"High Seas Fleet: Battleship Konig"

Oil on Canvas

Image size: 24 x 36 inches (61 x91.5 cm)

Signed, lower left

Framed

SMS Konig at sea with SMS Markgraf and a B Class Torpedo Boat and Light Cruiser...

SMS (Seiner Majestät Schiff) Konig was the lead ship of a class of four superb battleships built for the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). She was completed at Wilhelmshaven Imperial Dockyard 10/8/14. The class were contemporary with the British Iron Duke class. They carried 12” guns (against Iron Duke’s 13.5) capable eventually of a range of over 12 miles. Konig carried a secondary armament of 5.9” guns.

Konig was engineered to typically high German standards and included heating for her crew, unknown in the Royal Navy at that time.

SMS Konig was 25,790 tons, dimensions 590’ x 97’ - shorter and broader than Iron Duke giving greater stability. Her armour, like most German ships, was greater than similar British vessels and of high quality. She carried a maximum complement as flagship of 1178. Like all German battleships of the period she was coal fired with secondary oil firing. Her three turbines drove three screws up to 21 knots although she was reported to have reached 25 knots.

Konig's service was very active in numerous operations. In 1916 she served as 3rd Battle Squadron flagship at the Battle of Skaggerak (Jutland) flying the flag of Rear Admiral Paul Behnke. During the battle she received 10 hits from 13.5 and 15 inch shells engaging Iron Duke at one stage. In 1917 she was active in the Baltic including the Battle of Moon Sound when she put a Russian battleship out of action. The final sortie planned for October 1918 of the Hochseeflotte (High Seas Fleet) against the Grand Fleet was prevented by mutinies, the captain of Konig being shot and wounded and two officers killed.
Mechanical problems meant Konig did not sail with the fleet on surrender and did not arrive for internment in Scapa Flow until December 1918. On June 21st 1919 the Hochseeflotte (High Seas Fleet) scuttled itself, Konig, with most of the battleships, turned turtle and sank. During the 1920s and 30s most ships were salvaged and scrapped. Three Konig class ships, Konig, Markgraf and Kronprinz Wilhelm were not salvaged. Some demolition took place in the 1960s but they remain upside down in Scapa Flow off the island of Cava. Konig lies in 130’ of water, the keel 66’ down. Now owned by the Orkney Islands Council she and her sisters are underwater tourist attractions for scuba divers.

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A larger photograph / full description is available on request