Helgoland-class battleship

SMS Helgoland c. 1911–1917
Class overview
Name	Helgoland class
Operators	Imperial German Navy
Preceded by	Nassau class
Succeeded by	Kaiser class
Built	1908–1912
In commission	1911–1920
Completed	4
Lost	0
Retired	4
Scrapped	3
General characteristics
Type	Dreadnought battleship
Displacement	Normal: 22,808 t (22,448 long tons) Full load: 24,700 t (24,300 long tons)
Length	167.20 m (548 ft 7 in)
Beam	28.50 m (93 ft 6 in)
Draft	8.94 m (29 ft 4 in)
Installed power	15 × water-tube boilers 28,000 PS (28,000 ihp)
Propulsion	3 × triple-expansion steam engines 3 × screw propellers
Speed	20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph)
Range	5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Crew	42 officers 1071 enlisted men
Armament	12 × 30.5 cm (12 in) guns 14 × 15 cm (5.9 in) guns 14 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns 6 × 50 cm (20 in) torpedo tubes
Armor	Belt: 300 mm (11.8 in) Decks: 63 mm (2.5 in) Barbettes: 300 mm Turrets: 300 mm

The Helgoland class was the second class of dreadnought battleships to be built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). Constructed from 1908 to 1912, the class comprised four ships: Helgoland, the lead ship; Oldenburg; Ostfriesland; and Thüringen. The design was a significant improvement over the previous Nassau-class ships; they had a larger main battery—30.5 cm (12 in) main guns instead of the 28 cm (11 in) weapons mounted on the earlier vessels—and an improved propulsion system. The Helgolands were easily distinguished from the preceding Nassaus by the three funnels that were closely arranged, compared to the two larger funnels of the previous class. The ships retained the hexagonal main battery layout of the Nassau class.

The ships served as a unit in I Division, I Battle Squadron alongside the Nassau-class ships in II Division of the 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 Helgolands 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.^[1]