Schleswig-Holstein

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Schleswig-Holstein was built as one of five Deutschland Class battleships, known as "die fünf Schwestern" (the five sisters). The final incarnation of the German pre-dreadnought, they were fine ships, powerfully armed and carrying better protection than their predecessors. They had a double bottom that stretched over 84% of the hull, were good sea boats, and would have been regarded as powerful units had they not been completed after HMS Dreadnought.

Many foreign battleships mounted intermediate batteries, but Germany recognized that fire control for three different caliber guns was too complicated to be effective, and thus mounted only large caliber main guns and small caliber secondary guns. The secondary guns were larger than in foreign navies, at 6.7 inches, to make up for the lack of an intermediate battery.

Obsolete by design, but too new and powerful to be relegated to secondary roles, the five sisters served with the High Seas Fleet until after the Battle of Jutland in 1916. After the loss of one of their numbers to a single British torpedo, the other four were withdrawn from active duty. Schleswig-Holstein had been converted to supplementary oil firing in 1915.

Schleswig-Holstein was partially disarmed and based at Bremerhaven in 1917, were she served as a tender for minelayers. In 1918 she was moved to Kiel, where she served as a barracks ship.

After the war, Germany was striped of her fleet, and allowed only to retain six obsolete pre-dreadnoughts for coast defense. Schleswig-Holstein was one of these, and was retained in reserve. In 1926, money became available to restore another unit to operational status, and Schleswig-Holstein was selected. Entering the fleet in 1927, she served as flagship until September 1935.

As returned to service, she was little changed other than a new mast. In 1930-31, she was refitted, having her two forward funnels trunked into one. Anti-aircraft guns were fitted, and conversion to full oil fuel was finally completed. She was again refitted in 1935, when she was converted into a cadet training ship with additional berthing space installed and the bow sponsons removed. In both of these guises she participated in many overseas cruises, and was a frequent visitor to ports in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

It was planned to convert her into a radio-controlled target ship in 1939, but this plan was put on hold when war became imminent. On September 1939, while on a 'good will' visit to Danzig-Neufahrwasser, opened fire on the Polish military complex at Westerplatte in the opening act of WWII. Her fire supported German Marines, formerly hidden in the cadet berthing spaces, in their 7 day long attack on the Polish complex. After this area was subdued, the old battleship supported oerations at Gdynia, and then Hela. During the war, this old relic was quite active. She supported German ground troops during the Polish campaign, took part in the German invasion of Norway, escorted convoys in the Baltic, acted as an icebreaker for merchant convoys, supported the invasion of Russia, and used her guns to support the retreating German Army on the Eastern Front.

In December of 1944, the ship was badly damaged by three direct hits from British bombers. Her main turrets were returned to working order to support the ground troops, but unable to move and out of ammunition, her guns were landed and she was scuttled on March 21, 1945, in 12 meters of water.

The hulk was claimed by the Russians as a war prize, and the ship was floated in 1946. Towed to Kronstadt, and then Tallin, the ship was used first as a training hulk, and then as a target ship. In this capacity she was finally sunk in the Finnish Sea in 1956, after fifty years of service. The wreck is still there.

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