Six heavy guns, one unusual battery
Three twin-gun turrets gave the class a powerful but unconventional centerline battery at the beginning of Germany's ocean-going battleship era.
10670tMaximum displacement
115,7 mOverall length
16,9 knMaximum speed
568 - 591Complement
Design and service
The story of Wörth
The four battleships (the official German designation was Linienschiff) of the Brandenburg class were the first attempt to build real battleships, in difference to their predecessors which were mainly build as coast defence ships. They were the strongest ships of the German navy when they were commissioned. Although they were quite maneuverable ships with a fast turning speed, they tend to take over much water in heavy seas, something that would be characteristically for almost all German battleships. Their 28cm guns could only be loaded in end-on position and had a slow firing rate once the ammunition stored in the turret itself was used up, the barrels of the medium turrets were shorter than those of the others because of the surrounding superstructure.
As part of the 1st Linienschiff Division, they took part in the international intervention in China after the so called "Boxer-insurrection" in 1900 and 1901.
The Wörth was used for coast defence in WW1. Being a floating barrack from 1915 on, it was scrapped in 1919.
Operational history
Service timeline
Wörth is commissioned.
Training and trials.
Wörth is used as flagship during the autumn fleet manouvers.
Assigned to the 1st division.
The Wörth is used for an experiment in the Kiel Channel: Six tugboats tow the ships through the channel to see how fast this is possible.
The ship runs aground near Kiel.
Repairs Wilhelmshaven.
Sent to South East Asia, leaves Kiel.
Arrival in Hongkong.
Stationed at Taku.
Repairs in Nagasaki.
Sent back to Germany.
Arrival in Wilhelmshaven.
Repairs in Kiel.
Decommissioned.
Modernization and refits.
Recommissioned.
Wörth runs aground near Kiel, ship can be freed after two days.
The battleship rams the torpedo boat S124, three crew members are killed on board of the boat.
Wörth is assigned to the reserve division in the North Sea.
Decommissioned.
Recommissioned for the autumn maneuvers.
Recommissioned for the autumn maneuvers.
With the outbreak of World War I, the Wörth is recommissioned and attached to the 5th Sqadron.
Operations in the eastern Baltic Sea.
Used for patrol duty in the North Sea.
Transferred to Kiel.
Sent to Libau to protect the port against a possible attack by Russian battleships.
Decommissioned in Danzig and used as a floating barrack.
Sold and scrapped afterwards.
At a glance
Technical profile
Dimensions, armament, protection and performance.
Dimensions
- Size (Max)
- 10670t
- Length (Total)
- 115,7 m
- Length (Waterline)
- 113,9 m
- Beam
- 19,5 m
- Draft
- 7,9 m
- Crew
- 568 - 591
Armament
- 28 cm L/40 (L/35)
- 6
- 10,5 cm L/35
- 6-8
- 8,8 cm L/30
- 8
- Machine guns
- 2
- 45 cm torpedo tubes
- 6
Armor
- Deck
- 60 mm
- Belt
- 400 mm (max)
- Command tower
- 300 m (max)
- Main guns
- 120 mm (max)
Machinery
- Shafts
- 2
- Turbines
- 2
- Type
- 3-cyl expansion engines
Performance
- Total Performance
- 10228 shp
- Speed
- 16,9 kn
- Range
- 4300miles at 10 kn
The archive
Models
Ship models in 1/1250 scale.
Construction record
Wörth
- Laid down
- Germaniawerft Kiel, 1890
- Launched
- 06.08.1892
- Commissioned
- 31.10.1893
- Fate
- scrapped 1919