page_title: SMS Kaiser Friedrich III
section_title: Construction to 1900
hierarchical_section_title: SMS Kaiser Friedrich III / Service history / Construction to 1900
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Linienschiff S.M.S. Kaiser Friedrich III. (1896–1920), Kaiserlichen MarineEnglish: German battleship S.M.S. Kaiser Friedrich III. (1896–1920), Imperial Navy
context_page_description: SMS Kaiser Friedrich III was the lead ship of the Kaiser Friedrich III class of pre-dreadnought battleships. She was laid down at the Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven in March 1895, launched in July 1896, and finished in October 1898. The ship was armed with a main battery of four 24-centimeter guns in two twin gun turrets supported by a secondary battery of eighteen 15 cm guns.
  Sea trials and modifications lasted more than a year, and once she entered active service in October 1899, the ship became the flagship of Prince Heinrich in I Squadron of the German Heimatflotte. I Squadron was primarily occupied with training exercises throughout each year, and also made numerous trips to other European countries, particularly Great Britain and Sweden–Norway. In 1901, the ship was severely damaged after striking submerged rocks in the Baltic; the incident contributed to design changes in later German battleships to make them more resistant to underwater damage.
  Kaiser Friedrich III was extensively modernized in 1908; her secondary guns were reorganized and her superstructure was cut down to reduce top-heaviness.
context_section_description: Kaiser Friedrich III's keel was laid on 5 March 1895, at the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Shipyard) in Wilhelmshaven, under construction number 22. Kaiser Wilhelm II, the son of the ship's namesake,  hammered the first rivet into the keel. She was ordered under the contract name Ersatz Preussen, to replace the elderly armored frigate Preussen. Kaiser Friedrich III was launched on 1 July 1896 and Wilhelm II was again present, this time to give the launching speech. The ship was commissioned on 7 October 1898 and began sea trials in the Baltic Sea. Of major concern was how the three-shaft arrangement would perform on a ship the size of Kaiser Friedrich III; the preceding Brandenburg class had used two shafts. After the trials were completed in mid-February 1899, Kaiser Friedrich returned to Wilhelmshaven and was decommissioned so defects identified during the trials could be remedied. The work lasted longer than originally planned, and the ship remained out of service for much of the year. In addition, her main battery guns had not been delivered.
  Upon recommissioning on 21 October, Kaiser Friedrich III was assigned to II Division of I Squadron of the Heimatflotte (Home Fleet), which was commanded by Vizeadmiral Paul Hoffmann. She took the place of the ironclad Baden, which had been decommissioned the previous day. Kaiser Friedrich III became the flagship of II Division, commanded by Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Wilhelm Büchsel. Before she could actually join her division, Kaiser Friedrich III and the aviso Hela were sent to escort the Kaiser's yacht Hohenzollern on a trip to Britain for the Kaiser to visit his grandmother, Queen Victoria. The ships left Germany on 17 November and stayed in Dover from 18 to 20 November, before proceeding to Portsmouth on the 20th, remaining there for three days. On their return they stopped in Vlissingen in the Netherlands, from 24 to 29 November, before continuing on to Kiel, where they arrived on 1 December.
  Kaiser Friedrich II finally assumed her role as II Division flagship on 24 January 1900, when Büchsel transferred his flag to the ship. On 2 April, I Squadron steamed to Danzig Bay, where they stayed for four days. The next month, they began a cruise into the North Sea on 7 May; during the trip, the ships made stops in Lerwick in the Shetland Islands from 12 to 15 May and Bergen, Norway, from 18 to 22 May. They arrived back in Kiel four days after leaving Bergen. In early July, the four Brandenburg-class battleships were sent to Asia to suppress the Boxer Rebellion, prompting a reorganization of the Heimatflotte. Kaiser Friedrich III and Kaiser Wilhelm II were the only battleships available for the annual fleet maneuvers, which were conducted from 15 August to 15 September. They were joined by the armored frigates Sachsen and Württemberg and six Siegfried and Odin-class coastal defense ships. Throughout the maneuvers, Kaiser Friedrich III was assigned to the "German" force, which had to combat a hostile "Yellow" squadron. Thereafter, Büchsel became the deputy commander of I Squadron, but he remained aboard Kaiser Friedrich III only briefly before transferring his flag to the ironclad Württemberg. Konteradmiral Max von Fischel replaced him on 30 September, but Kaiser Friedrich III went into drydock for her annual overhaul shortly thereafter.
  On 1 November, Vizeadmiral Prince Heinrich, who had replaced Hoffmann as I Squadron commander, raised his flag aboard Kaiser Friedrich III; the ship held the role as squadron flagship for the next three years, interrupted only during the annual fleet exercises conducted in August and September, when Admiral Hans von Koester, the Generalinspekteur der Marine (Inspector-General of the Navy), commanded the fleet from Kaiser Wilhelm II. Through November, the ships of the squadron were occupied with individual training. On 17 November 1900, Kaiser Friedrich III was steaming to Kiel after conducting training exercises. Kaiser Wilhelm II attempted to pass Kaiser Friedrich III, so the latter stopped and allowed the former to pass to port. However, the orde
caption: Kaiser Friedrich III photographed in 1900
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