SMS König Wilhelm
Encyclopedia
SMS König Wilhelm (King William) was an armored frigate
of the Prussian
and later the German Imperial Navy
. The ship was laid down in 1865 at the Thames Ironworks
shipyard at in London
, originally under the name Fatikh for the Ottoman Empire
. She was purchased by Prussia in February 1867, launched in April 1868, and commissioned into the Prussian Navy in February 1869. The ship was the fifth ironclad ordered by the Prussian Navy, after , , , and . She was built as an armored frigate, armed with a main battery of sixteen 24 cm (9.4 in) and five 21 cm (8.3 in) guns; several smaller guns and torpedo tubes were added later in her career.
The ship was for a time the largest and most powerful warship in the German navy; she served as its flagship during the Franco-Prussian War
in 1870–1871, though engine troubles prevented the ship from seeing action. In 1878, the ship accidentally rammed and sank the ironclad , with great loss of life. König Wilhelm was converted into an armored cruiser in 1895–1896; by early 1904, however, she had been superseded by newer vessels. In May of that year, she was placed out of active service and used as a floating barracks and training ship, a role she held through World War I
. In 1921, the ship was ultimately broken up for scrap, after a career spanning 52 years and three German states.
of 18.3 m (60 ft) and a draft
of 8.56 m (28.1 ft) forward and 8.12 m (26.6 ft) aft. The ship was designed to displace 9757 metric tons (9,602.9 LT) at a normal loading, and up to 10761 MT (10,591 LT) with a combat load. The ship's hull
was constructed with transverse and longitudinal iron frames. It contained eleven watertight compartments and a double bottom
that ran for 70 percent of the length of the vessel.
König Wilhelm was noted by the German navy as having had "satisfactory sea-keeping qualities"; the ship was responsive to commands from the helm and had a moderate turning radius. She suffered from severe roll but little pitch. The ship's crew numbered 36 officers and 694 enlisted men, and while serving as a flagship
, the crew was augmented with a command staff composed of 9 officers and 47 enlisted men. König Wilhelm carried a number of smaller boats, including two picket boats, two launches
, a pinnace
, two cutters, two yawl
s, and one dinghy
.
A horizontal two-cylinder single expansion steam engine, built by Maudslay, Son & Field of London, powered the ship. It drove a four-bladed screw 7 m (23 ft) in diameter. J Penn & Sons of Greenwich
built eight trunk boilers for the ship. These were divided into two boiler rooms with twenty fireboxes in each, supplied steam to the engine at 2 standard atmospheres (202,650 Pa). The propulsion system was rated at 8000 ihp and a top speed of 14 knots (7.6 m/s), though on trials König Wilhelm managed to make 8440 ihp and 14.7 kn (8 m/s). The ship carried 750 MT (738.2 LT) of coal, which enabled a maximum range of 1300 nautical miles (2,407.6 km) at a cruising speed of 10 kn (5.4 m/s). A ship rig
with a surface area of 2600 square metres (3,109.6 sq yd) supplemented the steam engine, though in service they added little to the ship's performance. Steering was controlled with a single rudder.
. The guns could depress to −4° and elevate to 7.5°; at maximum elevation, the guns could reach targets out to 4500 m (14,763.8 ft). The ship's armament was rounded out by five 21 cm (8.3 in) guns, which could depress to −5° and elevate to 13°. Their maximum range was 5900 m (19,357 ft).
König Wilhelm was reconstructed into an armored cruiser
in 1895–1896 and rearmed with twenty-two 24 cm L/20 guns, a single 15 cm (5.9 in) L/30 gun with 109 rounds mounted in the stern, and eighteen 8.8 cm (3.5 in) quick-firing guns on the upper deck, nine on each broadside. The 15 cm gun had a range of 8900 m (29,199.5 ft). Five 35 cm (13.8 in) torpedo tubes were also installed; two were placed in the bow, one on both broadsides, and one in the stern, all above water. The torpedo tubes were supplied with a total of 13 rounds. Following her conversion into a training ship, most of her armament was removed. The ship only carried sixteen 8.8 cm L/30 guns, and in 1915, twelve of these were removed.
As built, the ship was protected by wrought iron
plating mounted over teak
backing. Protection at the waterline
was thickest amidships, with an outer layer of iron armor 305 mm (12 in) thick, an inner layer of 178 mm (7 in) thick iron, and 250 mm (9.8 in) of teak behind the iron. The outer layer was reduced to 152 mm (6 in) in the stern but did not extend to the bow. The inner layer was 127 mm (5 in) thick in both the bow and stern, and the teak backing was 90 mm (3.5 in) for both ends of the ship. The main battery was protected with 150 mm (5.9 in) thick plating and capped on either end with 150 mm thick transverse bulkheads. During her reconstruction into an armored cruiser, the iron armor was cut away and replaced with stronger steel armor. The conning tower
received armor protection during the refit as well. The sides were 50 millimetre thick sloped plates, with a 30 mm (1.2 in) thick roof.
shipyard in London, England in 1865, the ship was originally ordered by the Ottoman Empire
as the Fatikh. The ship was built to a design created by the British naval architect Edward Reed
. Before her launch, the Prussian Navy
purchased the ship on 6 February 1867 and initially renamed it Wilhelm I. On 14 December 1867, the ship was renamed again, as König Wilhelm. She was launched on 25 April 1868 and commissioned less than a year later, on 20 February 1869. The ship's first commander was Kapitän zur See Ludwig von Henk
. The ship was the largest and most powerful vessel in the Prussian fleet, and served as its flagship
. Indeed, König Wilhelm remained the largest German vessel until 1891. This was in part due to the fact that Germany laid down only one small ironclad between 1876 and 1888; the four s, launched in 1891 and 1892, were the first ships to surpass König Wilhelm in size.
in 1870, the greatly numerically inferior Prussian Navy assumed a defensive posture against a naval blockade imposed by the French Navy
. König Wilhelm and the broadside ironclads and , along with the small ironclad ram , had been steaming in the English Channel
before the French declared war; they had left Plymouth
on 10 July with the intention of steaming to Fayal in the Azores
. On the 13th, however, they put into port and learned of the rising tension between France and Prussia. The ships therefore returned to Wilhelmshaven immediately, arriving on 16 July. France declared war on Prussia three days later on 19 July. König Wilhelm, Friedrich Carl, and Kronprinz were concentrated in the North Sea at the port of Wilhelmshaven
.They were subsequently joined there by the turret ship , which had been stationed in Kiel
.
Despite the great French naval superiority, the French had conducted insufficient pre-war planning for an assault on the Prussian naval installations, and concluded that it would only be possible with Danish assistance, which was not forthcoming. The four ships, under the command of Vice Admiral Jachmann, made an offensive sortie in early August 1870 out to the Dogger Bank
, though they encountered no French warships. König Wilhelm and the other two broadside ironclads thereafter suffered from chronic engine trouble, which left Arminius alone to conduct operations. König Wilhelm, Friedrich Carl, and Kronprinz stood off the island of Wangerooge
for the majority of the conflict, while Arminius was stationed in the mouth of the Elbe river. On 11 September, the three broadside ironclads were again ready for action; they joined Arminius for another major operation into the North Sea. It too did not encounter French opposition, as the French Navy had by this time returned to France. After the war, the Prussian Navy became the Imperial Navy
, and resumed its peacetime training routines. General Albrecht von Stosch
became the chief of the Imperial Navy, and organized the fleet for coastal defense.
. Grosser Kurfürst turned to port to avoid the boats while König Wilhelm sought to pass the two boats, but there was not enough distance between her and Grosser Kurfürst. She therefore turned hard to port to avoid Grosser Kurfürst, but the action was not taken quickly enough, and König Wilhelm found herself pointed directly at Grosser Kurfürst. König Wilhelms ram bow
tore a hole in Grosser Kurfürst.
A failure to adequately seal the watertight bulkheads aboard Grosser Kurfürst caused the ship to sink rapidly, in the span of about eight minutes. Out of a crew of 500 men, 269 died in the accident. König Wilhelm was also badly damaged in the collision, with severe flooding forward. König Wilhelms captain initially planned on beaching the ship to prevent it from sinking, but determined that the ship's pumps could hold the flooding to an acceptable level. The ship made for Portsmouth
, where temporary repairs could be effected to allow the ship to return to Germany. In the aftermath of the collision, the German navy held a court martial for Rear Admiral Batsch, the squadron commander, and Captains Monts and Kuehne, the commanders of the two ships, along with Lieutenant Clausa, the first officer aboard Grosser Kurfürst, to investigate the sinking. The damage to König Wilhelm necessitated a lengthy period of repairs from 1878 to 1882. The work was carried out at the Imperial Dockyard
in Wilhelmshaven, and also included reboilering and replacement of the ship's ram. Torpedo nets were fitted to the ship from 1885 to 1897.
, and was based in Wilhelmshaven. On 20 February 1894, a special ceremony was held on board the ship to commemorate the 25th anniversary of her commissioning. Kaiser Wilhelm II attended the ceremony, as did Ludwig von Henk, who had by that time retired as a Vizeadmiral
. In April 1894, the II Division conducted a training cruise to prepare for the annual summer maneuvers. During the cruise, König Wilhelm ran aground on a mud bank off the Frisian coast
. and quickly pulled the ship free with minimal damage. The ships then proceeded to Scotland via Oslo
and Bergen
. The division returned to Kiel at the end of May to replenish its stocks of coal and provisions for the summer exercises. During the 1894 maneuvers, von Diederich's II Division acted as the opposing force
in the Baltic, simulating a Russian fleet attacking Germany's Baltic coast. Following the conclusion of maneuvers in September, Admiral Diederichs left the squadron and was replaced by Admiral Karl Barandon.
In 1895, König Wilhelm went into drydock at the Blohm and Voss shipyard in Hamburg
for an extensive reconstruction into an armored cruiser
. The vessel's armament was increased, the ship rig was removed, and new fighting masts were installed in place of the old masts. The ship's crew was dramatically increased, to 38 officers and 1,120 enlisted men. Work lasted through 1896, and the ship was returned to the fleet in her new guise on 25 January 1897. She served with the fleet until 1904, when she was removed from active duty. Starting on 3 May 1904, she became a harbor ship. She was then used barracks ship and training vessel for naval cadets, based in Kiel, starting on 1 October 1907. Two years later, König Wilhelm was moved to the Naval Academy at Mürwik, where she continued in these duties. Starting in 1910, the old corvette
served as a support vessel for the ship. The light cruiser
replaced Charlotte as König Wilhelms auxiliary vessel in 1917. König Wilhelm served through World War I
, until 1921, after Germany's defeat. On 4 January 1921, the ship was stricken from the naval register and broken up for scrap in Rönnebeck.
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
of the Prussian
Prussian Navy
Throughout the centuries, Prussia’s military consistently concentrated on its land power, and never sought a similar power at sea. Yet historically there were always Prussian naval forces , beginning in the days when "Prussia" meant only the Margraviate of Brandenburg.- The Navy of Electoral...
and later the German 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...
. The ship was laid down in 1865 at the Thames Ironworks
Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company
The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side...
shipyard at in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, originally under the name Fatikh for the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. She was purchased by Prussia in February 1867, launched in April 1868, and commissioned into the Prussian Navy in February 1869. The ship was the fifth ironclad ordered by the Prussian Navy, after , , , and . She was built as an armored frigate, armed with a main battery of sixteen 24 cm (9.4 in) and five 21 cm (8.3 in) guns; several smaller guns and torpedo tubes were added later in her career.
The ship was for a time the largest and most powerful warship in the German navy; she served as its flagship during the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
in 1870–1871, though engine troubles prevented the ship from seeing action. In 1878, the ship accidentally rammed and sank the ironclad , with great loss of life. König Wilhelm was converted into an armored cruiser in 1895–1896; by early 1904, however, she had been superseded by newer vessels. In May of that year, she was placed out of active service and used as a floating barracks and training ship, a role she held through 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 1921, the ship was ultimately broken up for scrap, after a career spanning 52 years and three German states.
General characteristics and machinery
König Wilhelm was 108.6 metres (356.3 ft) long at the waterline and 112.2 m (368.1 ft) long overall. She had a beamBeam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 18.3 m (60 ft) and a draft
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
of 8.56 m (28.1 ft) forward and 8.12 m (26.6 ft) aft. The ship was designed to displace 9757 metric tons (9,602.9 LT) at a normal loading, and up to 10761 MT (10,591 LT) with a combat load. The ship's hull
Hull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
was constructed with transverse and longitudinal iron frames. It contained eleven watertight compartments and a double bottom
Double bottom
A double bottom is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom of the ship has two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is somewhat higher in the ship, perhaps a few feet, which forms a...
that ran for 70 percent of the length of the vessel.
König Wilhelm was noted by the German navy as having had "satisfactory sea-keeping qualities"; the ship was responsive to commands from the helm and had a moderate turning radius. She suffered from severe roll but little pitch. The ship's crew numbered 36 officers and 694 enlisted men, and while serving as a 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...
, the crew was augmented with a command staff composed of 9 officers and 47 enlisted men. König Wilhelm carried a number of smaller boats, including two picket boats, two launches
Launch (boat)
A launch in contemporary usage refers to a large motorboat. The name originally referred to the largest boat carried by a warship. The etymology of the word is given as Portuguese lancha "barge", from Malay lancha, lancharan, "boat," from lanchar "velocity without effort," "action of gliding...
, a pinnace
Pinnace (ship's boat)
As a ship's boat the pinnace is a light boat, propelled by sails or oars, formerly used as a "tender" for guiding merchant and war vessels. In modern parlance, pinnace has come to mean a boat associated with some kind of larger vessel, that doesn't fit under the launch or lifeboat definitions...
, two cutters, two yawl
Yawl
A yawl is a two-masted sailing craft similar to a sloop or cutter but with an additional mast located well aft of the main mast, often right on the transom, specifically aft of the rudder post. A yawl (from Dutch Jol) is a two-masted sailing craft similar to a sloop or cutter but with an...
s, and one dinghy
Dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed for use as a ship's boat by a larger vessel. It is a loanword from either Bengali or Urdu. The term can also refer to small racing yachts or recreational open sailing boats. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor,...
.
A horizontal two-cylinder single expansion steam engine, built by Maudslay, Son & Field of London, powered the ship. It drove a four-bladed screw 7 m (23 ft) in diameter. J Penn & Sons of Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
built eight trunk boilers for the ship. These were divided into two boiler rooms with twenty fireboxes in each, supplied steam to the engine at 2 standard atmospheres (202,650 Pa). The propulsion system was rated at 8000 ihp and a top speed of 14 knots (7.6 m/s), though on trials König Wilhelm managed to make 8440 ihp and 14.7 kn (8 m/s). The ship carried 750 MT (738.2 LT) of coal, which enabled a maximum range of 1300 nautical miles (2,407.6 km) at a cruising speed of 10 kn (5.4 m/s). A ship rig
Full rigged ship
A full rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel with three or more masts, all of them square rigged. A full rigged ship is said to have a ship rig....
with a surface area of 2600 square metres (3,109.6 sq yd) supplemented the steam engine, though in service they added little to the ship's performance. Steering was controlled with a single rudder.
Armament and armor
As built, König Wilhelm was equipped with thirty-three rifled 72-pounder cannon. After her delivery to Germany, these guns were replaced with eighteen 24 centimetres (9.4 in) L/20 guns, supplied with a total of 1,440 rounds of ammunition. These guns were mounted in a central battery, with nine on either broadsideBroadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...
. The guns could depress to −4° and elevate to 7.5°; at maximum elevation, the guns could reach targets out to 4500 m (14,763.8 ft). The ship's armament was rounded out by five 21 cm (8.3 in) guns, which could depress to −5° and elevate to 13°. Their maximum range was 5900 m (19,357 ft).
König Wilhelm was reconstructed into an armored cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
in 1895–1896 and rearmed with twenty-two 24 cm L/20 guns, a single 15 cm (5.9 in) L/30 gun with 109 rounds mounted in the stern, and eighteen 8.8 cm (3.5 in) quick-firing guns on the upper deck, nine on each broadside. The 15 cm gun had a range of 8900 m (29,199.5 ft). Five 35 cm (13.8 in) torpedo tubes were also installed; two were placed in the bow, one on both broadsides, and one in the stern, all above water. The torpedo tubes were supplied with a total of 13 rounds. Following her conversion into a training ship, most of her armament was removed. The ship only carried sixteen 8.8 cm L/30 guns, and in 1915, twelve of these were removed.
As built, the ship was protected by wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
plating mounted over teak
Teak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
backing. Protection at the waterline
Waterline
The term "waterline" generally refers to the line where the hull of a ship meets the water surface. It is also the name of a special marking, also known as the national Load Line or Plimsoll Line, to be positioned amidships, that indicates the draft of the ship and the legal limit to which a ship...
was thickest amidships, with an outer layer of iron armor 305 mm (12 in) thick, an inner layer of 178 mm (7 in) thick iron, and 250 mm (9.8 in) of teak behind the iron. The outer layer was reduced to 152 mm (6 in) in the stern but did not extend to the bow. The inner layer was 127 mm (5 in) thick in both the bow and stern, and the teak backing was 90 mm (3.5 in) for both ends of the ship. The main battery was protected with 150 mm (5.9 in) thick plating and capped on either end with 150 mm thick transverse bulkheads. During her reconstruction into an armored cruiser, the iron armor was cut away and replaced with stronger steel armor. The conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
received armor protection during the refit as well. The sides were 50 millimetre thick sloped plates, with a 30 mm (1.2 in) thick roof.
Service history
Laid down at the Thames IronworksThames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company
The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side...
shipyard in London, England in 1865, the ship was originally ordered by the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
as the Fatikh. The ship was built to a design created by the British naval architect Edward Reed
Edward James Reed
Sir Edward James Reed , KCB, FRS, was a British naval architect, author, politician, and railroad magnate. He was the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1863 until 1870...
. Before her launch, the Prussian Navy
Prussian Navy
Throughout the centuries, Prussia’s military consistently concentrated on its land power, and never sought a similar power at sea. Yet historically there were always Prussian naval forces , beginning in the days when "Prussia" meant only the Margraviate of Brandenburg.- The Navy of Electoral...
purchased the ship on 6 February 1867 and initially renamed it Wilhelm I. On 14 December 1867, the ship was renamed again, as König Wilhelm. She was launched on 25 April 1868 and commissioned less than a year later, on 20 February 1869. The ship's first commander was Kapitän zur See Ludwig von Henk
Ludwig von Henk
Ludwig von Henk was a German naval officer, who distinguished himself in the Prussian Navy and later in the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire. He retired as a Vice-Admiral....
. The ship was the largest and most powerful vessel in the Prussian fleet, and served as its 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...
. Indeed, König Wilhelm remained the largest German vessel until 1891. This was in part due to the fact that Germany laid down only one small ironclad between 1876 and 1888; the four s, launched in 1891 and 1892, were the first ships to surpass König Wilhelm in size.
Franco-Prussian War
At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian WarFranco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
in 1870, the greatly numerically inferior Prussian Navy assumed a defensive posture against a naval blockade imposed by the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
. König Wilhelm and the broadside ironclads and , along with the small ironclad ram , had been steaming in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
before the French declared war; they had left Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
on 10 July with the intention of steaming to Fayal in the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
. On the 13th, however, they put into port and learned of the rising tension between France and Prussia. The ships therefore returned to Wilhelmshaven immediately, arriving on 16 July. France declared war on Prussia three days later on 19 July. König Wilhelm, Friedrich Carl, and Kronprinz were concentrated in the North Sea at the port of 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:...
.They were subsequently joined there by the turret ship , which had been stationed 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...
.
Despite the great French naval superiority, the French had conducted insufficient pre-war planning for an assault on the Prussian naval installations, and concluded that it would only be possible with Danish assistance, which was not forthcoming. The four ships, under the command of Vice Admiral Jachmann, made an offensive sortie in early August 1870 out to the Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England. It extends over approximately , with its dimensions being about long and up to broad. The water depth ranges from 15 to 36 metres , about shallower than the surrounding sea. It is a...
, though they encountered no French warships. König Wilhelm and the other two broadside ironclads thereafter suffered from chronic engine trouble, which left Arminius alone to conduct operations. König Wilhelm, Friedrich Carl, and Kronprinz stood off the island of Wangerooge
Wangerooge
Wangerooge is one of the 32 Frisian Islands in the North Sea located close to the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. It is also a municipality in the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony in Germany.Wangerooge is one of the East Frisian Islands...
for the majority of the conflict, while Arminius was stationed in the mouth of the Elbe river. On 11 September, the three broadside ironclads were again ready for action; they joined Arminius for another major operation into the North Sea. It too did not encounter French opposition, as the French Navy had by this time returned to France. After the war, the Prussian Navy became the 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...
, and resumed its peacetime training routines. General Albrecht von Stosch
Albrecht von Stosch
Albrecht von Stosch was a German General der Infanterie and Admiral who served as first Chief of the newly created Imperial German admiralty from 1872 to 1883....
became the chief of the Imperial Navy, and organized the fleet for coastal defense.
Collision with Grosser Kurfürst
While steaming in the Straits of Dover on 31 May 1878, König Wilhelm accidentally collided with the newly-commissioned turret ironclad . The two ships, along with , had left Wilhelmshaven on the 29th. König Wilhelm and Preussen steamed in a line, with Grosser Kurfürst off to starboard. On the morning of the 31st, the three ships encountered a pair of sailing vessels off FolkestoneFolkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
. Grosser Kurfürst turned to port to avoid the boats while König Wilhelm sought to pass the two boats, but there was not enough distance between her and Grosser Kurfürst. She therefore turned hard to port to avoid Grosser Kurfürst, but the action was not taken quickly enough, and König Wilhelm found herself pointed directly at Grosser Kurfürst. König Wilhelms ram bow
Naval ram
A naval ram was a weapon carried by varied types of ships, dating back to antiquity. The weapon consisted of an underwater prolongation of the bow of the ship to form an armoured beak, usually between six and twelve feet in length...
tore a hole in Grosser Kurfürst.
A failure to adequately seal the watertight bulkheads aboard Grosser Kurfürst caused the ship to sink rapidly, in the span of about eight minutes. Out of a crew of 500 men, 269 died in the accident. König Wilhelm was also badly damaged in the collision, with severe flooding forward. König Wilhelms captain initially planned on beaching the ship to prevent it from sinking, but determined that the ship's pumps could hold the flooding to an acceptable level. The ship made for Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, where temporary repairs could be effected to allow the ship to return to Germany. In the aftermath of the collision, the German navy held a court martial for Rear Admiral Batsch, the squadron commander, and Captains Monts and Kuehne, the commanders of the two ships, along with Lieutenant Clausa, the first officer aboard Grosser Kurfürst, to investigate the sinking. The damage to König Wilhelm necessitated a lengthy period of repairs from 1878 to 1882. The work was carried out at the Imperial Dockyard
Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven
Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven was a German shipbuilding company in Wilhelmshaven, Prussian Hanover. It was founded in 1853, first as Königliche Werft Wilhelmshaven but renamed in 1871 with the proclamation of the German Empire...
in Wilhelmshaven, and also included reboilering and replacement of the ship's ram. Torpedo nets were fitted to the ship from 1885 to 1897.
Later service
By 1893, König Wilhelm had been assigned as the flagship for the II Division of the German fleet; the four armored corvettes composed the I Squadron. The ship flew the flag of Admiral Otto von DiederichsOtto von Diederichs
Ernst Otto von Diederichs was an Admiral of the German Imperial Navy, serving in the predecessor Prussian Navy and the Navy of the North German Confederation.-Education, war and peace:Diederichs entered the Prussian...
, and was based in Wilhelmshaven. On 20 February 1894, a special ceremony was held on board the ship to commemorate the 25th anniversary of her commissioning. Kaiser Wilhelm II attended the ceremony, as did Ludwig von Henk, who had by that time retired as a Vizeadmiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
. In April 1894, the II Division conducted a training cruise to prepare for the annual summer maneuvers. During the cruise, König Wilhelm ran aground on a mud bank off the Frisian coast
Frisia
Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian, a language group closely related to the English language...
. and quickly pulled the ship free with minimal damage. The ships then proceeded to Scotland via Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
and Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
. The division returned to Kiel at the end of May to replenish its stocks of coal and provisions for the summer exercises. During the 1894 maneuvers, von Diederich's II Division acted as the opposing force
Opposing force
An opposing force or enemy force is a military unit tasked with representing an enemy, usually for training purposes in war game scenarios...
in the Baltic, simulating a Russian fleet attacking Germany's Baltic coast. Following the conclusion of maneuvers in September, Admiral Diederichs left the squadron and was replaced by Admiral Karl Barandon.
In 1895, König Wilhelm went into drydock at the Blohm and Voss shipyard 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 an extensive reconstruction into an armored cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
. The vessel's armament was increased, the ship rig was removed, and new fighting masts were installed in place of the old masts. The ship's crew was dramatically increased, to 38 officers and 1,120 enlisted men. Work lasted through 1896, and the ship was returned to the fleet in her new guise on 25 January 1897. She served with the fleet until 1904, when she was removed from active duty. Starting on 3 May 1904, she became a harbor ship. She was then used barracks ship and training vessel for naval cadets, based in Kiel, starting on 1 October 1907. Two years later, König Wilhelm was moved to the Naval Academy at Mürwik, where she continued in these duties. Starting in 1910, the old corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
served as a support vessel for the ship. The light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
replaced Charlotte as König Wilhelms auxiliary vessel in 1917. König Wilhelm served through 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...
, until 1921, after Germany's defeat. On 4 January 1921, the ship was stricken from the naval register and broken up for scrap in Rönnebeck.