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Friday, 24 June 2016

British claimed loss of German dreadnought SMS Westfalen according to the Dutch newspaper Het nieuws van den dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië dated 5 June 1916

Nassau-class

An item dated London, England 8th referred to an intercepted telegram sent from Berlin, Germany in which the German cabinet de loss of the dreadnought Westphalen confirmed.

Note
1. The German dreadnought battleship SMS (ex-Ersatz Sachsen) Westfalen, lLaid down at the shipyard AG Weser, Bremen, Germany on 12 August 1907, launched on 1 July 1908, commissioned on 16 November 1909 and finally broken up at Birkenhead, England in 1924. Of the Nassau-class consisting of the Nassau. Posen, Rheinland and Westfalen. They were built to replace the Sachsen-class under the temporarily names Ersatz Bayern, Ersatz Sachsen, Ersatz Württemberg and Ersatz Baden. General specifications of this class. Displacement 18.570 tons/18.280 long tons (design)-21.000 tons/(full load) and as dimensions 146,1 x 26,9 x 8,76 metres or 479.4 x 88.3 x 28.9 feet, The 3 shaft vertical expansion engines delivered 21.699 ihp allowing a speed of 19 (design)-20,2 knots and with a speed of 12 knots a range of 8.300 nautical miles. Their crew numbered 1008 (standard)-1.033 (acting as 2nd command flagship)-1.087 (acting as squadron flagship) men. The armour consisted of a 30cm thick belt, 3cm thick torpedo bulkheads while the turrets, battery and conning tower were protected by respectively 28cm, 16cm and 40cm. Double bottom 88% and 19 watertight compartments. The armament consisted of 6x2-28cm/11” L/45 guns, 12-15cm/5.9” quick firing L/45 guns, 16-8,8cm/3.5” quick firing L/45 guns and 6-45cm/18” torpedo tubes. She was indeed present at the Battle of Jutland or Skagerrak between the British and German navies 31 May-1 June 1916 but obviously survived. British losses 6.094 men killed, 674 men wounded, 3 battle cruisers, 3 armoured cruisers, 8 destroyers total tonnage lost 113.300 tons and German losses 2.551 men killed, 507 wounded, 1 battle cruiser, 1 pre-dreadnought, 4 light cruisers, total tonnage 62.300 tons.