SMS Hindenburg

Plan of the Derfflinger class battlecruiser, from Jane's Fighting Ships 1919
History
Name	Hindenburg
Namesake	Paul von Hindenburg
Ordered	1912–1913 Naval Program
Builder	Kaiserliche Werft, Wilhelmshaven
Laid down	1 October 1913
Launched	1 August 1915
Commissioned	10 May 1917
Fate	Scuttled in Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919, wreck raised 1930, scrapped 1930–1932
General characteristics
Displacement	26,180 tons normal load 31,200 tons full load
Length	212.8 metres (698 feet)
Beam	29.0 metres (95.1 feet)
Draft	9.57 metres (31.4 feet)
Propulsion	4 shaft Parsons turbines; 18 boiler; 95,777 shp
Speed	26.6 knots
Range	6100 nmi at 12 kn
Complement	44 officers and 1,068 men, 1,390 in wartime
Armament	8 x 30.5 cm (12") SK L/50 in 4 twin turrets 12 x 15 cm (5.9") SK L/45 in 12 single turrets 4 x 8.8 cm (4 x 1) in 4 single mounts 4 x single 50 cm torpedo tubes
Armor	Belt: 300 mm Command Tower: 300 mm Deck: 30 mm Turrets: 270 mm

SMS Hindenburg was a battlecruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine and the third ship of the Derfflinger class. She was named in honor of Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, the victor of the Battle of Tannenberg and the Battle of the Masurian Lakes, as well as Supreme Commander of the German armies from 1916. The ship was the last dreadnought of any type built by the German navy during World War I.

Hindenburg was commissioned late in the war and as a result had a brief service career. The ship took part in a handful of short fleet advances as the flagship of the I Scouting Group in 1917–18, though saw no major action. Hindenburg was subsequently interned with the rest of the German battlecruisers at Scapa Flow in November 1918. Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered the ships be scuttled on 21 June 1919. Hindenburg holds the dubious distinction of being the last ship to sink.

Construction

Built by the Kaiserliche Werft at their shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, Hindenburg was the third and final ship of her class, her sister ships were Derfflinger and Lützow. Built as a replacement for the elderly protected cruiser Hertha, Hindenburg's keel was laid down on 30 June 1913. She was launched on 1 August 1915, but due to shifting construction priorities in time of war, she was not completed until 10 May 1917 and became fully operational only on 20 October 1917, by which time it was too late for her to see any significant action in World War I.

Hindenburg's primary armament was eight 30.5 cm (12 in) guns in four twin turrets. Like her sister-ship the Lützow, she was armed with two more of the 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns and four 60 cm (23.6 in) torpedo tubes instead of the four 50 cm (19.7 in) tubes mounted on Derfflinger. While slightly larger than her sisters, the Hindenburg was also faster, capable of steaming at 26.6 knots during trials.

Service

World War I

SMS Hindenburg was the last battlecruiser completed for the Imperial German Navy, and as such had a very short career. She was commissioned 10 May 1917, and was fully operational by 20 October 1917, albeit too late to see any major action in World War I. On 17 November Hindenburg and Moltke, along with the light cruisers of the II Scouting Group, were acting as distant support for German minesweepers off the German coast when they were attacked by British battlecruisers. However, the raid was brief; by the time Hindenburg and Moltke arrived on the scene, the British ships had broken off the attack and withdrawn. Six days later, Hindenburg replaced Seydlitz as flagship of the I Scouting Group.

Advance of 23 April 1918

In late 1917, light forces of the High Seas Fleet began interdicting British convoys to Norway. On 17 October the light cruisers Brummer and Bremse intercepted one of the convoys, sank nine of the 12 cargo ships and the two escorting destroyers, and made good their escape. On December 12, four German destroyers ambushed a second convoy consisting of five cargo vessels and two British destroyers. All five transports were sunk, as was one of the destroyers. Following these two raids, Admiral David Beatty, the commander of the Grand Fleet, detached battleships from the battle fleet to protect the convoys. The German navy was now presented with an opportunity for which it had been waiting the entire war: a portion of the Grand Fleet was separated and could be isolated and destroyed. Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper planned the operation: the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group, along with light cruisers and destroyers, would attack one of the large convoys, while the rest of the High Seas Fleet would stand by, ready to attack the British dreadnought squadron.

At 05:00 on 23 April 1918, the German fleet, with Hindenburg in the lead, departed from the Schillig roadstead. Hipper ordered wireless transmissions be kept to a minimum, to prevent British intelligence from receiving radio intercepts. At 06:10 the German battlecruisers had reached a position approximately 60 kilometers southwest of Bergen, when Moltke lost her inner starboard propeller. Without resistance from the water, the screw-less shaft began spinning faster and faster, until one of the engine gears flew apart. Shrapnel from the broken machinery damaged several boilers and tore a hole in the hull; the ship was dead in the water. Temporary repairs were conducted that allowed the ship to steam at 4 knots, but it was decided to take the ship under tow, by the battleship Oldenburg. Despite this setback, Hipper continued northward. By 14:00, Hipper's force had crossed the convoy route several times but had found nothing. At 14:10, Hipper turned his ships southward. By 18:37, the German fleet had made it back to the defensive minefields surrounding their bases. It was later discovered that the convoy had sailed the following day; the German planning staff had been mistaken.

Later operations

On 11 August, Hipper was promoted to Admiral and given command of the entire High Seas Fleet. Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter replaced Hipper as the commander of the I Scouting Group; he raised his flag on Hindenburg the following day.

Hindenburg was to have taken part in what would have amounted to the "death ride" of the High Seas Fleet shortly before the end of World War I. The bulk of the High Seas Fleet was to have sortied from their base in Wilhelmshaven to engage the British Grand Fleet; Scheer—by now the Großadmiral of the fleet—intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy, in order to retain a better bargaining position for Germany, whatever the cost to the fleet. The plan consisted of two simultaneous attacks by light cruisers and destroyers, one on Flanders and another on shipping in the Thames estuary; Hindenburg and the other four battlecruisers were to support the latter attack. After both attacks were finished, the fleet was to concentrate off the Dutch coast, where it would meet the Grand Fleet in battle. While the fleet was consolidating in Wilhelmshaven, war-weary sailors began deserting en masse. As Von der Tann and Derfflinger passed through the locks that separated Wilhelmshaven's inner harbor and roadstead, some 300 men from both ships climbed over the side and disappeared ashore.

On 24 October 1918, the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven. Starting on the night of 29 October, sailors on several battleships mutinied; three ships from the III Squadron refused to weigh anchors, and acts of sabotage were committed on board the battleships Thüringen and Helgoland. In the face of open rebellion, the order to sail was rescinded and the planned operation was abandoned. In an attempt to suppress the mutiny, the High Seas Fleet squadrons were dispersed.

Fate

Hindenburg after scuttling

Under the terms of the Armistice between Germany and the Allies that ended World War I, Hindenburg was interned at Scapa Flow, along with her sister Derfflinger and the rest of the German battlecruisers. Prior to the departure of the German fleet, Admiral Adolf von Trotha made clear to Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, who was given command of the ships to be interned, that he could not allow the Allies to seize the ships, under any conditions. On 21 November 1918, the ships to be interned departed German waters for what would prove to be the last time. The fleet rendezvoused with the British light cruiser Cardiff, which led the ships to the Allied fleet that was to escort the Germans to Scapa Flow. The massive flotilla consisted of some 370 British, American, and French warships.

The fleet remained in captivity during the negotiations in Versailles that ultimately produced the treaty that ended the war. A copy of The Times informed von Reuter that the Armistice was to expire at noon on 21 June 1919, which was the deadline by which Germany was to have signed the peace treaty. Rear Admiral von Reuter came to the conclusion that the British intended to seize the German ships after the Armistice expired. Unaware that the deadline had been extended to the 23rd, Reuter ordered his ships be sunk. On the morning of 21 June, the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers; at 11:20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships. Hindenburg was the last ship to sink, which she did at 17:00. Several unsuccessful attempts to raise her were made; on 23 July 1930 the ship was finally raised. From 1930 to 1932 she was scrapped at Rosyth. Her bell was presented to the German Federal Navy on 28 May 1959.

References

• Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870217909. OCLC 22101769.
• Herwig, Holger (1980). "Luxury" Fleet: The Imperial German Navy 1888-1918. Amherst, New York: Humanity Books. ISBN 9781573922869.
• Massie, Robert K. (2003). Castles of Steel. New York City: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0345408780. OCLC 57134223.
• Staff, Gary (2006). German Battlecruisers: 1914–1918. Oxford: Osprey Books. ISBN 1846030099. OCLC 64555761.
• Tarrant, V. E. (1995). Jutland: The German Perspective. London: Cassell Military Paperbacks. ISBN 0304358487. OCLC 48131785.