SMS Oldenburg

Recognition drawing of a Helgoland-class battleship
History
German Empire
Name	Oldenburg
Namesake	Duchy of Oldenburg[1]
Builder	Schichau-Werke, Danzig
Laid down	1 March 1909
Launched	30 June 1910
Commissioned	1 May 1912
Stricken	5 November 1919
Fate	Ceded to Japan, 1920. Broken up for scrap, 1921
General characteristics
Class and type	Helgoland-class 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	20.8 knots (38.5 km/h; 23.9 mph)
Range	5,500 nautical miles (10,190 km; 6,330 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	42 officers 1027 enlisted
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) Turrets: 300 mm (11.8 in) Deck: 63.5 mm (2.5 in)

SMS Oldenburg^[a] was the fourth vessel of the Helgoland class of dreadnought battleships of the Imperial German Navy. Oldenburg's keel was laid in March 1909 at the Schichau-Werke dockyard in Danzig. She was launched on 30 June 1910 and was commissioned into the fleet on 1 May 1912. The ship was equipped with twelve 30.5 cm (12 in) guns in six twin turrets, and had a top speed of 21.2 knots (39.3 km/h; 24.4 mph). Oldenburg was assigned to I Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet for the majority of her career, including World War I.

Along with her three sister ships, Helgoland, Ostfriesland, and Thüringen, Oldenburg participated in all of the major fleet operations of World War I in the North Sea against the British Grand Fleet, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May and 1 June 1916, the largest naval battle of the war. The ship also saw action in the Baltic Sea against the Imperial Russian Navy. She was present during the unsuccessful first incursion into the Gulf of Riga in August 1915, though she saw no combat during the operation.

After the German collapse in November 1918, most of the High Seas Fleet was interned and then scuttled in Scapa Flow during the peace negotiations. The four Helgoland-class ships were allowed to remain in Germany but eventually ceded to the victorious Allied powers as war reparations; Oldenburg was given to Japan, which sold the vessel to a British ship breaking firm in 1920. She was broken up for scrap in Dordrecht in 1921.

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