SMS Kaiser Barbarossa SMS " Kaiser Barbarossa " ( His Majesty ' s Ship Emperor Barbarossa ) was a German pre - dreadnought battleship of the . The ship was built for the Imperial Navy , which had begun a program of expansion at the direction of Kaiser Wilhelm II . She was constructed at Schichau , in Danzig . " Kaiser Barbarossa " was laid down in August 1898 , launched on 24 April 1900 , and completed in June 1901 , at the cost of 20 , 301 , 000 Marks . The ship was armed with a main battery of four guns in two twin gun turret s . " Kaiser Barbarossa " served with the German navy from 1901 to 1907 . In 1907 , the ship was drydocked for an extensive modernization , which lasted until 1910 . By this time , the new dreadnought battleship s began to enter service , rendering " Kaiser Barbarossa " obsolete . As a result , the ship was withdrawn from active service and placed in reserve . Following the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , " Kaiser Barbarossa " and her sisters were mobilized as coastal defense ship s in the V Battle Squadron and assigned to the Baltic Sea . The ships were withdrawn in February 1915 and relegated to secondary duties ; " Kaiser Barbarossa " spent the remainder of the war as a prison ship in Wilhelmshaven . Following the end of the war in 1918 , " Kaiser Barbarossa " was decommissioned and sold for scrap metal . The ship was broken up in 1919 – 1920 . Construction . Kaiser Wilhelm II , the emperor of Germany , believed that a strong navy was necessary for the country to expand its influence outside of continental Europe . As a result , he initiated a program of naval expansion in the late 1880s ; the first battleships built under this program were the four ships . These were immediately followed by the five s , of which " Kaiser Barbarossa " was a member . " Kaiser Barbarossa " s keel was laid in 1898 , at the Schichau - Werke in Danzig , under construction number 640 . She was ordered under the contract name " A " as an addition to the fleet . " Kaiser Barbarossa " was launched on 21 April 1900 and commissioned on 10 June 1901 . The final cost of the vessel was 20 , 301 , 000 marks . Trials were conducted upon her commissioning with the fleet . Two tests were recorded during the process : a 50 - hour endurance test and a 6 - hour speed test . The former produced a sustained speed of , while the latter saw a maximum speed of . The ship was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward and aft . The ship was powered by three 3 - cylinder vertical triple expansion engines that drove three screws . Steam was provided by four Marine - type and eight cylindrical boilers . " Kaiser Barbarossa " s powerplant was rated at , which generated a top speed of . " Kaiser Barbarossa " s armament consisted of a main battery of four 24 cm ( 9 . 4 in ) SK L / 40 guns in twin gun turret s , one fore and one aft of the central superstructure . Her secondary armament consisted of eighteen 15 cm ( 5 . 9 inch ) SK L / 40 guns and twelve 8 . 8 cm ( 3 . 45 in ) SK L / 30 quick - firing guns . The armament suite was rounded out with six 45 cm torpedo tubes , all in above - water swivel mounts . Service history . " Kaiser Barbarossa " was commissioned into the Imperial Navy in June 1901 , just in time for the annual summer maneuvers . Starting in late August 1901 , following the return of the four " Brandenburg " - class battleships from China , " Kaiser Barbarossa " conducted extensive training exercises with the rest of the fleet . The following year , another round of maneuvers were conducted ; by this time , " Kaiser Barbarossa " had been joined by all four of her sisters . During the exercise , which lasted from 17 August to 18 September , " Kaiser Barbarossa " and the rest of I Squadron were assigned to play both the role of the German fleet and hostile forces . In 1903 , the fleet , which was composed of only one squadron of battleships , was reorganized as the " Active Battle Fleet . " " Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse " remained in the I Squadron along with her sister ships and the newest s , while the older ships were placed in reserve in order to be rebuilt . In October 1905 , the " Heimatflotte " was again reorganized , but " Kaiser Barbarossa " was not assigned to any unit of the fleet . The " Heimatflotte " in 1905 consisted of two divisions of three battleships each in the I and II Squadrons . This was supported by a cruiser division , composed of two armored cruiser s and six protected cruiser s . In 1907 , the newest s were coming into service ; along with the s , these provided enough modern battleships to create two full battle squadrons . As a result , the " Heimatflotte " was renamed the " Hochseeflotte " ( High Seas Fleet ) . Starting in 1907 , " Kaiser Barbarossa " was dry - docked at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel for an extensive modernization , which lasted until 1910 . Four of her 15 cm guns were removed , though two 8 . 8 cm guns were added . All twelve machine guns were removed , as was the ship ' s stern - mounted torpedo tube . " Kaiser Barbarossa " s superstructure was also cut down to reduce the ship ' s tendency to roll excessively . The ship ' s funnels were also lengthened . During the reconstruction , the ship was assigned to the II Division of the I Squadron of the High Seas Fleet , along with three of her sister - ships , which were also undergoing reconstruction . After " Kaiser Barbarossa " emerged from the reconstruction , the ship was moved to the III Squadron , along with her sister ships . However , in 1910 , the new dreadnought battleship s were beginning to come into service with the fleet . Thoroughly obsolete compared to the new " all - big - gun " battleships , " Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse " was then decommissioned and placed into reserve . World War I . At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , " Kaiser Barbarossa " and her sisters were brought back to active service and mobilized as the V Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet . They were assigned to coastal defense in the Baltic , though they served in this capacity for less than six months . In February 1915 , the squadron was disbanded and " Kaiser Barbarossa " and her sisters were placed in reserve . In 1916 , " Kaiser Barbarossa " was employed as a floating prison in Wilhelmshaven . According to of the Treaty of Versailles , signed on 28 June 1919 , Germany was permitted to retain only six battleships of the " or " Lothringen " types . " > On 6 December 1919 , the ship was struck from the naval list and sold to ship - breakers . " Kaiser Barbarossa " was broken up for scrap metal in Rüstringen in 1919 – 20 . Notes . Footnotes Citations References . Books Journals