31st May 1878 GROSSER KURFURST Sunk off Folkestone

SMS Grosser Kurfürst was an ironclad turret ship of the German Kaiserliche Marine. She was laid down at the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven in 1870 and completed in 1878; her long construction time was in part due to a redesign that was completed after work on the ship had begun.

Her main battery of four 26 cm (10 in) guns was initially to be placed in a central armored battery, but during the redesign this was altered to a pair of twin gun turrets amidships. (wiki)

 

On May 31st 1878, while three German warships were holding an exercise in the channel, the "Grosser Kurfurst" and the "Koenig Wilhelm" found themselves on a collision course as they changed direction to avoid a Norwegian barque.

The German turret ironclad warship "Grosser Kurfurst" which had been sent out on her maiden voyage on 29th May 1878, was rammed by "Konig Wilhelm" as she tore away she left a 20 foot long by 14 feet wide opening on "Grosser Kurfust" port side in her armour plating below the waterline. She went down with 287 lives.

The German government in 1881 erected a stone obelisk memorial to the mass grave in Folkestone's Cheriton Road cemetery.

- REMEMBER THE GROSSER KURFURST -

The wreck has been scheduled and added to the National Heritage List for England. Scheduling means that recreational divers have permission to dive the wreck but its contents are given a level of protection. The associated memorial at Cheriton Road Cemetery in Folkestone has been listed at Grade II. Spring 2020.

From Wessex Archaeology dated 5th September 2019: On Friday, subject to weather, a Wessex Archaeology dive team will begin a non-intrusive survey of the wreck of the Grosser Kurfürst for Historic England. Using data supplied by the UKHO, our marine geophysicists have processed this multibeam sonar plan-view image of the wreck. Although it is partially collapsed, you can see that the hull is upside-down, just as the historical records suggest the ship sank. However, this data does not tell us everything and, using hand-held imaging sonar and sharp eyes, our divers will be trying to answer a number of questions about this large wreck.

Wessex Sonar Image:-

As an ‘ironclad’, the ship is from a revolutionary period in naval warfare in which navies moved from reliance upon wooden to armoured ships and which saw the emergence of the forerunners of the great Dreadnought battleships of the First World War. It was a highly experimental time that briefly saw the return of the ancient ram, but ended with the dominance of armour plate and the big gun. It is rare for European ocean-going ironclad warships to be studied archaeologically, so we hope that this work will contribute to our knowledge of this fascinating period in naval history.

 

Coastal Heritage Note: The wreck is upside down on the seabe. To stop the dead bodies from being washed up on the beaches, a number of nets was put on the wreck to keep the dead in the vessel,and the area was a dumping ground for clinker (used to coal from railway ships).

Divers have died while visiting this shipwreck.