German Pre-Dreadnought Battleship SMS Schlesien

SMS Schlesien was the fourth ship of the Deutschland-class of pre-dreadnought battleships (along with her sisters Deutschland, Schleswig-Holstein, Pommern, and Hannover), built at the Schichau-Werke shipyard in Danzig. She was laid down in 1904, launched in May 1906, and commissioned in May 1908. Like her sisters, she was already outdated on completion due to the commissioning of HMS Dreadnought in 1906. Nonetheless, she had a long career that extended from the Kaiserliche Marine through the Reichsmarine and into the Kriegsmarine, surviving into the Second World War.

In terms of design, Schlesien carried the standard armament of the class: four 28 cm (11 in) SK L/40 main guns in two twin turrets, fourteen 17 cm (6.7 in) SK L/40 guns in casemates as her secondary battery, and a battery of 22 × 8.8 cm guns for close-range defence, along with six submerged torpedo tubes. Armour protection was up to 280 mm on turrets and 225 mm on the belt, while her top speed of 18 knots was provided by three triple-expansion steam engines.

During peacetime before 1914, Schlesien operated with the fleet in training exercises, cruises, and manoeuvres, often representing Germany abroad. When the First World War began, she was assigned to II Battle Squadron with her sisters. She took part in patrols and fleet sorties in the North Sea and saw minor action at the Battle of Jutland, where a near miss killed one sailor and wounded another. By 1917, she was relegated to secondary duties as the High Seas Fleet prioritised dreadnoughts. After the war, Schlesien was one of the few battleships Germany was permitted to retain under the Treaty of Versailles.

In the interwar years, Schlesien served with the Reichsmarine as a training ship for cadets and naval recruits, making numerous cruises to foreign ports. Extensively modernised in the 1920s, she remained useful despite her age. With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, she was recommissioned into the Kriegsmarine as a training ship but was also used for escort and support duties in the Baltic.

In 1944–45, Schlesien was pressed into service as a support ship for shore bombardment and training in the final desperate months of the war. She was heavily damaged by a British air-dropped naval mine in May 1945 off Swinemünde. Scuttled in shallow water, her wreck was scrapped after the war.

Specifications of SMS Schlesien (Deutschland-class)

• Type: Pre-dreadnought battleship
• Displacement: 13,191 t (standard); 14,218 t (full load)
• Length: 127.6 m (418 ft 8 in)
• Beam: 22.2 m (72 ft 10 in)
• Draft: 8.21 m (26 ft 11 in)
• Propulsion: 3 × triple-expansion steam engines, 12 coal-fired boilers, 16,000 ihp
• Speed: 18 knots (33 km/h)
• Range: 4,800 nmi (8,900 km) at 10 knots
• Crew: 35 officers, 708 enlisted men (approx.)
• Armament:
  • 4 × 28 cm (11 in) SK L/40 guns (2 × twin turrets)
  • 14 × 17 cm (6.7 in) SK L/40 guns
  • 22 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/35 guns
  • 6 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (submerged)
• Armour:
  • Belt: 225 mm (8.9 in)
  • Main turrets: 280 mm (11 in)
  • Conning tower: 300 mm (11.8 in)