Helgoland - class battleship The " Helgoland " class was the second class of German dreadnought battleship s . Constructed from 1908 to 1912 , the class comprised four ships : , the lead ship ; ; ; and . The design was a significant improvement over the previous ships ; they had a larger main battery — main guns instead of the weapons mounted on the earlier vessels — and an improved propulsion system . The " Helgoland " s were easily distinguished from the preceding " Nassau " s by the three funnels that were closely arranged , compared to the two larger funnels of the previous class . The ships retained the unusual hexagonal main battery layout of the " Nassau " class . The ships served as a unit in the I Division , I Battle Squadron alongside the " Nassau " - class ships in the II Division of the I Battle Squadron . They saw combat during World War I , including the Battle of Jutland in the North Sea and the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic . All four survived the war , but were not taken as part of the German fleet that was interned at Scapa Flow . When the German ships at Scapa Flow were scuttled , the four " Helgoland " s were ceded as war reparations to the victorious Allied powers in the sunken ships ' stead . " Ostfriesland " was taken by the US Navy and expended as a target during Billy Mitchell ' s air power demonstration in July 1921 . " Helgoland " and " Oldenburg " were allotted to Britain and Japan respectively , and broken up in 1921 . " Thüringen " was delivered to France in 1920 , and was used as a target ship for the French navy . The ship was eventually broken up between 1923 and 1933 . Design . The Triple Entente between the United Kingdom , France , and Russia had been signed in 1907 . Germany had become significantly isolated — on the Continent , Germany was hemmed in by France in the west and Russia in the east , and the UK , with her powerful navy , was capable of blocking German access to the world shipping lanes . Admiral von Tirpitz reacted to this development with the request for newer and stronger capital ships . His thoughts on the matter were , " The aim which I had to keep in view . . . for technical and organizing reasons as well as reasons of political finance was to build as steadily as possible . " His appeal came in the form of the proposed Second Amendment to the Naval Law , which was passed on 27 March 1908 . For the second class of German dreadnoughts , there was considerable debate as to what changes would be made from the first design . In May 1906 , the " Reichsmarineamt " ( RMA , Imperial Navy Office ) received word that the British were building battleships equipped with guns . As a result , the General Navy Department advocated increasing the caliber of the main battery from to . Admiral von Tirpitz was reluctant to agree to this change , as he wished to avoid escalating the arms race with Britain . Admiral von Tirpitz ' s hesitation at increasing the armament of the new ships was lost when it became known in early 1907 that the United States Navy was building battleships with 30 . 5 cm guns . In March 1907 , von Tirpitz ordered the Construction Department to prepare a design with 30 . 5 cm guns and thick belt armor . Some dispute remained over the arrangement of the main battery . The two s being built for Brazil mounted the same number of guns , but in a more efficient arrangement . Superfiring turret pairs were placed on either end of the ship , with two wing turrets amidships . Admiral von Tirpitz favored adopting this arrangement for the " Helgoland " class , but the Construction Department felt two superfiring turrets could be easily disabled by a single hit . As a result , the hexagonal arrangement of the preceding " Nassau " s was retained . The Naval Law stipulated that the lifespan of large warships was to be reduced from 25 years to 20 years ; this was done in an effort to force the Reichstag to allocate funds for additional ships . The reduction necessitated the replacement of the coastal defense ship s of the and classes as well as the s . The battleships that von Tirpitz had failed to secure in the First Amendment to the Naval Law of 1906 were now approved by the Reichstag . The Naval Law also increased the naval budget by an additional 1 billion marks . After the four s had been replaced by the four " Nassau " s , three of the " Siegfried " - class ships — , , — and the unique coastal defense ship were the next slated to be replaced . The " Helgoland " - class ships — SMS " Helgoland " , SMS " Ostfriesland " , SMS " Thüringen " , and SMS " Oldenburg " — were ordered under the provisional names " Ersatz Siegfried , Ersatz Oldenburg , Ersatz Beowulf , " and " Ersatz Frithjof " , respectively . General characteristics . The " Helgoland " - class ships were longer than their predecessors , at overall . The ships had a beam of and at full load a draft of . The ships were significantly heavier than the " Nassau " class ; the " Helgoland " - class ships displaced at a standard load , and at full load , nearly more than the earlier ships . The ships had 17 watertight compartments and a double bottom for 86 % of the length of the hull . The class had greatly improved handling characteristics over the preceding " Nassau " class . The " Helgoland " s were much better sea boats and did not suffer from the severe rolling that the " Nassau " s did . The ships were responsive to the helm , and had a tight turning radius , and lost only minimal speed during swells . The ships lost up to 54 % of their speed at hard rudder , and would heel up to 7° . For comparison , the earlier " Nassau " s lost up to 70 % speed and held a 12° heel with the rudder hard over . Propulsion . The " Helgoland " - class ships retained older triple - expansion steam engines rather than the new steam turbines in use in the British Royal Navy . 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 . The triple - expansion engines were three - shaft , four - cylinder engines arranged in three engine rooms . Each shaft drove a four - bladed screw propeller that was in diameter . The engines were powered by 15 marine - type boilers with two fireboxes apiece for a total of 30 . The engines were rated at with a top speed of . On trials , the powerplant produced up to , and a top speed of . The ships carried of coal , and were later modified to carry an additional of oil that was to be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate . At full fuel capacity , the ships could steam for at a speed of . The ships ' electrical power was provided by eight turbo - generators that produced 2 , 000 kW ( 225 V ) . Armament . Like the " Nassau " class which preceded it , the " Helgoland " - class ships carried their main armament in an unusual hexagonal configuration . Twelve SK L / 50 guns were emplaced in long - trunk Drh LC / 1908 mountings , an improved version of the previous LC / 1907 and LC / 1906 mounts used in the " Nassau " class . The guns were arranged in pairs in six twin gun turret s , with one turret each fore and aft , and two on each flank of the ship . The guns could initially be depressed to −8° and elevated to 13 . 5° , although the turrets were later modified to allow −5 . 5° depression and 16° of elevation . The guns fired projectiles at a muzzle velocity of ; at 13 . 5° , this provided a maximum range of , and with the upgraded 16° elevation , the range was extended to . The guns had a total of 1 , 020 rounds for 85 shells per gun . The ships ' secondary armament consisted of fourteen SK L / 45 guns , which were mounted in casemate s . The guns fired shells at a muzzle velocity of . The guns could be elevated to 19° , which provided a maximum range of . The ships also carried sixteen SK L / 45 guns , also in casemates . These guns fired a projectile at , and could be trained up to 25° for a maximum range of . After 1914 , two 8 . 8 cm guns were removed and replaced by two 8 . 8 cm Flak guns , and between 1916 and 1917 , the remaining twelve 8 . 8 cm casemated guns were removed . These anti - aircraft guns fired a slightly lighter shell at . They could be elevated to 45° and could hit targets away . The " Helgoland " - class ships were further 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 . Armor . The " Helgoland " - class ships were equipped with Krupp cemented armor , in almost the same layout as in the preceding " Nassau " - class ships . The only major differences were slight increases in the armor protection for the main and secondary batteries , and a much thicker roof for the forward conning tower . The ships had an armored belt that was thick at its strongest points , where it protected the ship ' s vitals , and as thin as in less critical areas , such as the bow and stern . Behind the main belt was a torpedo bulkhead thick . The ships ' decks were armored , between thick . The forward conning tower on each vessel had a roof that was thick , and sides thick . The aft conning tower was not as heavily armored , with only a thick roof and sides . The main battery turrets had roofs that were thick , and 30 cm sides . The casemated secondary battery had worth of armor protection , and 8 cm thick gun shields . The " Helgoland " s were also fitted with anti - torpedo net s , but these were removed after 1916 . Construction . Four ships of the class were ordered , under the provisional names " Ersatz Siegfried " ( " Helgoland " ) , " Ersatz Oldenburg " ( " Ostfriesland " ) , " Ersatz Beowulf " ( " Thüringen " ) , and " Ersatz Frithjof " ( " Oldenburg " ) , as replacements for three of the coastal defense ship s of the " Siegfried " - class , and the unique coastal defense ship SMS " Oldenburg " . SMS " Helgoland " was built at Howaldtswerke , Kiel . She was laid down on 24 December 1908 , launched 25 August 1909 , and commissioned nearly two years later on 23 August 1911 . SMS " Ostfriesland " was built at Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven . She was laid down 19 October 1908 , launched five days after her sister " Helgoland " , on 30 August 1909 , and commissioned 1 August 1911 . SMS " Thüringen " was built by AG Weser in Bremen . She was laid down on 7 November 1908 , launched on 27 November 1909 , and commissioned on 10 September 1911 . SMS " Oldenburg " , the final vessel , was built by Schichau in Danzig ; she was laid down 1 March 1909 , launched 30 June 1910 , and commissioned on 1 May 1912 . History . The " Helgoland " - class ships operated as a unit in the High Seas Fleet ; they served as the I Division of the I Battle Squadron . The ships of the class participated in several fleet operations in the North Sea , including the sortie on 31 May 1916 that resulted in the Battle of Jutland . The ships also saw limited service in the Baltic Sea , primarily during the abortive Battle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915 . Raid on Scarborough , Hartlepool and Whitby . The first major operation of the war in which the " Helgoland " - class ships participated was the raid on Scarborough , Hartlepool and Whitby on 15 – 16 December 1914 . The raid was primarily conducted by the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group . The " Helgoland " - class ships , along with the , , and es steamed in distant support of Franz von Hipper ' s battlecruisers . Friedrich von Ingenohl , the commander of the High Seas Fleet , decided to take up station approximately in the center of the North Sea , about 130 miles east of Scarborough . The Royal Navy , which had recently received the German code books captured from the beached cruiser , was aware that an operation was taking place , but was not sure where the Germans would strike . Therefore , the Admiralty ordered David Beatty ' s 1st Battlecruiser Squadron , the six battleships of the 2nd Battle Squadron , and several cruisers and destroyers to intercept the German battlecruisers . However , Beatty ' s task force nearly ran headlong into the entire High Seas Fleet . At 6 : 20 , Beatty ' s destroyer screen came into contact with the German torpedo boat " V155 " . This began a confused , 2 - hour long battle between the British destroyers and the German cruiser and destroyer screen , often at very close range . At the time of the first encounter , the " Helgoland " - class battleships were less than away from the six British dreadnoughts ; this was well within firing range , but in the darkness , neither British nor German admirals were aware of the composition of their opponents ' fleets . Admiral Ingenohl , loathe to disobey the Kaiser ' s order to not risk the battlefleet without his express approval , concluded that his forces were engaging the screen of the entire Grand Fleet , and so , 10 minutes after the first contact , he ordered a turn to port to a southeast course . Continued attacks delayed the turn , but by 6 : 42 , it had been carried out . For about 40 minutes , the two fleets were steaming on a parallel course . At 7 : 20 , Ingenohl ordered a further turn to port , which put his ships on a course for German waters . Many in the German navy were furious over Ingenohl ' s timidity , and his reputation suffered greatly . " Großadmiral " Alfred von Tirpitz remarked that " On 16 December , Ingenohl had the fate of Germany in the palm of his hand . I boil with inward emotion whenever I think of it . " The captain of the battlecruiser was even more scathing ; he stated that Ingenohl had turned away " because he was afraid of eleven British destroyers which could have been easily eliminated . . . Under the present leadership we will accomplish nothing . " The " Helgoland " - class ships also sortied from port to support the German battlecruisers during the Battle of Dogger Bank , but did not actively engage British forces . Battle of the Gulf of Riga . On 3 August 1915 , several heavy units of the High Seas Fleet were transferred to the Baltic to participate in a planned foray into the Riga Gulf . The intention was to destroy the Russian naval forces in the area , including the pre - dreadnought , and to use the minelayer to block the entrance to Moon Sound with naval mine s . The German forces , under the command of Vice Admiral Hipper , included the four and four " Helgoland " - class battleships , the battlecruisers , , and , and a number of smaller craft . The four " Helgoland " s were not committed to the actual battle , however . For the duration of the operation , the ships were stationed outside the gulf in order to prevent Russian reinforcements from disrupting the laying of minefields . The Russians ' own minefields were larger than had been expected , and so clearing them took longer than the Germans had planned . This delay was compounded by stiff resistance from the Russian navy ; " Deutschland " was ultimately unable to lay her mines . Reports of Allied submarine activity in the area prompted the withdrawal of the German naval force on the morning of 20 August . Indeed , the battlecruiser " Moltke " had been torpedoed by the British submarine the day before , though only minor damage was sustained . Battle of Jutland . The ships took part in the inconclusive Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916 . 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 - dreadnought s of the II Battle Squadron . " Ostfriesland " served as the division flagship , under the command of Vice Admiral E . Schmidt . The " Helgoland " - class ships first entered direct combat at 19 : 20 on the first day of the battle . " Ostfriesland " , " Helgoland " , and " Thüringen " began firing on , which , along with the other s of the 5th Battle squadron , had been pursuing the German battlecruiser force . With the exception of " Ostfriesland " , the firing only lasted for four minutes , because the German line had been in the process of turning to the east - northeast , and the ships quickly lost sight of the British battleships . " Thüringen " and " Helgoland " only fired around 20 main battery shells before they lost sight of their target . " Ostfriesland " , however , was able to keep visual contact until 19 : 45 , at which point she , too , ceased firing . At 20 : 15 , during the third " Gefechtskehrtwendung " , " Helgoland " was struck by a shell in the forward part of the ship . The shell tore a hole in the hull and rained splinters on the foremost port side 5 . 9 in gun ; approximately 80 tons of water entered the ship . At around midnight on 1 June , the " Helgoland " - and " Nassau " - class ships in the center of the German line came into contact with the British 4th Destroyer Flotilla . A chaotic night battle ensued , during which rammed the British destroyer . The 4th Flotilla broke off the action temporarily to regroup , but at around 01 : 00 , unwittingly stumbled into the German dreadnoughts a second time . " Oldenburg " and " Helgoland " opened fire on the two leading British destroyers , but a British shell destroyed " Oldenburg " s forward search light . Shell fragments rained down on the bridge and wounded the ship ' s captain , " Kapitän " Hopfner , and killed his second in command , " Kapitänleutnant " Rabius , along with a number of other men on the bridge , including the helmsman . " Oldenburg " was temporarily without anyone to steer the ship ; she was in danger of ramming either the ship to her rear or to her front . " Kapitän " Hopfner , despite his injuries , took the helm and brought the ship back into line . Shortly after 01 : 00 , " Thüringen " and " Nassau " encountered the British armored cruiser . " Thüringen " opened fire first and pummeled " Black Prince " with a total of 27 heavy - caliber shells and 24 rounds from her secondary battery . " Nassau " and " Ostfriesland " joined in , followed by . By this time , the 4th Destroyer Flotilla had been largely destroyed as a fighting unit . The few remaining , heavily damaged ships had been scattered and would take no further part in the battle . Following the return to German waters , " Helgoland " and " Thüringen " , along with the s " Nassau " , , and , took up defensive positions in the Jade roadstead for the night . During the battle , the ships suffered only minor damage . " Helgoland " was hit by a single 15 in shell , but sustained minimal damage . The " Oldenburg " was hit by a shell from a secondary battery that killed 8 and wounded 14 men . " Ostfriesland " and " Thüringen " escaped the battle unscathed , although on the return to German waters , " Ostfriesland " struck a mine and had to be repaired in Wilhelmshaven . Post - war . The ships of the class saw no further significant action during the war , and were ceded to the Allies under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles . All four ships were stricken from the German navy on 5 November 1919 . " Helgoland " was taken by the British and was scrapped in 1921 in Morecambe . Her bow ornament was retained and was eventually returned to Germany ; it is now on display in the Dresden army museum . " Oldenburg " was surrendered to the Japanese , but they did not take possession of the ship . Instead , they sold the vessel to a British salvage firm that scrapped it in Dordrecht in 1921 . " Thüringen " was taken by France ; the ship was nearly scuttled by her crew while en route to Cherbourg in 1920 . She was used as a target until she was beached in 1923 at Gavres . She was broken up in situ , but a large portion of the hull remains off shore . " Ostfriesland " was ceded to the US Navy , and was later used as a stationary target during a demonstration of air power , conducted by General Billy Mitchell on 21 July 1921 off Cape Henry in Virginia . The ship sank at 12 : 40 after sustaining several bomb hits and near misses . However , she likely would have avoided these had she been underway , and if she had been hit , damage control teams would have kept the ship afloat . Notes . Footnotes Citations