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  Wittelsbach  

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
Wittelsbach		25	Wilhelmshaven KW	1899	3.7.1900	15.10.1902	drill and depot ship 1916
Wettin		676	Schichau, Danzig	1899	6.6.1901	1.10.1902	drill and depot ship 1916
Zähringen		86	Germaniawerft, Kiel	1899	12.6.1901	25.10.1902	drill ship 1916
Schwaben		27	Wilhelmshaven KW	1900	19.8.1901	13.4.1904	drill ship 1916
Mecklenburg		248	Vulcan, Stettin	1900	9.11.1901	25.6.1903	prison ship 1916

Technical data

Displacement normal, t	12596
Displacement full, t	12798
Length, m	126.8 oa 125.2 wl
Breadth, m	20.8 (22.8 by secondary turrets)
Draught, m	8.04
No of shafts	3
Machinery	Wittelsbach, Zähringen, Schwaben: 3 VTE, 6 Marine + 6 cylindrical boilers Wettin, Mecklenburg: 3 VTE, 6 Thornycroft + 6 cylindrical boilers
Power, h. p.	14000
Max speed, kts	17.5
Fuel, t	coal 1800 + oil 200
Endurance, nm(kts)	5000(10)
Armour, mm	belt: 225 - 100, deck: 50 with 120 - 75mm slopes, main turrets: 250, secondary turrets: 150, gunshields: 70, casemates: 140, CT: 250 - 140
Armament	2 x 2 - 238/37 SK L/40 C/98, 18 x 1 - 150/37 SK L/40 C/97, 12 x 1 - 88/27 SK L/30 C/89, 12 x 1 - 7.9/80, 6 - 450 TT (1 bow, 2 beam, 1 stern)
Complement	683

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Project history

The Wittelsbach class were the first battleships to be ordered under Tirpitz's Navy Law of 1898 but marked no great step forward in German design as they resembled their predecessors in most respects, although the armour belt was rather more extensive.

Ship protection

Main belt had 225mm thickness between barbettes, tapering to 100mm at lower edge. Its thickness decreased to 100mm from fore barbette to stem and abreast aft barbette. After end of the waterline was unprotected. The belt had 100mm teak backing. Main  50mm protective deck was connected with lower edge of the belt by the slopes, 75mm-thick inside the citadel and 120mm-thick fore and aft. Main gun turrets had 250mm sides and 50mm crowns, secondary turrets had 150mm sides, casemates had 140mm protection, gunshields for 88mm guns had 70mm thickness. Main CT had 250mm sides and 30mm roof, aft CT had 140mm sides and 30mm roof.

Modernizations

None.

Naval service

By 1916 they were considered useless as fighting ships and disarmed. Zähringen was used as a target ship in 1917. After the end of the war she was hulked, but in 1926 she was converted to a radio controlled target ship, with only a two-shaft machinery installation. She was bombed and sunk at Gdynia (Gotenhafen) in 1944 and broken up where she lay. Wittelsbach and Schwaben were converted to depot ships for minesweeping motor launches, carrying 12 each, but they did not last long in this role.