GROSSER KURFÜRST
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Nationality: |
Germany |
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| Type: | BB | ||||||||||||||||||
| Class: | KÖNIG - four ships in class | ||||||||||||||||||
| Builder: | A G Vulcan, Hamburg | ||||||||||||||||||
| Completed: | September, 1914 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Displacement: | 25,390 tons | ||||||||||||||||||
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Dimensions: (in feet and inches) |
575' 6" x 96' 9" x 27' 3" | ||||||||||||||||||
| Armor: |
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| Machinery: | 3-shaft AEG Vulcan turbines, 15 Schulz-Thornycroft boilers; 31,000shp. Coal: 3,540 tons. Oil: 690 tons. Range: 8,000nm at 12 knots; 4,000nm at 18 knots. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Speed: | 21 knots | ||||||||||||||||||
| Armament: |
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| Compliment: | 1,136 |
Sister ships: KÖNIG, MARKGRAF, KRONPRINZ (renamed KRONPRINZ WILHELM on 15 June 1918)
Notes: These ships were an improvement on the preceding KAISER class battleships, especially in the layout of main battery turrets; all five were on the center line, with superfiring pairs both fore and aft. The funnels were closer together than the KAISERs. All four exceeded speed requirements on trials; the GROSSER KURFÜRST supposedly reached 24 knots, but was outpaced by KÖNIG at Jutland. They were regarded as very good sea boats.
Upon commissioning, GROSSER KURFÜRST joined with her sister ships to form the 3rd Squadron, 5th Division of the High Seas Fleet. GROSSER KURFÜRST took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. Her gun crews expended 135 rounds of 12" ammunition, 216 rounds of 5.9", and two rounds of 3.5". GROSSER KURFÜRST's gun crews scored three 5.9" hits on the destroyer MOORSOM, while evading two torpedoes fired in return. They scored an unknown number of 12" hits from two salvos fired on the armored cruiser DEFENCE. Just after 0200 hours on 1 June, British destroyers attacked the 5th Division. A single 5.9" hit was scored on the destroyer NESSUS, while GROSSER KURFÜRST avoided two more torpedoes fired at her. During the course of the battle, GROSSER KURFÜRST took five 15" hits (from the BARHAM and/or VALIANT) and three 13.5" hits from the MARLBOROUGH. She suffered a fire forward of the "A" barbette which burnt a large area, but did not affect her fighting abilities. One of MARLBOROUGH's hits caused quite a bit of flooding, but once again, this did not diminish her fighting abilities -- though it did cause some trouble upon return to port for repairs. 15 of her crew were killed, and another 20 wounded. Following repairs (which lasted until 20 July 1916), GROSSER KURFÜRST returned to service. She was torpedoed by the British submarine J 1 on 5 November 1916; the hit jammed her port rudder, but she was able to return for repairs. GROSSER KURFÜRST struck a mine in the Gulf of Riga on 12 October 1917; her watertight compartments and torpedo bulkheads limited flooding to less than 280 tons. Along with most of the High Seas Fleet, GROSSER KURFÜRST was scuttled at Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919. She was raised and broken up in 1936.
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Superior G903 |