German Navy Battleships

Class	Name	Keel Laid	Launched	Commissioned	Builder	De- commissioned	Fate
Pre-Dreadnoughts
Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm	Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm	1890	30 Jun 1891	29 Apr 1894	Kaiserliche Werft		Sold to Turkey 12 Sep 1910, sunk 8 Aug 1915 by British submarine E11.
	Brandenburg	1890	21 Sep 1891	19 Nov 1893	Kaiserliche Werft		Scrapped 1920
	Weissenburg	1890	14 Dec 1891	14 Oct 1894	Vulcan		Sold to Turkey 12 Sep 1910, scrapped 1938.
	Wörth	1890	18 Oct 1899	4 Feb 1902	Germania		Scrapped 1919.
Kaiser Friedrich III	Kaiser Friedrich III	1895	1 Jul 1896	7 Oct 1898	Kaiserliche Werft		Scrapped 1920
	Kaiser Wilhelm II	1896	14 Sep 1897	13 Feb 1900	Kaiserliche Werft		Scrapped 1920
	Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse	1898	1 Jun 1899	5 May 1901	Germania		Scrapped 1920
	Kaiser Karl der Grosse	1898	18 Oct 1899	4 Feb 1902	Blohm & Voss	-	Scrapped 1920
	Kaiser Karl Barbarossa	1898	21 Apr 1900	10 Jun 1901	Schichau		Scrapped 1919-20.
Wittelsbach	Wittelsbach	1899	3 Jul 1900	15 Oct 1902	Kaiserliche Werft		Scrapped 1931
	Wettin	1899	6 Jun 1901	1 Oct 1902	Schichau		Scrapped 1921-22
	Zähringen	1899	12 Jun 1901	25 Oct 1902	Germania		Converted to target ship 1926-1927. Scuttled 26 Mar 1945, scrapped 1949-50.
	Schwaben	1900	19 Aug 1901	13 Apr 1904	Kaiserliche Werft		Scrapped 1921.
	Mecklenburg	1900	9 Nov 1901	25 May 1903	Vulcan		Scrapped 1921.
Braunschweig	Braunschweig	-	20 Dec 1902	15Oct 1904	Germania		Scrapped 1931
	Elsass	-	26 May 1903	29 Nov 1904	Germania		Scrapped 1936
	Hessen	-	18 Sep 1903	19 Sep 1905	Germania		Converted to target ship 1935-1937, captured by USSR 1946
	Preussen	1902	30 Oct 1903	12 Jul 1905	Vulcan		Partially scrapped 1931. Remainder retained for torpedo/mine tests. Sunk Apr 1945. Scrapped 1954
	Lothringen	1902	27 May 1904	18 May 1906	Schichau		Scrapped 1931
Deutchland	Deutchland	20 Jun 1903	19 Nov 1904	3 Aug 1906	Krupp		Scrapped 1920-22
	Hannover	Nov 1904	29 Sep 1905	1 Oct 1907	Kaiserliche Werft		Scrapped 1944-46
	Pommern	Apr 1904	2 Dec 1905	6 Aug 1907	Vulcan		Sunk 1 Jun 1916 by British destroyer.
	Schlesien	1905	28 May 1906	5 May 1908	Schichau		Sunk 4 May 1945. Scrapped 1949-1956
	Schlieswig-Holstein	Aug 1905	7 Dec 1906	6 Jul 1908	Krupp		Scuttled 21 Mar 1945. Raised by USSR, 1945-46. Scrapped 1950-56.
Dreadnoughts
Nassau	Nassau	22 Jul 1907	7 Mar 1908	1 Oct 1909	Kaiserliche Werft	-	Scrapped 1920
	Westfalen	12 Aug 1907	1 Jul 1908	16 Nov 1909	Weser	-	Scrapped 1924 at Birkenhead
	Rheinland	1 Jun 1907	29 Sep 1908	30 Apr 1910	Vulcan	-	Scrapped 1921 at Dordrecht
	Posen	11 Jun 1907	12 Dec 1908	31 May 1910	Krupp	-	Scrapped 1922 at Dordrecht
Helgoland	Helgoland	24 Nov 1908	25 Sep 1909	23 Aug 1911	Howaldtswerke	-	Scrapped 1924
	Ostfriesland	19 Oct 1908	30 Sep 1909	1 Aug 1911	Kaiserliche Werft	-	Sunk as target for US bombers, 21 Jul 1921
	Thüringen	2 Nov 1908	27 Nov 1909	1 Jul 1911	Weser	-	Scrapped 1923-33 at Lorient.
	Oldenburg	1 Mar 1909	30 Jun 1910	1 May 1912	Schichau	-	Scrapped in the Netherlands, 1920
Kaiser	Kaiser	Oct 1910	22 Mar 1911	1 Aug 1912	Kaiserlich Werft	-	Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919. Raised 20 Mar 1929, scrapped 1930 at Rosyth.
	Friederich der Grosse	26 Jan 1910	10 Jun 1911	15 Oct 1912	Vulcan	-	Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919.
	Kaiserin	Jul 1910	11 Nov 1911	14 May 1913	Howaldtswerke	-	Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919. Raised 14 May 1936, scrapped.
	Prinzregent Luitpold	Oct 1910	23 Mar 1911	1 Aug 1912	Krupp	-	Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919. Raised 9 Jul 1931, scrapped 1933.
	König Albert	Jul 1910	27 Apr 1912	31 Jul 1913	Schichau	-	Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919. Raised 31 Jul 1935, scrapped 1936.
König	König	Oct 1911	1 Mar 1913	10 Aug 1914	Kaiserlich Werft	-	Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919.
	Grosser Kürfurst	Oct 1911	5 May 1913	30 Jul 1914	Vulcan	-	Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919.
	Markgraf	Nov 1911	4 Jun 1913	1 Oct 1914	Weser	-	Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919.
	Kronprinz	May 1912	21 Feb 1914	8 Nov 1914	Krupp	-	Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919.
Bayern	Bayern	20 Sep 1913	18 Feb 1915	15 Jul 1916	Howalsdtswerke	-	Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919. Raised 1 Sep 1934, Scrapped 1935
	Baden	29 Sep 1913	30 Oct 1915	14 Mar 1917	Schichau	-	Grounded at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919. Sunk as target by British battleships 16 Aug 1921
	Saschen	1914	21 Nov 1916	-	Krupp	-	Scrapped 1921
	Württemburg	4 Jan 1915	20 Jun 1917	-	Vulcan	-	Scrapped 1921
Bismarck	Bismarck	1 Jul 1936	14 Feb 1939	24 Aug 1940	Blohm & Voss	-	Sunk 27 May 1941
	Tirpitz	26 Oct 1936	1 Apr 1939	25 Feb 1941	KM-Werft	-	Sunk by RAF bombers, 12 Nov 1944. Scrapped 1948-57
"H"	Friederich der Grosse(?)	15 Jul 1939	-	-	-	-	Cancelled
	Grosser Deutchland(?)	15 Aug 1939	-	-	-	-
	"K"	-	-	-	-	-
	"L"	-	-	-	-	-
	"M"	-	-	-	-	-
	"N"	-	-	-	-	-
Battlecruisers
Von der Tann	Von der Tann	25 Mar 1908	20 Mar 1909	1 Sep 1910	Blohm & Voss		Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919. Scrapped 1930-34
Moltke	Moltke	7 Dec 1908	7 Apr 1910	30 Sep 1911	Blohm & Voss		Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919. Scrapped 1929
	Goeben	7 Dec 1909	28 Mar 1911	2 Jul 1912	Blohm & Voss		Transferred to Turkey 1918. Scrapped 1970-71
Seydlitz	Seydlitz	4 Feb 1911	30 Mar 1912	22 May 1913	Blohm & Voss		Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919. Scrapped 1930
Derfflinger	Derfflinger	Jan 1912	12 Jul 1913	1 Sep 1914	Blohm & Voss		Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919. Scrapped 1935-36
	Lützow	Jul 1912	29 Nov 1913	8 Aug 1915	Schichau		Sunk 1 Jun 1916
	Hindenburg	30 Jun 1913	1 Aug 1915	10 May 1917	Kaiserliche Werft		Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 Jun 1919. Scrapped 1931-32
Mackensen	Mackensen	30 Jan 1915	21 Apr 1917	-	Blohm & Voss		Scrapped 1923-24
	"Ersatz Freya"	1 May 1915	13 Mar 1920	-	Blohm & Voss		Scrapped 1920-22
	Graf Spee	30 Nov 1915	15 Sep 1917	-	Schichau		Scrapped 1921-23
	"Ersatz Friedrich Carl"	3 Nov 1915	-	-	Kaiserlich Werft		Scrapped 1922
Ersatz Yorck	"Ersatz Yorck"	-	-	-	Vulcan
	"Ersatz Scharnhorst"	-	-	-	Krupp
	"Ersatz Gneisenau"	-	-	-	Blohm & Voss
Scharnhorst	Scharnhorst	16 May 1935	3 Oct 1936	7 Jan 1939	KM-Werft		Sunk off North Cape 26 Dec 1943 by gunfire from HMS Duke of York and others.
	Gneisenau	Mar 1935	8 Dec 1936	21 May 1938	Deutche Werke		Damaged by bombs at Kiel, 26 Feb 1942, repairs never completed. Scuttled 27 Mar 1945. Raised 12 Sep 1951, Scrapped.
"O"	"O"	-	-	-	Deutche Werke		Cancelled
	"P"	-	-	-	KM-Werft
	"Q"	-	-	-	Krupp
Armored Ships (Panzerschiffe)
Deutchland	Deutchland (Lützow after 15 Nov 1939)	5 Feb 1929	19 May 1931	1 Apr 1933	Deutche Werke		Sunk 4 May 1945, raised by Soviets 1947 (?) Scrapped.
	Admiral Scheer	25 Jun 1931	1 Apr 1933	12 Nov 1934	Marinewerft		Sunk 9 May 1945, wreck scrapped.
	Admiral Graf Spee	1 Oct 1932	30 Jun 1934	6 Jan 1936	Marinewerft		Scuttled 17 Dec 1939 near Montevideo.
	"D"	-	-	-	KM-Werft		Cancelled in favor of Scharnhorst.
	"E"	-	-	-	Deutche Werke		Cancelled in favor of Gneisenau.
Kreuzer P	-	-	-	-			Project cancelled

Key to builders:
Blohm & Voss	Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Deutche Werke	Deutche Werke, Kiel
Howaldtswerke	Howaldtswerke, Kiel
Germania Werke	Germania Werke, Kiel
Kaiserliche Werke	Kaiserliche Werft, Wilhelmshaven
KM-Werft	KM-Werft, Wilhelmshaven
Krupp	F. Krupp, Germaniawerft, Kiel
Marinewerft	Marinewerft, Wilhelmshaven
Schichau	F. Schichau, Danzig
Vulcan	AG Vulcan, Hamburg
Weser	AG Weser, Bremen

German Battlecruisers
German battlecruisers were generally somewhat different than their British contemporaries. They tended to trade off gun size and/or numbers in favor of better protection, while their British counterparts emphasized speed and firepower over protection. German battlecruisers were fitted with 28cm (11") guns only until the Derflinger class of 1914, which carried 30.5cm (12") guns; the first British battlecruisers carried 12" guns, and from 1910 on they carried 13.5" or larger guns. World War I era German battlecruisers had at least 9.75" thick side armor, while their British equivalents had no more than 9" and in some cases as little as 6". The German battlecruiser also benefitted from more advanced boiler designs, which did not force as large a tradeoff between speed and protection as the heavier British boilers.

The battle of Jutland (31 May - 1 Jun 1916) strongly suggested that the German formula was right.

Some people have classified the Scharnhorst class as battleships, because their protection was much better than that on British battlecruisers, but we think of them as battlecruisers in the German small-gun tradition.

German Armored Ships, or Panzerschiffe, (AKA "Pocket Battleships")
The Deutchland class armored ships were an attempt to get around restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was restricted to building ships that were no larger than 10,000 tons, which was the size limit for cruisers under the Washington Treaty of 1922. The Panzerschiffe officially displaced about 10,000 tons (though in reality displacement was significantly higher) and mounted six 283mm (11 inch) guns, which made them comparable to a small battleship. With a top speed of 27 knots they were slower than cruisers of the day, at but substantially faster than the World War I era battleships of the British, French, and American fleets. The larger Kreuzer P class would have been faster, at 33 knots, about equal to other cruisers of the era.

German name prefixes
In the World War I era, German ship names were prefixed with "SMS", which stood for Seine Majistat Schiff, or "His Majesty's Ship".

In the World War II era, there were apparently no prefixes to the ships' names. We've seen some sources use "KM" or "DKM" for Kriegsmarine or Deutchland Kriegsmarine, but nothing official that we've seen suggests the use of any prefix in that era.


German Battleship Chronology

August 1914-November 11 1918: World War I. Defeat for Germany.

• 28 Aug 1914: Battle of Heligoland Bight
  
• 8 Dec 1914: Battle of the Falklands: British Battlecruisers HMS Invincible and HMS Inflexible sink German cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau.
• January 1915: Battle of Dogger Bank: This is the first battle between dreadnought type warships. Raiding German battlecruisers are intercepted by a larger squadron of British battlecruisers. The armored cruiser SMS Blücher is sunk, but the battlecruisers escape.
• 31 May - 1 Jun 1916: Battle of Jutland: This was the largest naval battle to date, and the second largest of all time. The Germans sink more ships than they lose: three British battlecruisers, HMS Invincible, HMS Inflexible, and HMS Queen Mary while losing only the battlecruiser SMS Lützow and the pre-dreadnought SMS Pommern, and claim tactical victory; but the battle is a strategic defeat for Germany. The High Seas Fleet had to retreat, and the British blockade of Germany was not broken.
• 17 October 1917: Battle of Moon Island: German dreadnoughts SMS Kronprinz and SMS König defeat Russian pre-dreadnoughts Tsessarevitch and Slava. Slava was scuttled, Tsessarevitch escaped.
• 1 Nov 1918: German Navy mutinies, which foils a German plan for a last minute attack on British forces.
• 11 November 1918: Armistace signed.

German Naval History Michael Emmerich's excellent German Navy site








Copyright ©2000 Lawrence H. Wells and David R. Wells. All rights reserved.