Why Did the Kaiser Friedrich III Class Battleships Favor 240mm Guns?
From a modern perspective, the choice of 240mm guns over 305mm or 280mm in the Friedrich III class battleships might appear suboptimal. However, during the early 1890s, the naval arms race and battle concepts were drastically different. Let's explore why the German Imperial Navy opted for the 240mm guns in their flagship design.
Naval Armament in the Early 1890s
It's important to keep in mind the technological context of the 1890s. The available 280-305mm guns were significantly bulkier and slower firing than those of the 1910s. The 280mm guns of the Brandenburg class battleships of 1890 had a firing rate of just one round every two minutes. In contrast, the 240mm guns could fire about three rounds per minute, making them significantly more effective in rapid-fire scenarios.
Design Philosophy of the Kaiser Friedrich III Class
The Imperial German Navy, when designing the Friedrich III class battleships, prioritized rapid firing over individual shell weight. At the short battle ranges of the time, which were as low as 1000 meters, the high rate of fire of the 240mm guns was considered more advantageous. This was supported by a secondary armament of eighteen 150mm guns, which could operate at about five rounds per minute of sustained fire and potentially more in bursts.
Fleet Tactics and Armor Penetration
The design philosophy was to saturate the enemy with an intense barrage of high-explosive shells from the 150mm guns while the 240mm guns would punch holes in the waterline. In modern terms, this strategy was optimized for "DPS" (Damage Per Second).
No navy had successfully developed delayed-action fuses in the 1890s, so the ammunition options were limited to solid shot or explosive shells. Larger guns do offer a larger potential explosive payload, but this was only relevant with reliable fuses. Moreover, the new smokeless powder allowed for much higher muzzle velocities, potentially capable of penetrating thicker armor.
Military Strategy and Technological Advancements
The German Navy believed that making more smaller holes was a better strategy than fewer larger ones, and they might also penetrate thicker armor with smaller, higher-velocity shots. Simultaneously, they would have a better chance of hitting the enemy. However, this strategy made the Kaiser Friedrich III class optimal for short-range combat, which was the prevailing doctrine of the time.
There were legitimate reasons for choosing 240mm guns, but tactical and strategic assumptions proved short-sighted as naval technology advanced rapidly. By the mid-1890s, the paradigm for naval gunnery had shifted, making larger quick-firing guns more advantageous.
Broader Context: Naval Doctrine and Technological Changes
By the middle of the 20th century, as demonstrated by the Russo-Japanese War, the design philosophy for 240mm armed battleships had vanished. By 1901, the German Navy shifted to 280mm guns in their Braunschweig class battleships, recognizing the changing battlefield dynamics.
In hypothetical battles at the relatively confined Baltic waters of the late 1890s, the Friedrich III and Wittlesbach class battleships would have been formidable. However, their design precluded longer-range engagements, a trend that eventually rendered their armament obsolete.
Understanding the historical context is crucial when evaluating the choices made in naval design. The Friedrich III class battleships were emblematic of a specific, temporally-bound tactical and technological mindset.