Bismarck Class Battleship "Friedrich Wilhelm", Flagship of the mighty German Imperial Fleet Task Force Krake
A recognition drawing of Friedrich Wilhelm prepared by the Confederate Navy
Description / Specifications
Displacement: 52,600 t (51,800 long tons)
full load
Length: 251 m (823 ft 6 in)
overall
Beam: 36 m (118 ft 1 in)
Draft: 9.30 m (30 ft 6 in) standard
Propulsion: 3 × geared
steam turbines; 3 ×
screw propellers
Speed: 30
knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range: 8,870
nmi (16,430 km; 10,210 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement: 103 officers, 1,962 enlisted men
Sensors and processing systems: FuMO 23
Armament:
Armor:
- Belt: 320 mm (13 in)
- Turrets: 360 mm (14 in)
- Main deck: 100 to 120 mm (3.9 to 4.7 in)
- Upper deck: 50 mm (2 in)
Aircraft carried: 4 ×
Arado Ar 196 floatplanes
Aviation facilities: 1 double-ended
catapult
Background:
The "Fredrich Wilhelm", along with several other Bismarck classes, was a series of Battleships designed in the mid-1930s by the German Imperial Fleet command as a potential counter to the growing British and French Navy in between the great wars. While many nations around the world originally signed to the Hamburg treaty of restricting that governed battleship construction in the
interwar period. Though when several nations left the treaty obligations in their construction of battleships, the Germans quickly ditched it themselves in their construction. The Friedrich Wilhelm
displaced 42,900 t (42,200 long tons)
as built and 52,600 t (51,800 long tons)
fully loaded, with a length of 251 m (823 ft 6 in), a
beam of 36 m (118 ft 1 in) and a maximum
draft of 10.60 m (34 ft 9 in).
[c]Her standard crew numbered 103 officers and 1,962 enlisted men; during the war, this was increased to 108 officers and 2,500 men. She was powered by three
Brown, Boveri & Cie geared
steam turbines, each driving a
screw propeller, with steam provided by twelve oil-fired Wagner superheated
water-tube boilers. Her propulsion system developed a total of 163,023
PS (160,793
shp; 119,903
kW) and yielded a maximum speed of 30.8 knots (57.0 km/h; 35.4 mph) on speed trials.
[7]
She was armed with eight
38 cm SK C/34 L/52 guns arranged in four twin
gun turrets: two
superfiringturrets forward—Anton and Bruno—and two aft—Caesar and Dora.
[d] Her secondary armament consisted of twelve
15 cm L/55 guns, sixteen
10.5 cm L/65 and sixteen
3.7 cm (1.5 in) L/83, and initially twelve
2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft guns. The number of 2 cm guns was eventually increased to 58. After 1942, eight 53.3 cm (21 in) above-water
torpedo tubes were installed in two quadruple mounts, one mount on each side of the ship.
[2]
As built, Friedrich Willhelm was equipped with Model 23 search radars
[e] mounted on the forward, foretop, and rear rangefinders. These were later replaced with Model 27 and then Model 26 radars, which had a larger antenna array. A Model 30 radar, known as the
Hohentwiel, was mounted in 1944 in her topmast, and a Model 213
Würzburg fire-control radar was added on her stern 10.5 cm (4.1 in) Flak rangefinders.
[10]
The ship's
main belt was 320 mm (13 in) thick and was covered by a pair of upper and main armored decks that were 50 mm (2 in) and 100 to 120 mm (3.9 to 4.7 in) thick, respectively. The 38 cm turrets were protected by 360 mm (14 in) thick faces and 220 mm (8.7 in) thick sides.
Service History- Great War
When the Second Great War broke out in
Europe in June of that year when
Kaiser Wilhelm II of
Germany died and the
Entente states of
Britain,
France, and
Russia, hoping to capitalize on the confusion of the ensuing change in the German government and regain territory, money, and prestige lost in the
Great War, 24 years earlier, launched a series of coordinated assaults on Germany,
Austria-Hungary and the
Netherlands. The fleet was mobilized in Hamburg and sent out into the Atlantic Ocean to contest the British and French Navy, but a much smaller navy was sent was held back with a different goal in mind. The debacle of the British Invasion of Norway, thus driving the nation into Germany's camps and access to their ports helped with phase one of the plan for the operation. The "Friedrich Wilhelm", along with a few other Bismarck class vessels with a couple of destroyers, cruisers, and one aircraft carrier the Rhein were able to use Norway ports and resources to stockpile fuel before making the trek across the Atlantic to rendezvous with an American Navy Taskforce. The group was labeled Taskforce Krake, where the task force's objective was to raid Entente trading in the Atlantic to damage their war effort. While the journey across the Atlantic was not easy, a small skirmish happened between a British patrol fleet near the Faroe-Iceland Rise of the Atlantic Ocean. A few ships were damaged but all of it was repairable when they managed to link up with the American Task Force and were led toward Boston Port to undergo repairs. While repairs were delayed by two months by Confederate Bombing attacks and directing valuable resources toward the Eastern Front against the Confederate forces dragged the repair process, by December of 1941, all preparations were complete before the German Task Force was released. The main objective was to disrupt Entente trading networks across the Atlantic Ocean while forcing the Entente nations to respond and take away key naval assets to support the hunt. The goal was relatively mixed in its outcome. While there was trade between the World World and European nations, the Entente wised up and diversified their trade important and built up some of their colonies, resulting in the trade interdiction being less effective. The second issue was the Entente nations did not pull any of their ships away to deal with them, instead of focusing to crush the Central Power navies quickly instead, which eventually became reality in 1942 a major sea battle was fought between the Royal Navy and German High Seas Fleet where the High Seas Fleet was defeated decisively. With the main fleet now regulated in protecting the German coast from any attempted Entente landings and denying any coastal bombardment, Task Force Krake was given a new objective in the region. Partake in American naval operations in the region, especially with the oncoming British fleet into the western Atlantic to challenge the US Navy for supremacy in the area. Most of the heavier assets of the Task Force were taken to partake in the battle, with most of the destroyers and few cruisers regulated to raiding the coast of the Confederacy for the duration of the conflict. The titanic battle between the two navies, called the Battle of Bermuda, drew in many from both sides into conflict and Task Force Krake made up the composition. The "Friedrich Wilhelm" was the flagship of the German composition of the American Naval Forces. William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr., who was in charge of the upcoming battle, held the fleet in reserve along with other American Warships, with the exception being the Rhein which was grouped up with the available American Aircraft carrier group, as a part of Halsey's overall strategy. The group was stationed 100 klicks away when the two navies clashed, with the frequent chattering from the radio from the Americans detailing what the situation was happening. The battle raged for a complete day and a half, with the remainder of the battle raging on the chatter from the radio and the distant sounds of cannons. When the sun rose on the next day, and the clock struck around 11:47, Halsey executed the rest of the plan by calling the rest of the fleet. Both sides were severely mauled in the fighting and tired. The introduction of fresh pristine warships into the battle would surely break the resolve of the British fleet. A flanking maneuver was executed, with the reinforcements attacking the right flank of the British fleet with the Wilhelm Friedrich leading the charge. She opened her guns on a wounded Cruiser of the HMS Thomas, hitting the waterline and prompting her to sink below the depths. The British attack group scattered as the reinforcements plunged themselves deeper into the formation, whatever stragglers couldn't escape fast enough were shot up until they looked like holed cheese. While the maneuver was successful, the crew of the "Friedrich Wilhelm" was not exactly prepared for the sister ship the "Ludwig" being dealt with harshly by a Battleship from the British. As the sister ship "Maximilian" moved toward the "Ludwig", the crew of the "Friedrich Wilhelm" set their targets on the vessel that retaliated against them. The HMS Warspite, affectionately called the
"Grand Old Lady" by the Entente, and
"Grey Old Hag" by the Central Powers wanted nothing better than to sink her. With the shocking appearance of a pristine held back British Battleship, the scattering British Fleet, ones that could still fight, rallied to draw as much of the reinforcement's attention to allow their shipmates the chance to survive and deal some pain to them. The german flagship immediately turned toward the Warspite and unleashed a full broadside against her, with the British Vessel responding back in kind. The "Friedrich Wilhelm" guns were able to fire faster, but the Warspite was larger and dealt more damage. The duel between the two mighty ships was like a clash between two giants as each respective ship fought to deal mortal wounds to the other. The only ace up the sleeve for the German Battleship was the installed torpedo tubes she had on board, so when the range came close enough she unleashed her payload against the HMS Warspite. Some of them struck against the vessel, and she fired another broadside in anger against the "Friedrich Wilhelm." By the time the duel between the two vessels was over, and the rest of the British Fleet retreated from the battle both ships were severely mauled. While they were able to limp back to their respective port, the "Warspite" was in no position to do so as she was surrounded by the American fleet. Though her sacrifice was not in vain, she formally surrendered and was tugged back to US Ports, along with "Friedrich Wilhelm. The "Friedrich Wilhelm" would be knocked out of commission for the rest of 1942 and 1943 undergoing repairs, being put back into action during the early years of 1944 bombarding the Confederacy shore along with Task Force Krake and the American Navy. When the war ended she returned back home to Germany and to this day remained as a museum ship in the port of Hamburg.
(Man I need to become better at writing these plot things but hey practice makes perfect. Tried to do a more fanon thing in the history of a ship too. Might not be the best but gotta start something.)