KÖNIG

Fleet

HochSeeFlotte

Ship Type

Battleship

Nickname

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Ship Class

Konig

Grouping

V Division, III Battle Squadron

Command

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Builder's Yard

Kaiserliche Werft, Wilhelmshaven

Budget Year

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Construction Notes

Cost 45 million marks. Construction name "S".

Date Laid Down

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Launch Date

01.03.1913

Completed date

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Commission date

10.08.1914

Year laid down

1911 (Oct)

Year launched

1913

Year completed

1914

Commission Year

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Pennant No

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Photo Details

Courtesy of the Frankes Collection

Sister ships

Markgraf, Kronprinz and Grosser Kurfürst.

Eventual Fate

Scuttled az Sapa Flow on JUne 21 1919 but never raised by the British

Jutland result

All Action times in CET.At 17:46 Scheer gave the Order for fire to be opened. König, Grosse Kurfürst and Markgraf were first to get into range and engaged Princess Royal and Tiger at 21,000 yards. König's secondary armament was aimed at the destroyers, Nestor and Nicator.All four torpedoes launched at König and Grosse Kurfürst missed. Nicator was hit in th engine room and with Nomad were sunk and their survivors picked up by German torpedo boats.18:00 shifted fire to Barham and then Valiant but they were able to move out of range. After 19:20, after Defence had been dealt with at close range by König (and Ostfreisland, Helgoland, Thüringen and Friedrich der Grosse) fire was switched to the Malaya which was involuntarily circling. Visual contact was quickly lost, König had to fight off an attack from British LCs and destroyers. At 19:30 she came under heavy fire from the deploying British battle line. Iron Duke fired 9 salvoes within 5 minutes landing 7 hits (Wki: "only one shell hit the ship"). Even though the shell exploded 50 yards behind the ship, Admiral Behncke was injured. During the 20:10 turn away, König was hit by Iron Duke just aft of the rear-most turret. It was a confusing picture as Vice Admiral Schmidt (commander of the I Battle Squadron) had decided to turn all at once rather than in succession. König turned to port and laid a smokescreen between her and her sister ships.König took on around 16,000 tons of water but was still able to maintain sped. She was not able to cross the Amrun channel however until the tide rose.

Ready for action after dock repairs

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Commander

Kapitän zur See Friedrich Bruninghaus (flagship of Geschwaderchef: Konteradmiral Paul Behncke) with staff - Admiral: Konteradmiral Hermann Nordmann, Admiralstabsoffizier: Korvettenkapitän Freiherr Ernst von Gagern

Noteable Officers

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Crew complement

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Officers

Ratings

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Killed

Wounded

Prisoners

Displacement full Load (tons)

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Artefacts Data

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Ship's Model

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Length (ft)

575' 6"

Length (mtrs)

175.4

Beam (ft)

96' 9"

Beam (mtrs)

29.5

Draught (ft)

30' 2"

Draught (mtrs)

9.19

Max. Speed (knots)

21.2

Range (miles)

9,200 miles at 12 kts

Range (kilometres)

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Fuel

Mixed - coal and fuel oil

Propulsion

3 Parons steam turbines driving three shafts with three bladed props. Rated at 43,400 shp.

Armour Main Belt

14" (350 mm)

Deck Armour

1.2" (30 mm)

Turret Armour IN CM

12" (300 mm)

Conning Tower Armour

12" (300 mm)m

Barbette Armour

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Weight of armour

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Armour / Displacement Ratio

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Watertight compartments

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General Notes

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Fire Control Table

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Fire Control - Clock

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Primary Gun calibre

30.5 cm (12”) SK L/50 guns

No. Primary Turrets

Guns (No.barrels)

Primary gun layout

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Rounds per main gun

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Effective broadside guns

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Primary shell Weight (inches or cm)

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Primary Broadside Weight

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Secondary Gun Calibre

15 cm (5.9”) SK L/45 guns

Guns (No.barrels) 2

Rounds per secondary

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Other Armament

Ten 8.8 cm SK / 28 guns

Elevation (degrees)

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Gunnery Range (yards)

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Gunnery Range (metres)

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Rate of Fire (rds per minute)

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Shells expended Main

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Mines dropped

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Shells expended Secondary

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Torpedoes fired

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Gunnery Notes

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Torpedo Type IN

19.7"

No. tubes

Torpedo Type MM

300 mm

No. Mines

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Torpedo Notes

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References & sources

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