König - class battleship The " König " class was a group of four battleship s built for the German " Kaiserliche Marine " on the eve of World War I . The class was composed of , , , and . The most powerful warships of the German High Seas Fleet at the outbreak of war in 1914 , the class operated as a unit throughout World War I — the V Division of the III Battle Squadron . The ships took part in a number of fleet operations during the war , including the Battle of Jutland , where they acted as the vanguard of the German line . They survived the war and were interned at Scapa Flow in November 1918 . All four ships were scuttled on 21 June 1919 when Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered the sinking of the entire High Seas Fleet . The " König " s were an improvement over the preceding ; one of the primary changes being in the disposition of the main gun battery . The " Kaiser " - class ships mounted ten 30 . 5 cm ( 12 in ) SK L / 50 guns in five twin turrets ; one turret was mounted fore , two aft in a superfiring arrangement , and the other two as wing turrets in a zig - zag " echelon " configuration amidships . For the " König " class , the use of main - gun wing turrets was abandoned . Instead , a second turret was moved forward and placed in a superfiring arrangement , and a single rear - facing turret was mounted centerline amidships ; with a traverse allowing for broadsides but not forward - fire . The two superfiring aft turrets remained . This allowed for a wider angle of fire on the broadside , as all 10 guns could fire on a large area . It did , however , reduce the ship ' s forward - fire capabilities ; from six guns with only limited traverse on the two wing turrets , to four guns with full traverse . Design . The " König " - class battleships were authorized under the Second Amendment to the Naval Law , which had been passed in 1908 as a response to the revolution in naval technology created with the launch of the British in 1906 . Dreadnought s were significantly larger — and correspondingly more expensive — than the old pre - dreadnought battleships . As a result , the funds that had been appropriated for the Navy in 1906 were going to be used up before they were scheduled to be replenished in 1911 . Along with the additional funding secured in the 1908 bill , the service life of all large warships was to be reduced from 25 years to 20 years ; this was done in an effort to force the Reichstag to allocate more funds for additional ships . In his effort to force the Reichstag to pass the bill , Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz threatened to resign from his post as the State Secretary for the Navy . As a result of von Tirpitz ' s ultimatum , the bill was passed in March 1908 by a large margin . The reduction in service life necessitated the replacement of the coastal defense ship s of the and classes as well as the s . In the terms of the First Amendment to the Naval Law of 1906 , von Tirpitz had requested but failed to secure funding for new battleships ; they had now been approved by the Reichstag . The Naval Law also increased the naval budget by an additional 1 billion marks . After the four s had been replaced by the four " Nassau " s , and the six " Siegfried " - class ships had been replaced by the " Helgoland " and " Kaiser " classes , the next vessels to be replaced were the old s . " König " and her three sisters were ordered under the provisional names " S " , " Ersatz Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm " , " Ersatz Weissenburg " , and " Ersatz Brandenburg " . General characteristics . The " König " - class ships were 174 . 7 m long at the waterline , and 175 . 4 m long overall . With a beam of 29 . 5 m , a forward draft of 9 . 19 m and a rear draft of 9 . 0 m , the " König " s were designed to displace 25 , 796 metric tons normally , but at full combat load , they displaced 28 , 600 tons . The hulls were constructed with transverse and longitudinal steel frames , over which the outer hull plates were riveted . The ships ' hulls each contained 18 watertight compartments , each equipped with a double bottom that ran for 88 % of the length of the hull . German naval historian Erich Gröner , in his book " German Warships 1815 – 1945 " , stated that the German navy considered the ships to be " very good sea - boats . " They suffered a slight loss of speed in a swell , and with the rudder hard over , the ships lost up to 66 % speed and heeled over 8 degrees . The battleships had a transverse metacentric height of 2 . 59 m . " König " , " Grosser Kurfürst " , " Markgraf " , and " Kronprinz " each had a standard crew of 41 officers and 1095 enlisted men ; " König " , the flagship of the III Squadron , had an additional crew of 14 officers and another 68 sailors . The ships carried several smaller boats , including one picket boat , three barges , two launches , two yawls , and two dinghies . Propulsion . It was originally intended that the " König " - class battleships would be powered by two sets of turbines on the outer shafts , while the center shaft would have utilized a MAN 6 - cylinder 2 - stroke diesel engine producing 12 , 000 shp at 150 rpm . Development of the diesel was protracted , however , and it was later decided that the diesel would be installed only in " Grosser Kurfürst " and " Markgraf " . Ultimately , the diesel was never installed in any of the " König " - class battleships . They were instead equipped with three sets of Parsons ( " König " and " Kronprinz " ) , AEG - Vulcan ( " Grosser Kurfürst " ) , or Bergmann ( " Markgraf " ) turbines driving 3 . 8 m - wide three - bladed screws . Steam was supplied by three oil - fired and 12 coal - fired Schulz - Thornycroft boilers operating at up to 16 atmospheres of pressure . The power plant was rated at 31 , 000 shp . On trials , the ships produced between 41 , 400 – 46 , 200 shp . The designed top speed was 21 knots . The ships had a designed range of 8 , 000 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 12 knots , which decreased to 4 , 000 nautical miles at 18 knots . Maximum bunkerage was 3 , 000 tons of coal and 600 tons of oil . Each ship had two rudders . Electrical power was supplied by four turbo - generators and a pair of diesel generators ; total electrical output was 2 , 040 kilowatts at 225 volts . Armament . The " König " s were armed with a main battery of ten SK L / 50 guns in five twin turrets . Two turrets were mounted forward of the main superstructure in a superfiring pair , the third was placed on the centerline between the two funnels amidships , and the fourth and fifth turrets were also arranged in a superfiring pair , aft of the rear conning tower . Each gun turret had a working chamber beneath it that was connected to a revolving ammunition hoist leading down to the magazine below it . The turrets were electrically controlled , though the guns were elevated hydraulically . In an effort to reduce the possibility of a fire , everything in the turret was constructed of steel . This was an improvement over the preceding , as all ten guns could fire on a wide arc on the broadside , and four guns could fire directly ahead , as opposed to only two on the " Kaiser " s . The guns were supplied with 900 rounds , or 90 shells per gun . The 30 . 5 cm gun had a rate of fire of between 2 – 3 405 . 5 - kilogram ( 894 - pound ) armor - piercing shells per minute , and was expected to fire 200 shells before replacement was necessary . The guns were also capable of firing 405 . 9 kg ( 894 . 8 lb ) high explosive shells . Both types of shells were loaded with two propellant charges : an RP C / 12 main charge in a brass cartridge that weighed 91 kg ( 201 lb ) and an RP C / 12 fore charge in a silk bag that weighed 34 . 5 kg ( 76 lb ) . This provided a muzzle velocity of 855 meters per second ( 2 , 805 ft / s ) . The turrets on the " König " - class battleships initially allowed elevation up to 13 . 5 degrees ; this enabled a maximum range of 16 , 200 m ( 17 , 700 yd ) . After modifications , elevation was increased to 16 degrees , which correspondingly increased the range of the guns to 20 , 400 m ( 22 , 300 yd ) . Secondary armament consisted of fourteen SK L / 45 quick - firing guns , each mounted in MPL C / 06 . 11 casemate s in the side of the top deck . These guns were intended for defense against torpedo boats , and were supplied with a total of 2 , 240 shells . These guns could engage targets out to 13 , 500 m , and after improvements in 1915 , their range was extended to 16 , 800 m . The guns had a sustained rate of fire of 5 to 7 rounds per minute . The shells were 45 . 3 kg ( 99 . 8 lb ) , and were loaded with a 13 . 7 kg ( 31 . 2 lb ) RPC / 12 propellant charge in a brass cartridge . This provided a muzzle velocity of 835 meters per second ( 2 , 740 ft / s ) . Service life was estimated at approximately 1 , 400 shells fired before the guns would need to be replaced . The " König " s also carried six SK L / 45 quick - firing guns , mounted in casemates . The six guns were located on either side of the forward conning tower and were all directed forward . These guns were supplied with a total of 3 , 200 rounds , or 200 shells per gun , and could fire at a rate of 15 shells per minute . The high - explosive shells fired by these guns weighed 10 kg ( 22 . 05 lb ) and were loaded with a 3 kg ( 6 . 6 lb ) RPC / 12 propellant charge . These guns had a life expectancy of around 7 , 000 rounds . These were later removed and replaced with four 8 . 8 cm SK L / 45 anti - aircraft guns , which were mounted on either side of the rear conning tower . As was customary for capital ships of the dreadnought era , the ships were armed with five submerged torpedo tubes . One was mounted in the bow , the other four were placed on the broadside , two on each side of the ship . The tubes were supplied with 16 torpedoes . The torpedoes were the G7 type ; they were 7 . 02 m ( 23 ft ) long and were armed with a 195 kg ( 430 lb ) explosive warhead . At 37 knots , the torpedoes had a range of 4 , 000 m ( 4 , 370 yd ) ; at 27 knots the range more than doubled , to 9 , 300 m ( 10 , 170 yards ) . Armor . The " König " - class ships were protected with Krupp cemented steel armor , as was the standard for German warships of the period . They had an armor belt that was thick in the central citadel of the ship , where the most important parts of the ship were located . This included the ammunition magazines and the machinery spaces . The belt was reduced in less critical areas , to forward and aft . The bow and stern were not protected by armor at all . A - thick torpedo bulkhead ran the length of the hull , several meters behind the main belt . The main armored deck was thick in most places , though the thickness of the sections that covered the more important areas of the ship was increased to . The forward conning tower was protected with heavy armor : the sides were thick and the roof was thick . The rear conning tower was less well armored ; its sides were only thick and the roof was covered with of armor plate . The main battery gun turrets were also heavily armored : the turret sides were 300 mm thick and the roofs were thick . The casemated 15 cm guns had worth of armor plating in the casemates ; the guns themselves had - thick shields to protect their crews from shell splinters . Construction . , the name ship of the class , was built at the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven , under construction number 33 . She was laid down in 1911 , was launched on 1 March 1913 , and was commissioned into the fleet on 9 August 1914 . was the second ship of the class . She was built at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Hamburg , under construction number 4 . She too was laid down in 1911 ; she was launched on 5 May 1913 , and was commissioned before " König " on 30 July 1914 . was built at the AG Weser dockyard in Bremen , under construction number 186 . She was laid down in 1911 , launched on 4 June 1913 , and commissioned on 1 October 1914 , shortly after the outbreak of World War I . , the final ship of the class , was laid down at the Germaniawerft dockyard in Kiel in 1912 . She was launched on 21 February 1914 and commissioned just under 9 months later on 8 November . Service history . Raid on Scarborough , Hartlepool and Whitby . The first major operation of the war in which the " König " - class ships participated was the raid on Scarborough , Hartlepool and Whitby on 15 – 16 December 1914 . The raid was primarily conducted by the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group . The " König " - class ships , along with the , , and es , steamed in distant support of Franz von Hipper ' s battlecruisers . Friedrich von Ingenohl , the commander of the High Seas Fleet , decided to take up station approximately in the center of the North Sea , about 130 miles east of Scarborough . The Royal Navy , which had recently received the German code books captured from the beached cruiser , was aware that an operation was taking place , but uncertain as to where the Germans would strike . Therefore , the Admiralty ordered David Beatty ' s 1st Battlecruiser Squadron , the six battleships of the 2nd Battle Squadron , and a number of cruisers and destroyers to attempt to intercept the German battlecruisers . However , Beatty ' s task force nearly ran headlong into the entire High Seas Fleet . At 6 : 20 , Beatty ' s destroyer screen came into contact with the German torpedo boat " V155 " . This began a confused two hour long battle between the British destroyers and the German cruiser and destroyer screen , frequently at very close range . At the time of the first encounter , the " König " - class battleships were less than 10 miles away from the six British dreadnoughts ; this was well within firing range , but in the darkness , neither British nor German admiral were aware of the composition of their opponents ' fleets . Admiral Ingenohl , loathe to disobey the Kaiser ' s order to not risk the battlefleet without his express approval , concluded that his forces were engaging the screen of the entire Grand Fleet , and so 10 minutes after the first contact , he ordered a turn to port to a south - east course . Continued attacks delayed the turn , but by 6 : 42 , it had been carried out . For about 40 minutes , the two fleets were steaming on a parallel course . At 7 : 20 , Ingenohl ordered a further turn to port , which put his ships on a course for German waters . Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft . The " König " - class ships took part in another raid on the English coast , again as support for the German battlecruiser force in the I Scouting Group . The battlecruisers left the Jade Estuary at 10 : 55 on 24 April 1916 , and the rest of the High Seas Fleet followed at 13 : 40 . The battlecruiser struck a mine while en route to the target , and had to withdraw . The other battlecruisers bombarded the town of Lowestoft largely without incident , but during the approach to Yarmouth , they encountered the British cruisers of the Harwich Force . A short artillery duel ensued before the Harwich Force withdrew . Reports of British submarines in the area prompted the retreat of the I Scouting Group . At this point , Admiral Reinhard Scheer , who had been warned of the sortie of the Grand Fleet from its base in Scapa Flow , also withdrew to safer German waters . Battle of Jutland . The four ships took part in the fleet sortie that resulted in the battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916 . The operation again sought to draw out and isolate a portion of the Grand Fleet and destroy it before the main British fleet could retaliate . " König " , " Grosser Kurfürst " , " Markgraf " , and " Kronprinz " made up the V Division of the III Battle Squadron , and they were the vanguard of the fleet . The III Battle Squadron was the first of three battleship units ; directly astern were the s of the VI Division , III Battle Squadron . Astern of the " Kaiser " - class ships were the " Helgoland " and " Nassau " classes of the II Battle Squadron ; in the rear guard were the elderly pre - dreadnought s of the I Battle Squadron . Shortly before 16 : 00 CET , the battlecruisers of I Scouting Group encountered the British 1st Battlecruiser Squadron , under the command of David Beatty . The opposing ships began an artillery duel that saw the destruction of , shortly after 17 : 00 , and , less than a half an hour later . By this time , the German battlecruisers were steaming south in order to draw the British ships towards the main body of the High Seas Fleet . At 17 : 30 , , the leading German battleship , spotted both the I Scouting Group and the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron approaching . The German battlecruisers were steaming down to starboard , while the British ships steamed to port . At 17 : 45 , Scheer ordered a two - point turn to port to bring his ships closer to the British battlecruisers , and a minute later at 17 : 46 , the order to open fire was given . " König " , " Grosser Kurfürst " , and " Markgraf " were the first to reach effective gunnery range ; they engaged the battlecruisers , , and , respectively , at a range of 21 , 000 yards . " König " s first salvos fell short of her target , and so she shifted her fire to the nearest British ship , " Tiger " . Simultaneously , the leading " König " - class battleships began firing on the destroyers and . The two destroyers closed in on the German line and , having endured a hail of gunfire , maneuvered into a good firing position . Each ship launched two torpedoes apiece at " König " and " Grosser Kurfürst " , though all four weapons missed . In return , a secondary battery shell from one of the battleships hit " Nestor " and wrecked her engine room . The ship , along with the destroyer , was crippled and lying directly in the path of the advancing German line . Both of the destroyers were sunk , but German torpedo boats stopped to pick up survivors . At around 18 : 00 , the four " König " s shifted their fire to the approaching s of the V Battle Squadron , though the firing lasted only a short time before the range widened too far . Shortly after 19 : 00 , the German cruiser had become disabled by a shell from ; Rear Admiral Behncke in " König " attempted to maneuver his ships in order to cover the stricken cruiser . Simultaneously , the British III and IV Light Cruiser Squadrons began a torpedo attack on the German line ; while advancing to torpedo range , they smothered " Wiesbaden " with fire from their main guns . The " König " s fired heavily on the British cruisers , but even sustained fire from the Germans ' main guns failed to drive off the British cruisers . In the ensuing melee , the British armored cruiser was struck by several heavy - caliber shells from the German dreadnoughts . One salvo penetrated the ship ' s ammunition magazines and , in a massive explosion , destroyed the cruiser . By the time the German fleet returned to the Jade estuary , the " Nassau " - class battleships , , and and the " Helgoland " - class battleships and took up guard duties in the outer roadstead . The " Kaiser " - class battleships , , and , took up defensive positions outside the Wilhelmshaven locks . The four " König " - class ships , along with other capital ships — those that were still in fighting condition — had their fuel and ammunition stocks replenished in the inner harbor . Fleet advance of 18 – 19 August . During the fleet advance on 18 – 19 August , the I Scouting Group was to bombard the coastal town of Sunderland in an attempt to draw out and destroy Beatty ' s battlecruisers . As and were the only two remaining German battlecruisers still in fighting condition in the Group , three dreadnoughts were assigned to the unit for the operation : " Markgraf " , " Grosser Kurfürst " , and the newly commissioned . Admiral Scheer and the rest of the High Seas Fleet , with 15 dreadnoughts of its own , would trail behind and provide cover . The British were aware of the German plans and sortied the Grand Fleet to meet them . By 14 : 35 , Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet ' s approach and , unwilling to engage the whole of the Grand Fleet just 11 weeks after the decidedly close call at Jutland , turned his forces around and retreated to German ports . Operation Albion . In early September 1917 , following the German conquest of the Russian port of Riga , the German navy decided to expunge the Russian naval forces that still held the Gulf of Riga . To this end , the " Admiralstab " ( the Navy High Command ) planned an operation to seize the Baltic islands of Ösel , particularly the Russian gun batteries on the Sworbe peninsula . On 18 September , the order was issued for a joint Army - Navy operation to capture Ösel and Moon islands ; the primary naval component was to comprise the flagship , " Moltke " , along with the III Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet . The V Division included the four " König " s , and was by this time augmented with the new battleship . The VI Division consisted of the five " Kaiser " - class battleships . Along with nine light cruisers , three torpedo boat flotillas , and dozens of mine warfare ships , the entire force numbered some 300 ships , and were supported by over 100 aircraft and six zeppelins . The invasion force amounted to approximately 24 , 600 officers and enlisted men . Opposing the Germans were the old Russian pre - dreadnought s and , the armored cruiser s " Bayan " , " Admiral Makarov " , and " Diana " , 26 destroyers , and several torpedo boats and gunboats . The garrison on Ösel numbered some 14 , 000 men . The operation began on 12 October , when " Moltke " , " Bayern " , and the " König " s began firing on the Russian shore batteries at Tagga Bay . Simultaneously , the " Kaiser " s engaged the batteries on the Sworbe peninsula ; the objective was to secure the channel between Moon and Dagö islands , which would block the only escape route of the Russian ships in the Gulf . Both " Grosser Kurfürst " and " Bayern " struck mines while maneuvering into their bombardment positions ; damage to the former was minimal , but " Bayern " was severely wounded ; the ship had to be withdrawn to Kiel for repairs . On 16 October , it was decided to detach a portion of the invasion flotilla to clear the Russian naval forces in Moon Sound ; these included the two Russian pre - dreadnoughts . To this end , " König " and " Kronprinz " , along with the cruisers and and a number of smaller vessels were sent to engage the Russian battleships . They arrived by the morning of 17 October , but a deep Russian minefield kept the ships temporarily at bay . A rude surprise came to the Germans , when they discovered that the 30 . 5 cm guns of the Russian battleships out - ranged their own 30 . 5 cm guns . The Russian ships managed to keep the distance wide enough to prevent the German battleships from being able to return fire , while still firing effectively on the German ships — at several points the Germans had to take evasive maneuvers to avoid the Russian shells . However , by 10 : 00 , the minesweepers had cleared a path through the minefield , and " König " and " Kronprinz " dashed into the bay ; the two big dreadnoughts engaged the Russian battleships , " König " dueled with " Slava " and " Kronprinz " fired on both " Slava " and the cruiser " Bayan " . The Russian vessels were hit dozens of times , until at 10 : 30 the Russian naval commander , Admiral Bakhirev , ordered their withdrawal . " Slava " had taken too much damage , and was unable to make good her escape ; instead , she was scuttled and her crew was evacuated on a destroyer . By 20 October , the naval operations were effectively over ; the Russian ships had been destroyed or forced to withdraw , and the German army held their objectives . However , on 29 October , " Markgraf " struck a mine during the German withdrawal from the Gulf of Riga . Fate . Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918 , the majority of the High Seas Fleet , under the command of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter , was interned in the British naval base at Scapa Flow . The fleet remained in captivity during the negotiations that ultimately produced the Versailles Treaty . It became apparent to Reuter that the British intended to seize the German ships on 21 June , which was the deadline for Germany to have signed the peace treaty . Unaware that the deadline had been extended to the 23rd , Reuter ordered his ships be sunk . On the morning of 21 June , the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers ; at 11 : 20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships . Of the four ships , " Kronprinz " was the first to sink . She slipped beneath the waters of Scapa Flow at 13 : 15 . " Grosser Kurfürst " followed 15 minutes later at 13 : 30 . " König " sank at approximately 14 : 00 , but " Markgraf " did not sink until 16 : 45 ; she was one of the last capital ships to be successfully scuttled — only the battlecruiser sank afterwards , at 17 : 00 . " Grosser Kurfürst " was eventually raised , on 29 April 1938 . The ship was towed to Rosyth , where she was broken up for scrap metal . The other three ships remain on the sea floor , though the wrecks were sold to Britain in 1962 . References . Online sources