For all battleship classes of the Imperial German Navy there were 10-15 design proposals - usually very similar to each other. Two or three made it to the final decision board. Below are the descriptions of some of the proposals which lost, including a short explanation why. I have added a rough sketch of the distribution of the main armament.
The Nassau class
The first designs for the Nassau class were started in 1904. The construction department of the Imperial German Navy analyzed future British naval developments and concluded that a battleship of some 18,000 tons armed with up to ten 12" guns could be expected (the real surprise in the Dreadnought design was the turbine and the high speed). It was therefore highly recommended to increase the number of heavy guns for the successors of the Deutschland class OBB. Unfortunately, the dimensions of the locks of the canal between the North Sea and the Baltic limited the tonnage to about 16,000 tons. Larger ships would have required a complete reconstruction of the canal, severely stressing to the financial capabilities of the German Empire.
The result of these restrictions was the ‘Ship of the Line Project 1906 ‘c’’ of about 15,800 ts, approved by the Emperor on March 18th, 1905. With exception of the department of finance, nobody was really satisfied with the design. The tacticians of the German Navy expected that a sea battle would start with a rather short period of long range fire. Then they expected a melee, a close combat shootout, to develop, where fast-firing guns had an advantage over slower-firing guns. The melee would culminate in exchange of torpedoes - and to survive torpedo hits the underwater protection of ‘Ship of the Line Project 1906 ‘c’’ was regarded as insufficient.
Fortunately for the German Navy HMS Dreadnought showed up in time. Immediately, a propaganda campaign was started to give the impression to people and Parliament that the German Navy was totally surprised. This resulted in ample funding for the next classes of capital ships and for the enlargement of the canal. The approval for ‘Ship of the Line Project 1906 ‘c’’ was cancelled and the construction department could build a battleship according to their plans.
Project 1906 ‘c’ (Nassau) BB
Displacement: 15800n
In class: (4)
Size Class: A
In Service: (1907)
Propulsion: Coal Recip
Crew: 950
Weapons: Armor Rtng: 21/4/45
F/A(2)2 28cm SKL/45 C
PB&P/P&PQ/SB&S/S&SQ(1)4 28cm SKL/45 C
Casemate(1)8 17cm SKL/40 C
Bow/2P/2S/Stern(1)6 45cm subm TT w/16 C/07 torp total E
Light Btry: (1)20 8.8cm SKL/35 (16.4)
Remarks: Crew estimated.
Damage and Speed Breakdown:
Dam. Pts: 0 81 161 242 290 322
Surf. Speed: 19 15 10 5 0 Sinks
The Helgoland class
For the next battleship class, two designs were considered, one with 5 turrets and one with 6 turrets. The Navy preferred the 6-turret design, because in the decisive melee, expected as the culmination of future sea battles, the advantage would be on the side which hit fast and often. On the other hand, a 5-turret design would cost 45.1 million Marks and a 6-turret design 47.1 million. Due to the skillful public relations campaign of Admiral Tirpitz, the fear of public and Parliament of having inferior ships was more important than the stressed financial situation of the German Empire. Therefore, the 6-turret design was selected for the Helgoland class.
Project 1908 ‘16’ (Helgoland) BB
Displacement: 21800n
In class: (4)
Size Class: A
In Service: (1911)
Propulsion: Coal Recip
Crew: 1070
Weapons: Armor Rtng: 22/6/60
PW/SW/2P&S/A(2)5 30.5cm SKL/50 C
Casemate(1)12 15cm SKL/45 C
Bow/2P/2S/Stern(1)6 50cm subm TT w/20 G6 torp total E
Light Btry: (1)16 8.8cm SKL/45 (18.2)
Remarks: Crew estimated. PW and SW turrets can fire up to 30° to S and P respectively.
Damage and Speed Breakdown
Dam. Pts: 0 102 203 305 366 407
Surf. Speed: 21 16 11 5 0 Sinks
The Kaiser class
Again the construction department of the Navy asked for the most expensive design. More than 51 Million Marks would have been the cost of a 6-turret Kaiser class. This time the demand caused the resignation of a high-ranking officer in the finance department. The costs had to be reduced and therefore one turret was sacrificed, saving 4.4 million Marks.
Project 1909 ‘1c’ (Kaiser) BB
Displacement: 24600n
In class: (5)
Size Class: A
In Service: (1912)
Propulsion: Coal Turbine
Crew: 1250
Weapons: Armor Rtng: 26/7/60
2F/PB&PQ/SB&SQ/2A(2)6 30.5cm SKL/50 C
Casemate(1)14 15cm SKL/45 C
Bow/2P/2S/Stern(1)6 50cm subm TT w/20 G6 torp total E
Light Btry: (1)8 8.8cm SKL/45 (9.1)
Area AA Btry: (1)4 8.8cm Flak L/45 (5.2)
Remarks: Crew estimated.
Damage and Speed Breakdown
Dam. Pts: 0 112 224 335 402 447
Surf. Speed: 21 16 11 5 0 Sinks
Ersatz Odin, Prinzregent Luitpold
The last ship of the Kaiser class was Ersatz (“Replacement”) Odin - later named Prinzregent Luitpold. In autumn 1909 (before Ersatz Odin was laid down) it was clear that the British Navy would use 13.5 inch guns for their next class of battleships, the Orions. The construction department searched for ways to increase the firepower. One solution was triple turrets. This was rejected, because the rate of fire of a triple turret would decrease (using current mount design) and that this solution would add 500 tons to the displacement and 3 million Marks to the cost. And last but not least, there would be a delay in the ship’s completion, which was not acceptable for Admiral Tirpitz. So Ersatz Odin was completed along the lines of the Kaiser class.
Project 1910 ‘Ersatz Odin’ BB
Displacement: 24900n
In class: (1)
Size Class: A
In Service: (1913)
Propulsion: Coal Turbine
Crew: 1250
Weapons: Armor Rtng: 26/7/60
F/P&S/2A(3)4 30.5cm SKL/50 C
Casemate(1)14 15cm SKL/45 C
Bow/2P/2S/Stern(1)6 50cm subm TT w/20 G6 torp total E
Light Btry: (1)8 8.8cm SKL/45 (9.1)
Area AA Btry: (1)4 8.8cm Flak L/45 (5.2)
Remarks: Crew estimated.
Damage and Speed Breakdown
Dam. Pts: 0 113 226 338 406 451
Surf. Speed: 22 17 11 6 0 Sinks
The König class
Due to the 13.5 inch-caliber of the British super-dreadnoughts, parts of the German Navy asked for more hitting power at 10,000 meters range and above. One of the proposed ideas was an increase to a 500 kg projectile; bore 32cm (300 kg projectiles had a bore of 28cm; 400 kg projectiles a bore of 30.5cm - so that the 500 kg projectile was the logical next step). A 5-turret design with these new guns would have cost over 54 million Marks - for such an amount there was no financial cover, so it was dead, even before detailed construction work started. A reduction in number of turrets would have met the budgetary limits, but there were also strong arguments against a larger caliber.
First, due to visibility in the North Sea, engagements were expected to take place at ranges under 15,000 m. At this range, artillery departments expected the 30.5cm/50 gun to penetrate all known British armor.
Second, 5 turrets had a higher hit probability than 4 turrets.
Third, the 30.5cm gun was in production and the 32cm gun had to be developed, with the risk of delay.
Fourth, the ammunition supply of two divisions of battleships with the same kind of ammunition was more cost efficient than supply with different caliber.
Fifth, fire control for extreme range shooting was still in its infancy. Trying to hit a fast ship at those ranges might be a waste of ammunition. A higher caliber for these ranges could only be justified if the fire control systems would have proven their worth in testing.
Project 1912 ’32cm’ (König) BB
Displacement: 25400n
In class: (4)
Size Class: A
In Service: (1914)
Propulsion: Mixed Turbine
Crew: 1200
Weapons: Armor Rtng: 25/7/60
F/A(2)4 32cm SKL/50 C
Casemate(1)12 15cm SKL/45 C
Bow/2P/2S/Stern(1)6 50cm subm TT w/16 G7 torp total E
Light Btry: (1)8 8.8cm SKL/45 (9.1)
Area AA Btry: (1)4 8.8cm Flak L/45 (5.2)
Remarks: Crew estimated.
Damage and Speed Breakdown
Dam. Pts: 0 115 229 344 412 458
Surf. Speed: 22 17 11 6 0 Sinks
BT
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