SMS Moltke

History

The German battlecruiser SMS Moltke was the capital ship of her class, consisting of two ships, her sister became SMS Goeben. The Moltke class was designed in early 1907 to be an improved version of the earlier Von der Tann battlecruisers. Moltke and her twin sisters were designed to counter British ships by combining speed and firepower, and she was named after German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke, who later became chief of staff of the Prussian Army and eventually held that position for 30 years. Mao Odd proved to be a great military strategist in the late 19th century and became a national hero and celebrity in Germany.

The German Empire served his country with more than 50 monuments erected in his honor.

During construction, SMS Moltke was identified as "Cruiser G", officially named on April 7, 1910, and officially commissioned with the German Imperial Navy on September 30, 1911. At the time, the British Indefatigable-class battlecruisers posed a significant threat to German naval superiority, and Moltke was developed as her opponent - she carried more tonnage, increased armor and firepower, and added a main turret.

Moltke's Design

Moltke's supplementary strength was 1,050 officers and men, increasing to 1,350 sailors during the war. She measures 615.78 ft (186.6 m) long, beam is 97.0 ft (30.33 m) wide, and her draft is reduced to 29.4 ft (9.19 m). She weighs 22,979 tons unladen and displaces 25,400 tons when fully loaded.

The Moltke was a streamlined, low-profile ship with 34 guns (as is), including five twin 10 x 11.1 in mm) gun, which could fire a 1,000-pound shell over a distance of 14 miles (513 yards, 23 km). Five towers are installed as a front, two in the echelon and a pair on the aft deck.

The guns were capable of firing 3 salvos per minute, and the aircraft fired a total of 810 roundsbasically enough for 80 full salvos.

The mount for the 11.1" gun uses an electric pump to power hydraulic jacks, while the gun's training is powered by a generator. When positioning the turret, the turret "A" ("Anton") was placed on the centerline of the bow. The "B" turret was located on the starboard side between two funnels off-centre, near the outer deck railing. The "C" and "D" turrets, paired for stability, were located on the centerline behind the rear mast.

The "C" towers are mounted above the "D" towers for maximum clearance, both facing the stern of the main deck. The "E" tower is located aft of the port side of the midship funnel and forward of the stern conning tower.

Three of the five main towers are located on the centerline to ensure stability at sea.

This arrangement of the main turrets provided close to maximum firepower, with turrets A, C, D and E capable of firing eight guns to port and turrets A, B, C and D capable of firing the same rounds to starboard. If a battlecruiser had to flee a larger, heavier (and therefore slower) battleship, she could fire eight guns aft (B, C, D, and E) against one that could carry up to one or two The ship with the main turret is in Moltke. When a battlecruiser pursued an enemy cruiser, Turrets A, B, and E could fire 11.1-inch six-gun salvos from their 6-inch artillery arrays at the fleeing ship.

These guns were an improvement, albeit initially with a reduced range, as the maximum elevation angle was only 13.5 degrees. After the Battle of Jutland (May-June 1916), SMS Moltke increased the elevation angle of their 10 x 11.1 inch guns to 16 degrees, which in turn increased their range by 2,000 yards (6,000 ft, 1.12 km) .

The auxiliary gun mounted is a 12 x 5.9 in (15 cm) SKL/45 rapid-fire 150 mm gun. Their positions were arranged by turrets on the second deck, and the crew was protected by armor inside the hull. Six guns were placed on the port side and six on the starboard side, and these guns could fire broadsides against smaller attacking surface ships, thereby torpedoing the Moltke's hull. Port and starboard guns could fire directly aft and forward if desired, and a small number of 12 x 3.45" SKL/45 88mm anti-aircraft guns were placed on the ship at the time of construction. Four were found in the forward conning tower (main bridge area), two were found in the rear tower, two were found on the forward main deck (to protect the bridge), and the rest were scattered on the available decks around the ship.

Two 19.7" (500 mm) underwater torpedo tubes were placed, one on centerline below the bow to fire forward and the other aft aft to port - carrying 12 torpedoes, 3 per launch station.

Protection

"Battlecruisers" classified as naval warships have more armor than traditional ocean cruisers, but less than battleships. Moltke's armored decks provide protection from 3.2 inches above the engine and ammunition bays to 1 inch above areas requiring less protection. To protect against torpedo attacks, Blom and Voss used Krupp steel for the 10.7-inch armor belt from the "A" turret to the "D" turret below the waterline. Belt armor near the stern reduced to 4 inches. The spacer armor is 8 to 4 inches thick, and the AA batteries have 8 to 6 inches of protection.

The 6-inch turret followed, with 9-inch armor in the front, thinned to 1.2 inches on the sides. The 11" main gun turret is 9" thick at the top to prevent dive fire, and the curved front is used to deflect horizontal fire.

The armor on the rear of the 11" turret is 2.4" thick, and the Krupp armor plate up to the rear door and conning tower is 14" maximum and 0.2" minimum.

Driving

Moltke's propulsion unit consists of 4 x Schulz Thornycroft coal-fired boilers that generate the steam needed to run 4 x Parsons steam turbines. These use pressurized steam to generate rotational motion to drive the 4 shafts below, each delivering 85,782 hp (63,968 kW). The propeller blades are 12.3 feet (3.74 meters) in diameter. The servos are connected to 2 rudders, one in front of the other. As planned, the turbines are capable of 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h, 29.3 mph), a top speed of 28.4 knots (52.6 km/h, 32.7 mph), and shorter distances.

Their range depends on the coal transported and fed to the boiler, as well as the fresh water supply on board and the supply of the crew. Their standard coal bunker can hold 1100 tons of coal and the largest can hold 3300 tons of coal. Later, 200 tons of oil tanks were added.

Operating range also depends on their fuel supply and weather - calm weather means a steam range of about 4,120 nautical miles (7,630 km, 4,740 miles) at 14 knots (26 km/h, 16 mph) with maximum operation The range is 6,500 nautical miles (12,038 km). ; 7,480 miles) at 10 knots.

Miscellaneous Design

Moltke ships with two heavy lift cranes, one on each side of the midship hopper. Their purpose was to lower and increase the port's supplies, from coal to general cargo, and to manage the captain's two ships and two ships, which were stored opposite the "B" and "E" towers on the high seas. Two smaller quarter boats were suspended from two davits on the side of the boat opposite the midship funnel. Captains Gigs are ships with smart lines used to bring captains or other officers to shore and bring them back to the ship.

The show is 20 feet long and 3 to 6 feet wide, with 6 to 8 oars and a lig sail. The anchor is 30 feet long, rowed by 12 oars (6 on each side) and has a pair of sails for carrying sailors to and from shore when the boat cannot dock. The boats were not used as lifeboats because the crew numbered between 1,000 and 1,350 people - there was simply not enough space.

Instead, everyone got a life jacket, and most had access to an inflatable boat.

Service in World War I

From May 1912 to June 1914, Morquette served as the flagship of Admiral Hipper after sea trials. The First World War officially began on July 28, 1914, and Mauch returned to the main base of the North Sea High Seas Fleet - Wilhelmshaven, the port city of Cuxhaven at the mouth of the Elbe River, which is an important military base. Base in the North Sea during the First World War (1914-1918).

Moltke then took part in the raid on Yarmouth, England, on 3 November 1914, shelling ports and towns in the English North Sea. Shortly thereafter, on 16 December, she shelled the Hartlepool port base.

During the shelling, she was hit again by a 6-inch shell from the British shore gun, causing little damage. On 24 January 1915, she took part in the Battle of Dogger Beach (1915) and was forced to retreat when the battleships HMS Lion and HMS Princess Royal opened fire on her.

For the next six months, Moltke was assigned to support the attack on the Baltic Gulf of Riga (August 1915) in August 1915, while Moltke was patrolling the North Sea. During the attack, a British submarine fired a torpedo towards her bow along the port side of the torpedo room.

The hole was not repaired until about 500 tons of water was poured into the boat -- the explosion itself killed eight people. She started her water pump and found she could do about 15 knots, so she was ordered back to port to make repairs on her own. Her repairs kept her in port until June 1916, when she went to sea again with the High Seas Fleet, just in time to attack the British Home Fleet in the North Sea off Jutland, Denmark. The fighting began on May 31 and continued until June 1, 1916, making it the largest naval operation of World War I. SMS Moltke attacked two British battlecruisers, the HMS Tiger (the most heavily armoured battlecruiser of the Royal Navy at the start of the war) and the Indefatigable-class battlecruiser HMS New Zealand. Moltke fired 359 x 11-inch shells at two British warships with her five turrets, hitting the Tiger with 13 rounds.

Moltke was hit by the worst fire, with four hits from one of her 5.9-inch (15-cm) guns, killing 16 and injuring 20, causing considerable high-altitude casualties.

Once again, Moltke had to return to Hamburg for repairs, which took two months until the end of July 1916. After the repairs, Moltke was again assigned to patrol the North Atlantic. Lieutenant-General Erhard Schmidt chose her as his flagship in early 1917, and in October took part in raids on the Baltic Islands as part of Schmidt's fleet.

In November 1917, she assisted in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bay. For the next four months, she patrolled the North Sea before being assigned to the High Seas Fleet. During the two days of April 23-24, 1918, the fleet fought its last major war when it attacked the Anglo-Scandinavian convoy. Moltke will play an important role, using her speed to locate British ships. On the morning of April 24, Moltke's starboard inboard propeller flew out, accelerating the turbine and causing the engine to explode.

This allowed debris to enter the auxiliary condenser, causing nearly 2,000 tons of seawater to flood the central engine room. The boiler was flooded with sea water, forcing the engine to shut down.

Moltke was dead in the water while her divers were dispatched to the stern side of the boat to close the external valve and stop the inflow of water. Unable to generate electricity, the Moltke was towed back to port while her crew worked to restore power. The hard work paid off, and at 17:10 the next day, the boiler and engine were running and she was able to dodge under her own power at 17 knots.

While the British submarine E42 was operating in the area, Moltke continued on to the maintenance pier. At around 22:30, E42 spotted Moltke and torpedoed her. A hole created on her side flooded 1,761 tons of water, reducing her speed to 10 knots but still allowing her to reach port on her own. Her engine and damaged hull were repaired and she received a new propeller at Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven.

The work was completed on September 9, 1918.

The end of the war

Moltke returned to sea and participated in training operations in the Baltic until 3 October 1918. The Germans knew at this point that the war was lost, but believed that a favorable naval battle between the High Seas Fleet and the British Home Fleet would force the Allies to finally give Germany an advantage.

On October 24, 1918, an order to leave Wilhelmshaven was issued. That night, with word that the fleet was about to die in the final trench warfare, the sailors began to abandon their ships.

Some of the crew defected, others refused to weigh in, and still others sabotaged the battleships Thuringia and Helgoland to prevent them from producing steam. On 1 November, Moltke was appointed flagship of Admiral von Reuter's 1st Reconnaissance Group, and her crew remained loyal to her.

At this point in the war, the pressure on the German Empire was mounting, and on November 11, 1918, the armistice officially ended World War I - the armistice that marked the end of the German Empire in history.