- SMS Yorck
Seiner Majestät Schiff "Yorck" was the second and final ship of the "Roon" class of
armored cruiser s built for the German Imperial Navy. "Yorck" was named for Hans David Ludwig von Yorck, a Prussian field marshal. She was laid down in February 1903 at Blohm and Voss inHamburg , and finished in November 1905, at the cost of 16,241,000 Marks.Design
ize and machinery
SMS "Yorck" was convert|418|ft|7|in|m|0|abbr=on at the waterline, had a beam of convert|66|ft|4|in|m|0|abbr=on, and a draught of convert|25|ft|m|abbr=on. She displaced 9,533 tons normally, and 10,266 at full load. "Yorck" was powered by 3 shaft triple-expansion engines, which produced convert|19000|ihp|abbr=on, delivering a top speed of convert|21|kn|km/h|0.
Armor and armament
"Yorck" had convert|6|in|mm of belt armor, convert|7|in|mm on the turret faces, and between convert|2.5|in|mm to convert|1.5|in|mm of armor on the decks. She was armed with four convert|8.2|in|mm|0|sing=on guns, in fore and aft twin turrets. Secondary armament included ten convert|5.9|in|mm|0|sing=on guns in single turrets and
casemate s, fourteen convert|3.45|in|mm|sing=on guns, and four convert|17.7|in|mm|0|sing=on torpedo tubes.ervice history
On
4 March 1913 , "Yorck" accidentally collided with the torpedo boat "S178" during a training exercise. "Yorck" suffered only minor damage, but "S178" sank within minutes, taking 66 men down with her. "Yorck" and thebattleship "Oldenburg" managed to rescue only 15 men. [Website devoted to "Kaiserliche Marine" [http://www.deutsche-schutzgebiete.de/sms_yorck.htm] ]"Yorck" was decommissioned and laid up in the reserve fleet in May 1913, with most of her crew transferring to the newly completed battlecruiser "Seydlitz".Staff, Gary: "German Battlecruisers: 1914-1918", page 22. Osprey Books, 2006. ISBN 978-1-84603-009-3] On
12 August 1914 , "Yorck" was recommissioned and assigned to III Scouting Group.From 2 to 4 November, "Yorck" lay in the
Jade Estuary ready to sail in support of I and II Scouting Groups, which were raiding Great Yarmouth on the English east coast. On 4 November, "Yorck" weighed anchor and proceeded toWilhelmshaven without receiving proper authorization. [New York Times, Dec. 28, 1914 [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F0CE4D61438E633A2575BC2A9649D946596D6CF] ] In heavy fog, she passed a minefield marker buoy and struck two German mines. "Yorck" capsized and sank with the loss of 336 crew. [Memorial to "Yorck's" war dead [http://www.kiel.de/Aemter_61_bis_92/67/Friedhoefe/Friedhoefe/Nordfriedhof/marine/yorck.htm] ] Though hampered by the fog, the coastal defense ship "Hagen" was able to rescue 381 men from the water.In December 1914, "Yorck's" commanding officer was court-martialled and convicted of negligence and failure to follow orders. [New York Times, Dec. 28, 1914 [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F0CE4D61438E633A2575BC2A9649D946596D6CF] ] "Yorck's" wreck posed a substantial navigation hazard, and was therefore partially cleared between 1929 and 1930. Further salvage operations were carried out in 1965 and 1982.
References
External links
* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/armoured-cruiser/sms-roon.html World War 1 Naval Combat]
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