SMS Nassau SMS " Nassau " was the first dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial German Navy , a response to the launching of the British battleship . " Nassau " was laid down on 22 July 1907 at the Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven , and launched less than a year later on 7 March 1908 , approximately 25 months after " Dreadnought " was launched . She was the lead ship of her class of four battleships , which included , , and . " Nassau " saw service in the North Sea in the beginning of World War I , in the II Division of the I Battle Squadron of the German High Seas Fleet . In August 1915 , she entered the Baltic Sea and participated in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga , where she engaged the Russian battleship . Following her return to the North Sea , " Nassau " and her sister ships took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916 . During the battle , " Nassau " collided with the British destroyer . " Nassau " suffered a total of 11 killed and 16 injured during the engagement . After World War I , the bulk of the High Seas Fleet was interned in Scapa Flow . As they were the oldest German dreadnoughts , the " Nassau " - class ships were for the time permitted to remain in German ports . After the German fleet was scuttled , " Nassau " and her three sisters were surrendered to the victorious powers as replacements for the sunken ships . " Nassau " was ceded to Japan in April 1920 . With no use for the ship , Japan sold her to a British wrecking firm which then scrapped her in Dordrecht , Netherlands . Construction . " Nassau " was ordered under the provisional name " Ersatz Bayern " , as a replacement for the old . She was laid down on 22 July 1907 at the " Kaiserliche Werft " in Wilhelmshaven , under construction number 30 . Construction work proceeded under absolute secrecy ; detachments of soldiers were tasked with guarding the shipyard itself , as well as contractors that supplied building materials , such as Krupp . The ship was launched on 7 March 1908 ; she was christened by Princess Hilda of Nassau , and the ceremony was attended by Kaiser Wilhelm II and Prince Henry of the Netherlands , representing his wife ' s House of Orange - Nassau . Fitting out work was delayed significantly when a dockyard worker accidentally removed a blanking plate from a large pipe , which allowed a large amount of water to flood the ship . The ship did not have its watertight bulkhead s installed , so the water spread throughout the ship and caused it to list to port and sink to the bottom of the dock . The ship had to be pumped dry and cleaned out , which proved to be a laborious task . The ship ultimately was completed by the end of September 1909 . She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 1 October 1909 , and trials commenced immediately . , the ship that spurred " Nassau " s construction , had been launched 2 February 1906 , some 25 months before " Nassau " . The ship cost the German navy 37 , 399 , 000 gold marks . " Nassau " was long , wide , and had a draft of . She displaced with a standard load , and fully laden . The ship had a crew of 40 officers and 968 enlisted men . " Nassau " retained three - shafted triple expansion engines with coal - fired boilers instead of more advanced turbine engines . Her propulsion system was rated at and provided a top speed of . She had a cruising radius of at a speed of . This type of machinery was chosen at the request of both Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz and the Navy ' s construction department ; the latter stated in 1905 that the " use of turbines in heavy warships does not recommend itself . " This decision was based solely on cost : at the time , Parsons held a monopoly on steam turbines and required a 1 million gold mark royalty fee for every turbine engine . German firms were not ready to begin production of turbines on a large scale until 1910 . " Nassau " carried twelve SK L / 45 guns in an unusual hexagonal configuration . Her secondary armament consisted of twelve SK L / 45 guns and sixteen SK L / 45 guns , all of which were mounted in casemate s . The ship was also armed with six submerged torpedo tube s . One tube was mounted in the bow , another in the stern , and two on each broadside , on either ends of the torpedo bulkhead . The ship ' s belt armor was thick in the central portion of the hull , and the armored deck was thick . The main battery turrets had thick sides , and the conning tower was protected with of armor plating . Service history . On 16 October 1909 , " Nassau " and her sister participated in a ceremony for the opening of the new third entrance in the Wilhelmshaven Naval Dockyard . They were still on trials in February 1910 , but they took part in the annual maneuvers of the High Seas Fleet . " Nassau " finished her trials on 3 May and joined the newly created I Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet . Over the next four years , the ship participated in the normal series of squadron and fleet maneuvers and training cruises . The one exception was the summer training cruise for 1912 when , due to the Agadir Crisis , the cruise only went into the Baltic . On 14 July 1914 , the annual summer cruise to Norway began . The threat of war , however , caused the Kaiser to cancel the cruise after two weeks , and by the end of July , the fleet was back in port . War between Austria - Hungary and Serbia broke out on the 28th , and in the span of a week all of the major European powers had joined the conflict . " Nassau " participated in most of the fleet advances into the North Sea throughout the war . The first operation was conducted primarily by Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper ' s battlecruiser s ; the ships bombarded the English coastal towns of Scarborough , Hartlepool , and Whitby on 15 – 16 December 1914 . A German battlefleet of 12 dreadnoughts — including " Nassau " — and eight pre - dreadnoughts sailed in support of the battlecruisers . On the evening of 15 December , they came to within of an isolated squadron of six British battleships . However , skirmishes between the rival destroyer screens in the darkness convinced the German fleet commander , Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl , that the entire Grand Fleet was deployed before him . Under orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II to not risk the fleet , von Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battlefleet back towards Germany . Battle of the Gulf of Riga . In August 1915 , the German fleet attempted to clear the Gulf of Riga in order to facilitate the capture of Riga by the German army . To do so , the German planners intended to drive off or destroy the Russian naval forces in the area , which included the pre - dreadnought battleship and a number of gunboats and destroyers . The German naval force would also lay a series of minefields in the northern entrance to the gulf to prevent Russian naval reinforcements from being able to enter the area . The fleet that assembled for the assault included " Nassau " and her three sister ships , the four s , and the battlecruisers , , and . The force would operate under the command of Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper . The eight battleships were to provide cover for the forces engaging the Russian flotilla . The first attempt on 8 August was unsuccessful , as it had taken too long to clear the Russian minefields to allow the minelayer to lay a minefield of her own . On 16 August 1915 , a second attempt was made to enter the gulf : " Nassau " and " Posen " , four light cruisers , and 31 torpedo boats managed to breach the Russian defenses . On the first day of the assault , the German minesweeper " T 46 " was sunk , as was the destroyer " V 99 " . The following day , " Nassau " and " Posen " engaged in an artillery duel with " Slava " , resulting in three hits on the Russian ship that forced her to retreat . By 19 August , the Russian minefields had been cleared and the flotilla entered the gulf . However , reports of Allied submarines in the area prompted the Germans to call off of the operation the following day . " Nassau " and " Posen " remained in the Gulf until 21 August , and while there assisted in the destruction of the gunboat s and . Admiral Hipper later remarked that , " To keep valuable ships for a considerable time in a limited area in which enemy submarines were increasingly active , with the corresponding risk of damage and loss , was to indulge in a gamble out of all proportion to the advantage to be derived from the occupation of the Gulf " before " the capture of Riga from the land side . " Battle of Jutland . " Nassau " took part in the inconclusive Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916 , in the II Division of the I Battle Squadron . For the majority of the battle , the I Battle Squadron formed the center of the line of battle , behind Rear Admiral Behncke ' s III Battle Squadron , and followed by Rear Admiral Mauve ' s elderly pre - dreadnoughts of the II Battle Squadron . " Nassau " was the third ship in the group of four , behind " Rheinland " and ahead of " Westfalen " ; " Posen " was the squadron ' s flagship . However , when the German fleet reorganized into a nighttime cruising formation , the order of the ships was inadvertently reversed , and so " Nassau " was the second ship in the line , astern of " Westfalen " . Between 17 : 48 and 17 : 52 , eleven German dreadnoughts , including " Nassau " , engaged and opened fire on the British 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron ; " Nassau " s target was the cruiser . " Nassau " is believed to have scored one hit on " Southampton " , at approximately 17 : 50 at a range of , shortly after she began firing . The shell struck " Southampton " obliquely on her port side , but did not cause significant damage . " Nassau " then shifted her guns to the cruiser , but ceased firing by 18 : 10 . At 19 : 33 , " Nassau " came into range of the British battleship ; her main guns fired briefly , but after the 180 degree turn by the German fleet , the British ship was no longer within reach . " Nassau " and the rest of the I Squadron were again engaged by British light forces shortly after 22 : 00 , including the light cruisers , , and . " Nassau " followed her sister " Westfalen " in a 68° turn to starboard in order to evade any torpedoes that might have been fired . The two ships fired on " Caroline " and " Royalist " at a range of around . The British ships turned away briefly , before turning about to launch torpedoes . " Caroline " fired two at " Nassau " ; the first passed close to her bows and the second passed under the ship without exploding . At around midnight on 1 June , the German fleet was attempting to pass behind the British Grand Fleet when it encountered a line of British destroyers . " Nassau " came in contact with the destroyer , and in the confusion , attempted to ram her . " Spitfire " tried to evade , but could not maneuver away fast enough , and the two ships collided . " Nassau " fired her forward 11 - inch guns at the destroyer , but they could not depress low enough for " Nassau " to be able to score a hit . Nonetheless , the blast from the guns destroyed " Spitfire " s bridge . At that point , " Spitfire " was able to disengage from " Nassau " , and took with her a 6 m ( 20 ft ) portion of " Nassau " s side plating . The collision disabled one of " Nassau " s 15 cm ( 5 . 9 in ) guns , and left a 3 . 5 m ( 11 . 5 ft ) gash above the waterline ; this slowed the ship to until it could be repaired . During the confused action , " Nassau " was hit by two shells from the British destroyers , which damaged her searchlights and inflicted minor casualties . Shortly after 01 : 00 , " Nassau " and encountered the British armored cruiser . " Thüringen " opened fire first , and pummeled " Black Prince " with a total of 27 heavy - caliber shells and 24 shells from her secondary battery . " Nassau " and joined in , followed by . The heavy fire quickly disabled the British cruiser and set her alight ; following a tremendous explosion , she sank , taking her entire crew with her . The sinking " Black Prince " was directly in the path of " Nassau " ; to avoid the wreck , the ship had to steer sharply towards the III Battle Squadron . It was necessary for " Nassau " to reverse her engines to full speed astern in order to avoid a collision with . " Nassau " then fell back into a position between the pre - dreadnoughts and . At around 03 : 00 , several British destroyers attempted another torpedo attack on the German line . At approximately 03 : 10 , three or four destroyers appeared in the darkness to port of " Nassau " ; at a range of between to , " Nassau " briefly fired on the ships before turning away 90° to avoid torpedoes . Following her return to German waters , " Nassau " , her sisters " Posen " and " Westfalen " , and the " Helgoland " - class battleships and " Thüringen " , took up defensive positions in the Jade roadstead for the night . In the course of the battle , " Nassau " was hit twice by secondary shells , though these hits caused no significant damage . Her casualties amounted to 11 men killed and 16 men wounded . During the course of the battle , she fired 106 main battery shells and 75 rounds from her secondary guns . Repairs were completed quickly , and " Nassau " was back with the fleet by 10 July 1916 . Later operations . Another fleet advance followed on 18 – 22 August , during which the I Scouting Group battlecruisers were to bombard the coastal town of Sunderland in an attempt to draw out and destroy Beatty ' s battlecruisers . As only two of the four German battlecruisers were still in fighting condition , three dreadnoughts were assigned to the Scouting Group for the operation : , ( or " Großer " " Kurfürst " ) , and the newly commissioned . The High Seas Fleet , including " Nassau " , would trail behind and provide cover . However , at 06 : 00 on 19 August , " Westfalen " was torpedoed by the British submarine , some north of Terschelling ; the ship remained afloat and was detached to return to port . The British were aware of the German plans and sortied the Grand Fleet to meet them . By 14 : 35 , Admiral Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet ' s approach and , unwilling to engage the whole of the Grand Fleet just 11 weeks after the close call at Jutland , turned his forces around and retreated to German ports . Another sortie into the North Sea followed on 19 – 20 October . On 21 December , " Nassau " ran aground in the mouth of the Elbe . She was able to free herself , however , and repairs were effected in Hamburg at the Reihersteig Dockyard until 1 February 1917 . The ship was part of the force that steamed to Norway to intercept a heavily escorted British convoy on 23 – 25 April , though the operation was canceled when the battlecruiser " Moltke " suffered mechanical damage and had to be towed back to port . " Nassau " , " Ostfriesland " , and " Thüringen " were formed into a special unit for Operation " Schlußstein " , a planned occupation of St . Petersburg . On 8 August , " Nassau " took on some 250 soldiers in Wilhelmshaven and then departed for the Baltic . The three ships reached the Baltic on 10 August , but the operation was postponed and eventually canceled . The special unit was dissolved on 21 August and the battleships were back in Wilhelmshaven on the 23rd . " Nassau " and her three sisters were to have taken part in a final fleet action at the end of October 1918 , days before the Armistice was to take effect . 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 Grand Admiral ( " Großadmiral " ) of the fleet — intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy , to improve Germany ' s bargaining position , despite the expected casualties . But many of the war - weary sailors felt that the operation would disrupt the peace process and prolong the war . On the morning of 29 October 1918 , the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven the following day . Starting on the night of 29 October , sailors on " Thüringen " and then on several other battleships mutinied . The unrest ultimately forced Hipper and Scheer to cancel the operation . Fate . Following the German collapse in November 1918 , a significant portion of the High Seas Fleet was interned in Scapa Flow . " Nassau " and her three sisters were not among the ships listed for internment , so they remained at German ports . During this period , from November to December , Hermann Bauer served as the ship ' s commander . On 21 June 1919 , Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter , under the mistaken impression that the Armistice would expire at noon that day , ordered his ships be scuttled to prevent their seizure by the British . As a result , the four " Nassau " - class ships were ceded to the various Allied powers as replacements for the ships that had been sunk . " Nassau " was awarded to Japan on 7 April 1920 , though the Japanese had no need for the ship . They therefore sold her in June 1920 to British ship - breakers , who scrapped the ship in Dordrecht . Notes . Footnotes Citations