page_title: SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm
section_title: Construction to 1895
hierarchical_section_title: SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm / Service history / In German service / Construction to 1895
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm English: SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm
context_page_description: SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm was one of the first ocean-going battleships of the German Kaiserliche Marine. The ship was named for Prince-elector Friedrich Wilhelm, 17th-century Duke of Prussia and Margrave of Brandenburg. She was the fourth pre-dreadnought of the Brandenburg class, along with her sister ships Brandenburg, Weissenburg, and Wörth. She was laid down in 1890 in the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven, launched in 1891, and completed in 1893. The Brandenburg-class battleships carried six large-caliber guns in three twin turrets, as opposed to four guns in two turrets, as was the standard in other navies.
  Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm served as the flagship of the Imperial fleet from her commissioning in 1894 until 1900. She saw limited active duty during her service career with the German fleet due to the relatively peaceful nature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a result, her career focused on training exercises and goodwill visits to foreign ports. These training maneuvers were nevertheless very important to developing German naval tactical doctrine in the two decades before World War I, especially under the direction of Alfred von Tirpitz.
context_section_description: Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm was the fourth and final ship of her class. She was ordered as battleship D, and was laid down at the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Shipyard) in Wilhelmshaven in 1890. She was the first ship of the class to be launched, on 30 June 1891. The ceremony was attended by Kaiser Wilhelm II and his wife, Augusta Victoria. She was commissioned into the German fleet on 29 April 1894, the same day as her sister Brandenburg. While on sea trials, the ship suffered from several problems with her propulsion system. She was therefore decommissioned for repairs to the machinery, before being recommissioned on 1 November 1894. Construction of Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm cost the German navy 11.23 million marks. Upon her commissioning, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm was assigned to I Division of I Battle Squadron alongside her three sisters. She replaced the ironclad Bayern as the Squadron flagship on 16 November, under the command of VAdm Hans von Koester. Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm would remain the flagship for the next six years. I Division was accompanied by the four older Sachsen-class ironclads in II Division, though by 1901–1902, the Sachsens were replaced by the new Kaiser Friedrich III-class battleships. The ship was a training ground for later commanders in chief of the High Seas Fleet, including Admirals Reinhard Scheer and Franz von Hipper, who both served aboard the ship as navigation officers during 1897 and October 1898 to September 1899, respectively.
  After entering active service, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm and the rest of the squadron attended ceremonies for the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal at Kiel on 3 December 1894. The squadron thereafter began a winter training cruise in the Baltic Sea; this was the first such cruise by the German fleet. In previous years, the bulk of the fleet was deactivated for the winter months. During this voyage, I Division anchored in Stockholm from 7 to 11 December, during the 300th anniversary of the birth of Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus. King Oscar II held a reception for the visiting German delegation, which included Prince Heinrich, the younger brother of Wilhelm II and the commander of the battleship Wörth. Thereafter, further exercises were conducted in the Baltic before the ships had to put into their home ports for repairs. During this dockyard period, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm had her funnels extended in height.
  1895 began with what became the normal trips to Heligoland and then to Bremerhaven, with Wilhelm II on board. This was followed by individual ship and divisional training, which was interrupted by a voyage to the northern North Sea. On this trip, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm was accompanied by her sister ship Brandenburg; the two battleships stopped in Lerwick in Shetland from 16 to 23 March. This was the first time units of the main German fleet had left home waters. The purpose of the exercise was to test the ships in heavy weather; both vessels performed admirably. In May, more fleet maneuvers were carried out in the western Baltic, and they were concluded by a visit of the fleet to Kirkwall in Orkney. The squadron returned to Kiel in early June, where preparations were under way for the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. Tactical exercises were carried out in Kiel Bay in the presence of foreign delegations to the opening ceremony.
  On 28 June, an explosion occurred on one of the ship's pinnaces killing seven crewmen and badly injuring the future VAdm Wilhelm Starke. Further training exercises lasted until 1 July, when I Division began a voyage into the Atlantic Ocean. This operation had political motives; Germany had only been able to send a small contingent of vessels—the protected cruiser Kaiserin Augusta, the coastal defense ship Hagen, and the sailing frigate Stosch—to an international naval demonstration off the Moroccan coast at the same time. The main fleet could therefore provide moral support to the demonstration by steaming to Spanish waters. Rough weather again allowed Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm and her sister ships to demonstrate their excellent s
caption: Colorized photo of Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm while in German service
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