SMS Westfalen of the Nassau Class German battleships. Being the first Dreadnaughts of the German Imperial navy, some short comings
showed up, the Main Armament turret formation gave only a 8 gun broadside,
and very cramped living conditions for their crew of 963. they has a comparatively short
length but a broad beam which gave a stable platform for
their 11inch guns
SMS Westfalen was built at AG Weser at Bremen and laid down on
the 12th August 1907. and launched 1st July 1908 commissioned into the German
navy on the 16th November 1909. SMS Westfalen served at the Battle of Jutland
. where she received
shell damage. and on the 19th August 1916, was torpedoed amidships by Royal navy Submarine
E23 in the North Sea, she took on over 800 tons of water and although sagging at
the bulkheads she managed to get back to harbour at 14 knots and on
1st September 1918 used as an artillery training ship. Stricken 5th
November 1919 and Surrendered on the 5th August 1920. and allocated
to UK for scrapping. scrapped at Birkinhead in 1924.
SHIPS DETAILS.
DISPLACEMENT 18,900 tons to 20,535 tons, DIMENSIONS 478FT(145.6M) X 89FT(26.9M) X 27.5FT(8.8M)
COMPLIMENT 963 TO 1130
SPEED 19 TO 20 KNOTS. RANGE, 8,380 NM AT
10KNOTS, 2,800NM AT 19KNOTS
ARMAMENT TWELVE 11-INCH IN ( 6 X 2 ) SIX
TURRETS TWELVE 5.9 INCH SINGLE GUNS SIXTEEN 3.4 INCH SINGLE
GUNS. SUBMERGED TORPEDO TUBES, SIX 18INC H TORPEDOES
