SMS Bayern (1878) - Service History

Service History

After her commissioning in August 1881, Bayern was placed in reserve. She was not activated for service with the fleet until 1884; this in part had to do with the poor performance of her sister Sachsen in the fleet maneuvers of 1880. Among the problems associated with the Sachsen-class ships was a tendency to roll dangerously due to their flat bottoms, which greatly reduced the accuracy of their guns. The ships were also poorly armored, compared to their contemporaries. In addition, they were slow and suffered from poor maneuverability. Nevertheless, Bayern and her three sisters served as the I Division in the 1884 fleet maneuvers, under the command of Rear Admiral Alexander von Monts.

Bayern remained with the fleet for the 1885 maneuvers, though she was joined only by the older ironclads Friedrich Carl and Hansa. The maneuvers were begun with a visit to Ålesund, Norway, after which the fleet went to the Baltic Sea for training exercises. Bayern was demobilized at the close of maneuvers. In October 1885, August von Thomsen, who had been appointed chief gunner, set up the first long range gunnery experiments on Bayern. He went on to gain fame as "the father of German naval artillery." Bayern's three sisters and the new ironclad Oldenburg comprised the training squadron for 1886. Bayern returned to active duty in 1888, when she participated in a tour of the Baltic by the newly crowned Kaiser Wilhelm II. The fleet stopped in St. Petersburg, Stockholm, and Copenhagen on the seventeen-day cruise.

Bayern participated in the ceremonial transfer of the island of Helgoland from British to German control in the summer of 1890. She was present during the fleet maneuvers in September, where the entire eight-ship armored squadron simulated a Russian fleet blockading Kiel. She remained with the I Division in 1891; the year's maneuvers simulated a two-front war against Russia and either France of Denmark. Bayern participated in the 1892 fleet maneuvers as well. Three separate simulations were conducted, which included French blockades of the German North Sea coast and a Russian attack on Kiel. Vice Admiral Wilhelm Schröder commanded the fleet maneuvers of 1893, which simulated a protracted campaign against a superior French fleet. Bayern and her three sisters served as the Russian Baltic Fleet during the 1894 maneuvers.

The four Sachsen-class ships were transferred to the II Division before the winter cruise of 1894–1895, following the completion of the four Brandenburg-class battleships. The German fleet now possessed two homogenous squadrons of four ships each. The two divisions steamed to Orkney and the Shetland Islands in the spring of 1895. Bayern joined a massive fleet review on 21 July 1895 for the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, which connected Kiel to the North Sea. The Autumn 1895 maneuvers simulated a high-seas battle between the I and II Divisions in the North Sea, followed by combined maneuvers with the rest of the fleet in the Baltic.

After the conclusion of the 1895 maneuvers, Bayern was taken into drydock at the Schichau-Werke in Danzig for reconstruction. The ship's old wrought iron and teak armor was replaced with new Krupp nickel-steel armor. The four funnels were trunked into a single large funnel and new engines were also installed, which increased the ship's speed to 15.4 kn (28.5 km/h; 17.7 mph). The ship's 8.7 cm guns were replaced with quick-firing 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 guns and four 3.7 cm (1.5 in) autocannons. Work was completed in 1898. Bayern's three sisters were similarly modified between 1896 and 1899. Bayern remained with the fleet until 19 February 1910, when the ship was stricken from the naval register. She was converted into a target ship for the fleet and served in this capacity off Stollergrund after 1911. On 5 May 1919, Bayern was sold for scrapping and broken up in Kiel.