.gif)
SMS Kaiser (1911)
Overview
Seiner Majestät Schiff
Seiner Majestät Schiff was the ship prefix used by the Prussian Maritime Enterprise , the Prussian Navy, the Imperial German Navy and the Austro-Hungarian Navy...
" was the lead ship
Lead ship
The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...
of the of 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 of the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Imperial Navy
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...
. Kaiser was built by the Imperial Dockyard
Kaiserliche Werft Kiel
Kaiserliche Werft Kiel was a German shipbuilding company founded in 1867, first as Königliche Werft Kiel but renamed in 1871 with the proclamation of the German Empire...
at 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...
, launched on 22 March 1911 and commissioned on 1 August 1912. The ship was equipped with ten 30.5 centimetres (12 in) guns in five twin turrets, and had a top speed of 23.4 knots (12.7 m/s). Kaiser was assigned to the III Squadron of 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...
for the majority 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 1913, Kaiser and her sister conducted a cruise to South America and South Africa.
