The SMS Pommern belonged to the Deutschland ship class, which were built as the last unit ship types in the German imperial area. Already with beginning of the first world war the ship was outdated and was sunk in the Skagerrak battle.
Launching and design:
At the beginning of the 20th century, concepts were developed to further upgrade the imperial navy. The concept of the Deutschland class was similar to the already set up shortly before Braunschweig class held. These got for the first time the 28 cm SK L / 40 guns developed by Krupp as well as the ships of the Deutschland class. However, the armor was slightly stronger than the Braunschweig class. With a maximum displacement of around 14,000 tons, however, the ships were significantly smaller than those of the other maritime powers. With the Dreadnought class, which was newly developed in the United Kingdom and was under construction at that time, the ships of the German class were already outdated before the launch and were clearly inferior to the new British ships.
The launch took place nevertheless on 2 December 1905 without modernization measures, which was sharply criticized in the policy. For changes to the ships, however, was probably missing at this time the money, also was the first inaugurated Kaiser Wilhelm Canal in Schleswig-Holstein not designed for larger vessels.
Liner SMS Pommern
SMS Pommern postcard
Liner SMS Pommern
History of SMS Pommern:
After the commissioning on August 6, 1907, the usual test drives were made.
The Pommern was subsequently assigned to the German deep sea fleet and participated in the following years in some maneuvers.
The Pommern in the fight. Painting by Wilhelm Malchin
Use in the war:
With the outbreak of the First World War, the ships of the Deutschland class were already clearly inferior to the British ships of the Dreadnought class. However, since the imperial navy was not enough modern battleships were available, the ships of the German class were assigned to the deep sea fleet.
The first and only naval battle in which the SMS Pommern took part was the Battle of the Skagerrak from May 31 to June 1, 1916. In this battle, the ship belonged to the II Squadron, which faced the British battlecruiser squadron on the evening of May 31. During the firefight, the SMS Pommern got a hit, which is why the ship broke out of the line of battle. When the German squadron set out on the way back the next morning at 2 o'clock, the Pommern were in the back of the British ships. On the way to the German mine barriers, the ship was attacked with a torpedo, probably by the British destroyer HMS Faulknor.
Whereabouts:
The torpedo probably met the ammunition room of the middle artillery, because after the impact there was a strong explosion which led to the fact that the SMS Pommern broke apart in the middle and sank. Nobody survived the occupation.
Ship data:
| Name: |
SMS Pommern |
| Country: |
German Empire |
| Ship Type: |
Liner |
| Class: |
Deutschland-Class |
| Boatyard: |
AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
| Building-costs: |
24.624.000 Mark |
| Launched: |
December 2nd, 1905 |
| Commissioning: |
August 6th, 1907 |
| Whereabouts: |
Sunk on June 1st, 1916 during the Battle of the Skagerrak |
| Length: |
127,6 meters |
| Width: |
22,2 meters |
| Draft: |
Max. 8,25 meters |
| Displacement: |
Max. 14.218 Tons |
| Crew: |
735 to 749 Men |
| Drive: |
12 Marine Boiler |
| Power: |
17.696 PS (13.015 kW) |
| Maximum speed: |
18,7 kn (35 km/h) |
| Armament: |
4 × Rapid Fire Gun 28,0 cm L / 40 (340 shots) 14 × Rapid Fire Gun 17,0 cm L / 40 (1.820 rounds) 20 × Rapid Fire Gun 8,8 cm L / 35 (2.800 rounds) 6 × torpedo tube ø 45,0 cm (1 stern, 4 sides, 1 bow, under water, 16 shots) |
| Armor: |
Belt: 100-240 mm on 80 mm teak |
You can find the right literature here:
German Battleships 1914–18 (1): Deutschland, Nassau and Helgoland classes (New Vanguard)
German Battleships 1914–18 (1): Deutschland, Nassau and Helgoland classes (New Vanguard) Paperback – February 23, 2010
Supported by official documents, personal accounts, official drawings and specially commissioned artwork, this volume is an enlightening history of the Deutschland to Osfriesland classes. Detailing the last of the pre-dreadnaught battleship classes, this book goes on to explain the revolutionary developments that took place within the German Imperial Navy as they readied themselves for war. This included creating vessels with vast increases in size and armament. This account of design and technology is supplemented by individual ship histories detailing combat experience complete with first-hand accounts. The specially commissioned artwork also brings this history to life with recreations of the battleship Pommern fighting at Jutland and ships of the Osfriesland class destroying HMS Black Prince in a dramatic night-time engagement.
The Imperial German Navy of World War I, Vol. 1 Warships: A Comprehensive Photographic Study of the Kaiser’s Naval Forces
The Imperial German Navy of World War I, Vol. 1 Warships: A Comprehensive Photographic Study of the Kaiser’s Naval Forces Hardcover – December 28, 2016
The Imperial German Navy of WWI is a series of books (Warships, Campaigns, & Uniforms) that provide a broad view of the Kaiser's naval forces through the extensive use of photographs. Every effort has been made to cover all significant areas during the war period. In addition to the primary use of photographs, technical information is provided for each warship along with its corresponding service history; with a special emphasis being placed on those warships that participated in the Battle of Skagerrak (Jutland). Countless sources have been used to establish individual case studies for each warship; multiple photos of each warship are provided. The entire series itself is unprecedented in its coverage of the Kaiser's navy.
German Battlecruisers of World War One: Their Design, Construction and Operations
German Battlecruisers of World War One: Their Design, Construction and Operations Hardcover – November 4, 2014
This is the most comprehensive, English-language study of the German Imperial Navy's battlecruisers that served in the First World War. Known as Panzerkreuzer, literally "armored cruiser," the eight ships of the class were to be involved in several early North Sea skirmishes before the great pitched battle of Jutland where they inflicted devastating damage on the Royal Navy's battlecruiser fleet. This book details their design and construction, and traces the full service history of each ship, recounting their actions, drawing largely from first-hand German sources and official documents, many previously unpublished in English.
The Kaiser's Battlefleet: German Capital Ships 1871-1918
The Kaiser's Battlefleet: German Capital Ships 1871-1918 Hardcover – March 15, 2016
The battleships of the Third Reich have been written about exhaustively, but there is little in English devoted to their Second Reich predecessors. This new book fills an important gap in the literature of the period by covering these German capital ships in detail and studying the full span of battleship development during this period. The book is arranged as a chronological narrative, with technical details, construction schedules, and ultimate fates tabulated throughout, thus avoiding the sometimes disjointed structure that can result from a class-by-class approach. Heavily illustrated with line drawings and photographs, many from German sources, the book offers readers a fresh visual look at these ships. A key objective of the book is to make available a full synthesis of the published fruits of archival research by German writers found in the pre-World War II books of Koop & Schmolke, Großmer's on the construction program of the dreadnaught era, Forstmeier & Breyer on World War I projects, and Schenk & Nottelmann's papers in Warship International. As well as providing data not available in English-language books, these sources correct significant errors in standard English sources.
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