SMS Westfalen
Contents
Description
The Nassau-class, SMS Westfalen, 1916 is a rank V German battleship
with a battle rating of 6.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "New Power".
General info
Survivability and armour
The SMS Westfalen is a dreadnought with an all-or-nothing armour scheme. This means she has thick armour all around the ship.
Her armour is rolled cemented "krupp" armour, which contains higher carbon steel on the surface and a softer core. The intent was to try shattering the shells with the tougher layer, while the softer core would absorb the shell's impact. This was one of the latest evolutions in armour designs used by dreadnoughts.
When it comes to survivability, her citadel is protected by a turtle back armour scheme in addition to coal bunkers. This should stop most shells from penetrating the important parts such as the ammo racks and the engines, while her 90-170 mm thick external armour will stop most destroyer's shells and high explosive rounds from all sources.
Her lack of AA armament is a bad, and also a good thing. Sure, aircrafts will make short work of her. But only Japanese torpedo bombers carry a large enough torpedo to bypass her torpedo bulges, which are thick enough to stop all but the Japanese Type 91 Model 2 and Model 3 airbourne torpedoes.
No AA means no crew to be lost easily. The only places she'll lose crew easily are the 88 mm guns in the bow and stern, so it is not recommended to repairing the ship just for fixing those, as it will put new crew inside them to be easily lost again.
Mobility
Don't expect mobility from a dreadnought. She was made to take damage while sending it back to her opponent. Speed was much less of a concern than armour.
This gives her roughly 38 km/h top speed, which is quite slow. Not enough to evade easily any bomb attacks.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | |||
| Upgraded | 44 | 25 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 37 | 22 | |
Armament
Primary armament
Her armament consists of 6 turrets, each with twin 283 mm cannons. This is rather weak compared to most other battleships who have 305 mm or even larger guns. However, these will still make short work of cruisers and destroyers.
Secondary armament
This is where she shines. Twelve 150 mm and sixteen 88 mm guns. Patrol Torpedo boats will have a hard time sneaking through that firepower. Even destroyers will fear your 150 mm cannons.
Anti-aircraft armament
An important part of the ship's armament responsible for air defence. Anti-aircraft armament is defined by the weapon chosen with the control Select anti-aircraft weapons. Talk about the ship's anti-air cannons and machine guns, the number of guns and their positions, their effective range, and about their overall effectiveness – including against surface targets. If there are no anti-aircraft armaments, remove this section.
Usage in battles
As a dreadnought, she excels at taking hits while giving them. Her playground is small maps, where her secondaries can make short work of destroyers while her primaries take care of cruisers.
Due to her "small" 283 mm cannons, she will have more trouble facing other dreadnoughts who have larger guns. It's not impossible, just better to shoot at softer targets instead.
Modules
| Tier | Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Dry-Docking | Tool Set | Anti-Air Armament Targeting | 283 mm Psgr. L/3.2 | |
| II | Rudder Replacement | Fire Protection System | Auxiliary Armament Targeting | 150 mm Sprgr. L/3.2 Bdz | |
| III | Propeller Replacement | Shrapnel Protection | Ventilation | Primary Armament Targeting | Improved Rangefinder |
| IV | Engine Maintenance | New Pumps | Ammo Wetting | ||
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Lots of firepower available from guns
- Thick armour all around
- Turtle back citadel armour scheme
- Coal bunkers
Cons:
- Somewhat weaker main guns in comparison to other battleships
- Mediocre anti-air defense
- Huge profile and low mobility
History
SMS Westfalen was a member of the four-ship Nassau-class, the first class of dreadnoughts built by the Imperial German Navy. Commissioned in 1909, she saw extensive service during the First World War, where she participated in many naval engagements. She was also responsible for the destruction of three British destroyers at the Battle of Jutland. Westfalen was damaged in 1918, and thereafter used as a training ship; she was later handed to the United Kingdom as a war reparation, and scrapped in 1924.[1]
Design and construction
The Nassau class was built to counter the British HMS Dreadnought, who had revolutionized modern battleship design. As a result, the Nassaus were the first ships of the German Navy to carry an all-big-gun armament. The ships were also the first German vessels to be equipped with a torpedo bulkhead.[1] The ships were intended to carry new steam turbines, but the German steam-turbine manufacturing process had not been refined; as a result, the Nassaus were equipped with large, space-consuming piston engines.[1] This also contributed to the installation of Westfalen's unique hexagonal main armament arrangement.[1] Westfalen was launched on July 1st 1908, and commissioned in November of 1909.
Westfalen displaced just over 20 thousand tons, and was capable of making just over 20 knots. She carried a main armament of twelve 11-inch (281 mm) guns in a hexagonal formation, with four guns mounted on the beam.[1] She also carried a large amount of 5.9-inch (150 mm) and 88 mm guns to counter smaller vessels and torpedo boats.[1] Later on, Westfalen was refitted to carry a small number of anti-aircraft guns; she initially carried six underwater torpedo tubes, but these were later removed.1[1]
Service History
After her commissioning, the SMS Westfalen served as the flagship of the First Battle Squadron, replacing the elderly pre-dreadnought SMS Kaiser Barbarossa.[1] She served in this role until 1914, when she was slated to be moved to the Second Battle Squadron; however, these plans were put on hold following the outbreak of the First World War.[1] She then served as part of the screening force protecting Admiral Hipper's battlecruisers, which were shelling the towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby.[1] She also served a minor role in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga.[1]
Westfalen participated in the Battle of Jutland, where she was at the rear of the German Battleship Formation. However, in the late evening, she encountered a light force of several British destroyers, and an ensuing firefight erupted at close range.[1] Westfalen scored several hits on the British destroyer leader Tiperrary, causing critical damage;[1] the destroyer was later finished off by her sister ship Nassau. She then fired multiple salvoes at the destroyers Fortune and Turbulent, critically damaging the former and sinking the latter. During this time, her bridge was hit by a round fired from a destroyer, which killed two and injured several others; the ship received no other battle damage.[1]
Following this action, the Westfalen returned to port for repairs. Several months later, she was yet again part of the screening force for Hipper's battlecruisers, this time for a raid on the town of Sunderland. However, Westfalen was struck by a torpedo from the British submarine E23,[1] which flooded her torpedo bulkhead with 800 tons of water. Despite this, the torpedo bulkhead held, demonstrating its effectiveness.[1]
In February of 1918, the ship participated in the Finland intervention by transporting troops.[1] She also fired her main guns in support of German Forces. In April, Westfalen completed this operation and returned to the First Battle Squadron; however, in August, she suffered serious damage to her boilers.[1] Thus, she was decommissioned and used as a training ship.[1] Following the conclusion of the First World War, Westfalen was handed over to the United Kingdom as a war reparation. Thus, she was scrapped in 1924 at Birkenhead.[1]
Devblog
After the incredible HMS Dreadnought appeared, German shipbuilders began working on a new battleship design to succeed the British flagship.
Several new designs were created and considered as a result, but eventually the "G7b" design was approved by the Kaiser in March 1906, officially becoming the Nassau class. Shortly after, two of the new Nassau battleships were ordered with two further ships being added to the construction queue of German shipyards later.
SMS Westfalen was the last of the Nassau-class battleships to be laid down in August 1907, but the second to be commissioned into service with the Imperial Navy in November 1909. In the years leading up to WWI, Westfalen actively took part in routine fleet exercises and training courses with other elements of the Imperial Navy.
During the war, Westfalen, along with other ships of its type, actively participated in combat. The 2nd division (all ships of the Nassau type) of the 1st Hochseeflot squadron fought in the Baltic, and then in full force at Jutland, where they were especially active during the night phase of the battle. Initially, Westfalen, Nassau and Rheinland shot the destroyer Tipperary, and after that, a collision between Nassau and the destroyer Spitfire occurred where due to the extremely short distance between ships, the destroyer was below the sector of fire of the main battery guns, but was damaged by muzzle gases and barely escaped. Westfalen rammed and sank the destroyer Turbulent, and also participated in the sinking of the destroyers Ardent and Fortune. After Jutland, she took part in Operation Albion. Following the end of WWI, Westfalen was ceded to Great Britain as a replacement for some of the German ships lost to scuttling at Scapa Flow and shortly afterwards sold for scrap, being broken up between 1920 - 1924.
Media
- Skins
- Images
- SMS Westfalen Devblog Images
- Videos
See also
Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the ship;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Citations
Bibliography
- Militaer Wissen. (n.d.). Battleship SMS Westfalen. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.militaer-wissen.de/battleship-sms-westfalen/?lang=en
| Germany battleships | |
|---|---|
| Nassau-class | SMS Nassau · SMS Westfalen |
| Helgoland-class | SMS Helgoland · SMS Ostfriesland |
| Kaiser-class | SMS Kaiser |
| Bayern-class | SMS Bayern · SMS Baden · SMS Sachsen |
