Construction
Kaiser Wilhelm II, the emperor of Germany, believed that a strong navy was necessary for the country to expand its influence outside of continental Europe. As a result, he initiated a program of naval expansion in the late 1880s; the first battleships built under this program were the four Brandenburg-class ships. These were immediately followed by the five Kaiser Friedrich III-class battleships, of which Kaiser Barbarossa was a member.
Kaiser Barbarossa's keel was laid in 1898, at the Schichau-Werke in Danzig, under construction number 640. She was ordered under the contract name "A" as an addition to the fleet. Kaiser Barbarossa was launched on 21 April 1900 and commissioned on 10 June 1901. The final cost of the vessel was 20,301,000 marks. Trials were conducted upon her commissioning with the fleet. Two tests were recorded during the process: a 50-hour endurance test and a 6-hour speed test. The former produced a sustained speed of 15.5 kn (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph), while the latter saw a maximum speed of 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph).
The ship was 125.3 m (411 ft) long overall and had a beam of 20.4 m (67 ft) and a draft of 7.89 m (25.9 ft) forward and 8.25 m (27.1 ft) aft. The ship was powered by three 3-cylinder vertical triple expansion engines that drove three screws. Steam was provided by four Marine-type and eight cylindrical boilers. Kaiser Barbarossa's powerplant was rated at 13,000 indicated horsepower (9,700 kW), which generated a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h).
Kaiser Barbarossa's armament consisted of a main battery of four 24 cm (9.4 in) SK L/40 guns in twin gun turrets, one fore and one aft of the central superstructure. Her secondary armament consisted of eighteen 15 cm (5.9 inch) SK L/40 guns and twelve 8.8 cm (3.45 in) SK L/30 quick-firing guns. The armament suite was rounded out with six 45 cm torpedo tubes, all in above-water swivel mounts.
Read more about this topic: SMS Kaiser Barbarossa
Famous quotes containing the word construction:
“Striving toward a goal puts a more pleasing construction on our advance toward death.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“No construction stiff working overtime takes more stress and straining than we did just to stay high.”
—Gus Van Sant, U.S. screenwriter and director, and Dan Yost. Bob Hughes (Matt Dillon)
“No real “vital” character in fiction is altogether a conscious construction of the author. On the contrary, it may be a sort of parasitic growth upon the author’s personality, developing by internal necessity as much as by external addition.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)