SMS Deutschland was the first of five Deutschland class

Deutschland class battleship

The Deutschland class was a group of five pre-dreadnought battleships built for the German Kaiserliche Marine. The class comprised , , , , and . Built between 1903 and 1908, the ships closely resembled those of the preceding , though they had stronger armor protection...

 pre-dreadnought

Pre-dreadnought

Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea-going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...

 battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

s built for the Kaiserliche Marine

Kaiserliche Marine

The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...

 between 1903 and 1906. She was named after the German name for Germany, and built at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

, where she was launched on 20 November 1904. She was commissioned on 3 August 1906, only a few months before was commissioned, the first of a revolutionary new standard of "all-big-gun" battleships which rendered Deutschland and the rest of her class obsolete.

She served as the flagship of Prince Heinrich

Prince Heinrich of Prussia

Prince Henry of Prussia was a younger brother of German Emperor William II and a Prince of Prussia...

 until 1913. With the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 in mid-1914, Deutschland and her sisters were tasked with defending the mouth of the Elbe

Elbe

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...

 and the German Bight

German Bight

German Bight is the southeastern bight of the North Sea bounded by the Netherlands and Germany to the south, and Denmark and Germany to the east . To the north and west it is limited by the Dogger Bank. The Bight contains the Frisian and Danish Islands. The Wadden Sea is approximately ten to...

 from possible British incursions while the rest of the fleet was being mobilized. Deutschland and the other four ships of her class were then attached to the High Seas Fleet

High Seas Fleet

The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...

 as the II Battle Squadron; the unit participated in most of the large-scale fleet actions in the first two years of war, culminating in the Battle of Jutland

Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...

 on 31 May – 1 June 1916. Late on the first day of the battle, Deutschland and the other pre-dreadnoughts briefly engaged several British battlecruiser

Battlecruiser

Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...

s before retreating.

After the battle, Deutschland and her three surviving sisters were assigned to coastal defense duties. By 1917, they had been withdrawn from combat service completely and tasked with auxiliary roles. Deutschland was used as a barracks ship in Wilhelmshaven

Wilhelmshaven

Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...

 until the end of the war. She was struck from the naval register on 25 January 1920, sold to ship breakers that year, and broken up for scrap by 1922. Her bow ornament is preserved at the Eckernförde

Eckernförde

Eckernförde is a German city in Schleswig-Holstein, Kreis Rendsburg-Eckernförde at the Baltic Sea near Kiel. The population is about 23,000.All German submarines are stationed in Eckernförde....

 underwater weapons school and her bell is on display at the Mausoleum of Prince Heinrich on the Hemmelmark estate.

Construction

Deutschland was the second naval vessel to bear the name, after (an armored frigate), and was intended to fight in the German battle line

Line of battle

In naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line end to end. A primitive form had been used by the Portuguese under Vasco Da Gama in 1502 near Malabar against a Muslim fleet.,Maarten Tromp used it in the Action of 18 September 1639 while its first use in...

 with the other battleships of the Imperial German Navy. She was laid down on 20 July 1903 at the Germaniawerft dockyard in Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

, and launched on 19 November 1904. Her trials lasted from 3 August 1906 until September. The British battleship —armed with ten 12 inch (30.5 cm) guns—was commissioned in December 1906. Dreadnoughts revolutionary design rendered every capital ship of the German navy obsolete, including Deutschland.

Deutschland was 127.6 metre long, had a beam of 22.2 metre, and a draft of 8.21 metre. She had a full-load displacement of 14218 tonnes (13,993 LT) and was equipped with coal-fired triple expansion engines that produced a rated 16000 ihp and gave her a top speed of 18 kn (9.8 m/s). At a cruising speed of 10 kn (5.4 m/s), she could steam for 4850 nautical miles (8,982.2 km).

Deutschlands primary armament consisted of four 28 cm (11 in) SK L/40

28 cm SK L/40 gun

The 28 cm SK L/40 was a German naval gun that was used in World War I and World War II by all German pre-dreadnought battleships...

 guns in two twin turrets.In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnelladekanone) denotes that the gun is quick loading, while the L/40 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/40 gun is 40 calibers, meaning that the gun is 40 times long as it is in diameter. She was also equipped with fourteen 17 cm (6.7 in) guns mounted in casemates, twenty 8.8 cm (3.46 in) guns in pivot mounts, and six 45 cm (17.72 in) torpedo tube

Torpedo tube

A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...

s were submerged in the hull.

Service history

On 26 September 1906 the ship officially joined the fleet, when Admiral Prince Heinrich

Prince Heinrich of Prussia

Prince Henry of Prussia was a younger brother of German Emperor William II and a Prince of Prussia...

 made her his flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

. She was tactically assigned to the II Battle Squadron, though as the fleet flagship she was not subordinate to the Squadron commander. She took part in training exercises in the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 in December 1906 before returning to Kiel. On 16 February 1907, the fleet was renamed the High Seas Fleet

High Seas Fleet

The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...

. Fleet maneuvers in the North Sea followed in early 1907 and again in May–June. A cruise to Norway followed the fleet training in June. After returning from Norway, Deutschland went to Swinemünde. Another round of fleet training followed in September 1907. In November, she was taken into drydock for an annual refit.

Deutschland participated in fleet maneuvers in February 1908 in the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

; in May–June training was conducted off the island fortress of Helgoland in the North Sea. In July 1908, Deutschland and the rest of the fleet sailed into the Atlantic Ocean to conduct training there. During the cruise, Deutschland stopped at Funchal

Funchal

Funchal is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira. The city has a population of 112,015 and has been the capital of Madeira for more than five centuries.-Etymology:...

 and Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital , second-most populous city of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the 21st largest city in Spain, with a population of 222,417 in 2009...

. The fleet returned to Germany on 13 August. The following month another set of training maneuvers was conducted in the Baltic and North Seas, with a winter cruise into the Baltic afterward.

The following year—1909—followed much the same pattern. Another cruise into the Atlantic was conducted from 7 July to 1 August, during which Deutschland stopped in Bilbao

Bilbao

Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...

. After another round of exercises, Deutschland went in for another periodic overhaul. During the refit, she was given additional pedestal-mounted search lights, as well as becoming the first ship in the German navy to be equipped with an X-ray machine. In May 1910, the fleet conducted training maneuvers in the Kattegat

Kattegat

The Kattegat , or Kattegatt is a sea area bounded by the Jutland peninsula and the Straits islands of Denmark on the west and south, and the provinces of Västergötland, Scania, Halland and Bohuslän in Sweden on the east. The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Øresund and the Danish...

, between Norway and Denmark. The annual summer cruise went to Norway, and was followed by fleet training. In November, Deutschland hosted Kaiser Wilhelm II during the celebration of the opening of the Naval Academy at Mürwik. A training cruise into the Baltic followed at the end of the year.

The next two years followed the same pattern of training exercises and cruises to Norway in the summer, with the exception of 1912 when, due to the Agadir Crisis

Agadir Crisis

The Agadir Crisis, also called the Second Moroccan Crisis, or the Panthersprung, was the international tension sparked by the deployment of the German gunboat Panther, to the Moroccan port of Agadir on July 1, 1911.-Background:...

, the cruise only went into the Baltic. In September, following maneuvers, Deutschland was partially grounded in the Baltic. The damage necessitated dry-docking, and repairs were completed by November. In January 1913, the new dreadnought

Dreadnought

The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...

 battleship replaced Deutschland as the flagship of the fleet. The golden bow ornament that denoted the flagship was removed, and Deutschland returned to the ranks of the II Battle Squadron.

World War I

At the outbreak of war, the ship was deployed to the mouth of the Elbe

Elbe

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...

 to guard the area. Deutschland remained with the High Seas Fleet in the II Battle Squadron for the first two years of the war. While her sisters covered the raid on the English coast on 15–16 December, Deutschland remained on picket duty in the mouth of the Elbe. On 21 February 1915, Deutschland went into dock in Kiel, where work lasted until 12 March. Afterward, Deutschland returned to the Elbe for guard duty. On 21 September the ship went to the Baltic for training, which was completed by 11 October, after which she went into the dockyard in Kiel again for maintenance. Deutschland went to the AG Vulcan drydock in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 for additional work from 27 February to 1 April 1916. After returning to the fleet, Deutschland was made the flagship of the II Battle Squadron under the command of Admiral Franz Mauve.

On 24–25 April 1916, Deutschland and her four sisters joined the dreadnoughts of the High Seas Fleet to support the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group

I Scouting Group

The I Scouting Group was a special reconnaissance unit within the German Kaiserliche Marine. The unit was famously commanded by Admiral Franz von Hipper during World War I. The I Scouting Group was one of the most active formations in the High Seas Fleet during the war; the unit took part in every...

 on a raid of the English coast. While en route to the target, the battlecruiser was damaged by a mine

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...

; she was detached to return home while the operation proceeded. The battlecruisers conducted a short bombardment of the ports of Yarmouth and Lowestoft

Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft

The Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft was a naval battle fought during the First World War between the German Empire and the British Empire in the North Sea....

. Visibility was poor, and the operation was called off before the British fleet could intervene. On 4 May, Deutschland took part in a sortie against British ships off Horns Reef

Horns Reef

Horns Rev is a shallow area in the eastern North Sea, about 15 km / 10 miles off the westernmost point of Denmark, Blåvands Huk...

, without result.

Battle of Jutland

Admiral Scheer immediately planned another foray into the North Sea, but the damage to Seydlitz delayed the operation until the end of May. Deutschland was the first ship in the III Division of the II Battle Squadron and the flagship of Rear Admiral Franz Mauve. The II Battle Squadron, with the weakest battleships involved in the battle, was positioned at the rear of the German line. During the "Run to the North," Admiral Reinhard Scheer

Reinhard Scheer

Reinhard Scheer was an Admiral in the German Kaiserliche Marine. Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet; he progressed through the ranks, commanding cruisers and battleships, as well as major staff positions on land. At the outbreak of World War I, Scheer was the commander of the II...

, the commander of the fleet, ordered the fleet to pursue the retreating battleships of the British V Battle Squadron at top speed. Deutschland and her sisters were significantly slower than the dreadnoughts, and quickly fell behind. By 19:30, the Grand Fleet had arrived on the scene and confronted Admiral Scheer with significant numerical superiority. The German fleet was severely hampered by the presence of the slower Deutschland class ships; if Scheer ordered an immediate turn towards Germany, he would have to sacrifice the slower ships to make good his escape.

Admiral Scheer reversed the course of the fleet via the Gefechtskehrtwendung ('battle turn'), a maneuver that required every unit in the German line to turn 180° simultaneously. Having fallen behind, the ships of the II Battle Squadron could not conform to the new course following the turn. Deutschland and the other five ships of the squadron were therefore on the disengaged side of the German line. Admiral Mauve considered moving his ships to the rear of the line, astern of the III Battle Squadron dreadnoughts, but decided against it when he realized the movement would interfere with the maneuvering of Admiral Franz von Hipper

Franz von Hipper

Franz Ritter von Hipper was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy . Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern...

's battlecruisers. Instead, he attempted to place his ships at the head of the line.

Later on the first day of the battle, the hard-pressed battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group were being pursued by their British opponents. Deutschland and the other so-called "five-minute ships" came to their aid by steaming between the opposing battlecruiser squadrons.The ships were called "five-minute ships" because that was the length of time they were expected to survive if confronted by a dreadnought. See: Tarrant, p. 62 Poor visibility made the subsequent engagement brief. Deutschland fired only one round from her 28 cm guns during this period. Admiral Mauve decided it would be inadvisable to continue the fight against the much more powerful battlecruisers, and so ordered an 8-point turn to starboard.

Late on the 31st, the fleet organized for the night march back to Germany; Deutschland, Pommern, and Hannover fell in behind and the other dreadnoughts of the III Battle Squadron towards the rear of the line. British destroyers conducted a series of attacks against the fleet, some of which targeted Deutschland. In the melee, Deutschland and König turned away from the attacking destroyers, but could not make out targets clearly enough to engage them effectively. Soon after, Pommern was struck by at least one torpedo and exploded. Fragments of the ship rained down around Deutschland. Regardless, the High Seas Fleet punched through the British destroyer forces and reached Horns Reef

Horns Reef

Horns Rev is a shallow area in the eastern North Sea, about 15 km / 10 miles off the westernmost point of Denmark, Blåvands Huk...

 by 4:00 on 1 June. The German fleet reached Wilhelmshaven a few hours later, where the undamaged dreadnoughts of the and es took up defensive positions.

Later career

After Jutland, Deutschland and her sisters returned to picket duty in the mouth of the Elbe. They were also occasionally transferred for guard duty in the Baltic. From 22 December 1916 to 16 January 1917, Deutschland lay idle in the Bay of Kiel

Bay of Kiel

The Bay of Kiel is a bay in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany and the islands of Denmark. It is connected with the Bay of Mecklenburg in the east, the Little Belt in the northwest, and the Great Belt in the North....

. On 24 January, the ship was taken to Hamburg where she went into the drydock for maintenance; this work lasted until 4 April. Deutschland sailed out of the Altenbruch roads

Roadstead

A roadstead is a place outside a harbor where a ship can lie at anchor. It is an enclosed area with an opening to the sea, narrower than a bay or gulf. It has a surface that cannot be confused with an estuary. It can be created artificially by jetties or dikes...

 at the mouth of the Elbe and then to the Baltic for continued guard duty. On 15 August, the II Battle Squadron was disbanded; two weeks later, on 31 August, Deutschland arrived in Kiel and was decommissioned on 10 September. Deutschland had her guns removed in Kiel before she was transferred to Wilhelmshaven to serve as a barracks ship. On 25 January 1920 the ship was struck from the naval register and sold for scrapping, which was complete by 1922. The ship's bow ornament is on display at the Eckernförde

Eckernförde

Eckernförde is a German city in Schleswig-Holstein, Kreis Rendsburg-Eckernförde at the Baltic Sea near Kiel. The population is about 23,000.All German submarines are stationed in Eckernförde....

 underwater weapons school and her bell is located in the mausoleum of Prince Heinrich

Prince Heinrich of Prussia

Prince Henry of Prussia was a younger brother of German Emperor William II and a Prince of Prussia...

at the Hemmelmark estate.