Naval History Forums

On another board a while back there was a discussion of the fact hat the Germans decide not finish the Greek BB Salamis for use with the High Sea Fleet. This was due to the fact Krupp felt it would take two years or more to furnish the heavy guns and turrets that would be needed. On this other board it was suggested that 12" guns and turrets in the fortifications on Helgoland could have been used to arm the ship. This idea was quickly shot down due the size and weight of the gun turrets on the island.

I have an alternate suggestion to throw out to the group. Decommission a pair of the Deutchlan/Braunschwieg class Pre-Dreadnoughts and use their heavy gun turrets and barbettes to fit out the "Tirpitz". Granted, the 11"/40 was hardly the most effective of guns, but such a ship would still have been a valuable unit with armor & Broadside weight of fire roughly equal to the von der Tann.

Ed B.

Question - what exactly would be the role of this ship, ie why invest such assets in its construction?

Well if they couldn't get the turrets and heavy guns built in time, I suppose maybe they could have armed it with the inferior guns on a temporary basis--much like the S & G were meant to have their 11" guns replaced with twin 15".

Except for the missing main armament, the ship was almost complete by Aug of 1914. The German Navy did examine the possibility of completing the ship but dropped the idea due to the long lead time needed for the heavy guns - estimated at 2 to 2.5 years by Krupp - so they certainly saw value in the basic design. As to the use of such a ship, while certainly inferior to other German capital ships, it still would have been of more value than a pair of pre-dreadnoughts, if for no other reason than her 23kt top speed.

Ed B.

Are there any plans for the Salamis available? I have only seen the Conway's line drawing of her finished appearance and one photograph of the unfinished hull.