrich der Grosse, which is the flagship of the commander-in-chief, has a complement of more than 1,100.
Two vessels of this class, “Kaiser” and “König Albert,” recently completed an ocean cruise of 20,000 miles, and are said to have proved excellent sea boats. Their maximum fuel capacity is 3,600 tons.
HELGOLAND CLASS.
(Completed 1911-12.)
HELGOLAND.
OSTFRIESLAND.
THÜRINGEN.
OLDENBURG.
The “Helgoland” class, to which these vessels belong, represents the second group of German Dreadnoughts. They are undoubtedly powerful units, but the design has been sharply criticised in Germany. Displacing 22,440 tons, and with a designed speed of twenty knots, which has been slightly exceeded in service, this class is armed with twelve 12-in., fourteen 5·9-in., fourteen 21-pounders, and six submerged torpedo tubes.
The big guns are in twin turrets, of which four are placed on the broadside, and two on the centre-line. This disposition allows only eight guns to be trained on either beam; in other words, only 66 per cent. of the heavy armament is available on the broadside. The designers have explained this apparent defect by pointing out that if the ship were attacked on both sides simultaneously it could reply effectively on each broadside. Nevertheless, this system was not approved by German experts, and was subsequently abandoned in favour of a turret disposition which permits the free use of all big guns on each beam, as in the “Kaiser” and “König” classes.
The “Helgolands” have 113⁄4-in. armour on the water-line. They are very steady in rough weather, and all have done well at gunnery. The maximum coal supply is 3,000 tons. A complement of 1,106 officers and men is carried.
NASSAU CLASS.
(Completed 1909-10.)
NASSAU.
WESTFALEN.
RHEINLAND.
POSEN.
The “Nassau” class, to which these vessels belong, were the first Dreadnoughts to be built by Germany. For their size they have an extremely powerful armament, but too much was obviously attempted on the displacement, and they are admittedly failures.
These ships displace 18,600 tons. They have exceeded their designed speed of nineteen knots by more than one knot.
The armament comprises twelve 11-in., twelve 5·9-in., sixteen 21-pounders, and six submerged torpedo tubes. Owing to the disposition of the four broadside turrets only eight of the big guns can be used on one broadside, so that the ships, in spite of their more numerous armament, can train only the same number of heavy guns on the beam as the British Dreadnought. So much room is taken up by the gun positions and their magazines, &c., that space between decks is very limited, and the officers and men can scarcely be accommodated.
Over vital parts of the hull there is 111⁄2-in. armour, but the turrets have much thinner protection. It is held by experts that these ships would be quickly put out of action if subjected to heavy fire, and it is considered doubtful whether they would be able to stand for long the concussion of their own numerous heavy guns.
The complement is 966 officers and men. The full coal capacity is 2,700 tons.