BRAUNSCHWEIG.
ELSASS.
PREUSSEN.
HESSEN.
LOTHRINGEN.
The same in every respect as the “Deutschland” class, except that the armour belt is only 9-in. thick.
WITTELSBACH CLASS.
(Completed 1902-03.)
WITTELSBACH.
WETTIN.
ZÄHRINGEN.
SCHWABEN.
MECKLENBURG.
The “Wittelsbach” class, to which these vessels belong, has the following characteristics: Displacement, 11,643 tons; speed 18 knots; armament, four 9·4-in., eighteen 5·9-in., twelve 21-pounders, and six submerged torpedo tubes. Amidships there is a belt of 9-in. armour, with 10-in. plating on the big-gun turrets.
Although the heavy guns are too weak for modern tactics, the exceptionally powerful secondary battery was considered to compensate for this defect. To older ships of the pre-Dreadnought period the “Wittelsbach” class might still prove formidable opponents.
In service they have been found defective in sea-keeping qualities, and the high freeboard and lofty superstructure offer an inviting target to hostile guns.
Normally these ships form part of the reserve fleet. Proposals to reconstruct and modernise them two years ago were rejected, on the ground of their insignificant fighting value.
The coal supply is 1,800 tons. A complement of 683 officers and men is borne.