Kaiser Friedrich III - class battleship " Kaiser Friedrich III " - class battleships were a class of pre – World War I , pre - dreadnought battleship s of the German Kaiserliche Marine . The class was made up of five ships , all of which were named for German emperors . The " Kaiser Friedrich III " class saw the introduction of the traditional armament layout for German battleships — four large - caliber guns , but of comparatively smaller caliber compared to contemporary battleships , in two gun turrets — prior to the advent of the dreadnought type of battleship in the early 1900s . They also standardized the use of three screws for battleships . " Kaiser Friedrich III " was laid down at Wilhelmshaven Navy Dockyard in March , 1895 , followed by in October , 1896 , also in Wilhelmshaven . was laid down at Germania , Kiel in January , 1898 , followed by at Schichau , Danzig in August of that year , and , a month later in September , at Blohm & Voss , Hamburg . Work on all five vessels was completed by 1901 . The five " Kaiser Friedrich III " - class battleships were assigned to the I Squadron of the Home Fleet ( " Heimatflotte " ) after commissioning . Here they conducted extensive annual training maneuvers with the rest of the fleet . After ten years of fleet service , they were replaced with newer ships . They were transferred to the III Squadron of the fleet , which had by then been reorganized as the High Seas Fleet , and placed in reserve . The ships were recalled to active service at the outbreak of World War I , but saw limited duty during the war . They initially served in V Squadron , until 1915 , when the ships were relegated to auxiliary roles , primarily as prison ships . After the war , all five of the ships were sold and scrapped by 1922 . Design . Design work on the class began in 1892 and lasted until 1894 . The ships of the " Kaiser Friedrich III " class marked a significant departure from the previous s . Influenced by the Japanese cruisers ' victory over a heavier - armed Chinese fleet at the Battle of Yalu , heavy - caliber guns designed to penetrate armor were abandoned and replaced with smaller quick - firing guns . These guns were intended to raze the superstructure of enemy battleships and demoralize the crew . The propulsion system was improved and reorganized to incorporate a third propeller shaft . The armor system , however , remained similar to that employed on the " Brandenburg " s . General characteristics . The " Kaiser Friedrich III " - class ships were long at the waterline and overall . They had a beam of and a draft of forward and aft . The ships displaced at full load . Transverse and longitudinal steel frames were used to build the hulls for the " Kaiser Friedrich III " - class ships . Steel hull plates were riveted to the frame . The hull contained twelve watertight compartments and a double bottom that ran for 70 percent of the hull . The German navy regarded them as excellent sea vessels . They had a tight turning circle and were very responsive . The ships rolled up to 15° and had a roll period of 12 seconds . They suffered only minor speed loss in heavy seas , but up to 40 percent with the rudder hard over . Their metacentric height was between . The ships carried a number of smaller boats , including two picket boats , two launches , one pinnace , two cutters , two yawls , and two dinghies . The crew numbered 39 officers and 612 enlisted men . When serving as a squadron flagship , a ship had its crew augmented by another 12 officers and between 51 to 63 enlisted men . Machinery . The " Kaiser Friedrich III " - class battleships were powered by three 3 - cylinder vertical triple expansion engines that drove three screws . " Kaiser Friedrich III " , " Kaiser Barbarossa " , and " Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse " were equipped with three 3 - bladed screws that were in diameter . " Kaiser Karl der Grosse " and " Kaiser Wilhelm II " were equipped with two of the 3 - bladed screws on the outer shafts and a four - bladed screw that was in diameter on the center shaft . " Kaiser Friedrich III " had four Thornycroft and eight cylindrical boilers ; " Kaiser Wilhelm II " had a similar arrangement , except the Thornycroft boilers were replaced by Marine - type boilers . " Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse " was equipped with four Marine and six cylindrical boilers , while " Kaiser Barbarossa " had four Thornycroft and six cylindrical boilers . " Kaiser Karl der Grosse " had two Marine boilers , two Marine double boilers , and six cylindrical boilers . The powerplants were rated at , but on trials could produce up to . This generated a top speed of . The ships carried of coal , although the use of additional spaces within the ships increased fuel capacity to . This provided a maximum range of at a cruising speed of . Electrical power was supplied by five 320 kW 74 Volt generators in " Kaiser Friedrich III " and " Kaiser Wilhelm II " , and four 240 kW 74 V generators in the other three ships . Armament . The ships ' 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 . The guns were mounted in Drh . L . C / 98 turrets , which allowed elevation to 30° and depression to −5° . At maximum elevation , the guns could hit targets out to . The guns fired shells at a muzzle velocity of 690 m / s ( 2 , 263 ft / s ) . They had a rate of fire of three to four shots per minute . Each gun was supplied with 75 shells , for a total of 300 . Secondary armament included eighteen 15 cm ( 5 . 9 inch ) SK L / 40 guns ; six were emplaced in single turrets amidships and nine were mounted in MPL casemate s . These guns fired armor - piercing shells at a rate of 4 – 5 per minute . The ships carried 120 shells per gun , for a total of 2 , 160 rounds total . The guns could depress to −7 degrees and elevate to 20 degrees , for a maximum range of 13 , 700 m ( 14 , 990 yd ) . They were manually elevated and trained . The ships also carried twelve 8 . 8 cm ( 3 . 45 in ) SK L / 30 quick - firing guns , also mounted in casemates . These guns were supplied with between 170 and 250 shells per gun . These guns fired 13 . 8 kg ( 30 . 4 lb ) at a muzzle velocity of 590 mps ( 1 , 936 fps ) . Their rate of fire was approximately 15 shells per minute ; the guns could engage targets out to 10 , 500 m ( 11 , 480 yd ) . The gun mounts were manually operated . The ships ' gun armament was rounded out by twelve machine gun s . The ships were also armed with six 45 cm torpedo tubes , all in above - water swivel mounts . Four tubes were mounted on the sides of the ship , another in the bow , and the last in the stern . These weapons were 5 . 1 m ( 16 ft 9 in ) long and carried a 87 . 5 kg ( 193 lb ) TNT warhead . They could be set at two speeds for different ranges . At , the torpedoes had a range of 800 m ( 870 yd ) . At an increased speed of , the range was reduced to 500 m ( 550 yb ) . Armor . The " Kaiser Friedrich III " - class ships were armored with steel produced by Krupp . They had an armor belt that was thick in the central portion of the hull at the waterline . It tapered to in the forward section and in the rear , although the belt did not extend fully aft . The lower portion of the belt ranged in thickness from . The entire belt was backed with of teak . The armored deck was thick . The conning tower was protected by armored sides that were 250 mm thick and a roof that was thick . Each main - battery turret had a thick roof and 250 mm thick sides . The 15 cm guns mounted in turrets were protected by 150 mm thick sides and thick gun shields . Those in the casemates also had 150 mm worth of armor protection . Construction . " Kaiser Friedrich III " , the first ship of the class , was ordered from the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven as " Ersatz Preussen " . She was intended to replace the old armored frigate . She was laid down in 1895 under construction number 22 . She was launched on 1 July 1896 , after which fitting out commenced ; this included the installation of the ship ' s armament and the completion of the superstructure . The ship was completed and commissioned into the German fleet on 7 October 1898 . " Kaiser Wilhelm II " s keel was laid in Wilhelmshaven in 1896 , also at the Kaiserliche Werft , under construction number 24 . She was ordered under the contract name " Ersatz Friedrich der Grosse " , to replace the armored frigate . " Kaiser Wilhelm II " was launched on 14 September 1897 and commissioned on 13 February 1900 . " Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse " was ordered under the contract name " Ersatz König Wilhelm " as a replacement for the obsolete . Her keel was laid at the Germaniawerft dockyard under construction number 79 in 1898 . The ship was launched on 1 June 1899 and commissioned into the fleet on 5 May 1901 . The keel for " Kaiser Barbarossa " — ordered as " B " , an addition to the fleet — was laid down at the Schichau - Werke in Danzig in 1898 . Her construction number was 640 . She was launched on 21 April 1900 and commissioned into the German navy on 10 June 1901 . Also in 1898 , " Kaiser Karl der Grosse " was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg under construction number 136 . She was ordered as an addition to the fleet , and so was assigned the contract name " A " . The last ship of the class to be completed , " Kaiser Karl der Grosse " was launched on 18 October 1899 and commissioned into the fleet on 4 February 1902 . Service history . When " Kaiser Wilhelm II " was commissioned into the fleet , she assumed the position of fleet flagship ; she held this position until 1906 . The other four ships joined her in the I Squadron of the " Heimatflotte " ( Home Fleet ) , where they remained for ten years . The five ships took part in extensive training maneuvers in September 1902 with the rest of the fleet . Throughout the maneuvers the " Kaiser Friedrich III " - class ships operated as the opposing force , with the exception of " Kaiser Wilhelm II " . As the fleet flagship , " Kaiser Wilhelm II " hosted Wilhelm II during the several of the mock engagements and served as the observation point for the senior staff . Between 1907 and 1910 , the ships of the class were heavily rebuilt , with the exception of " Kaiser Karl der Grosse " . During the modernization , the ships had their superstructures cut down . Four 15 cm guns and one torpedo tube were also removed . The ships ' 8 . 8 cm guns were repositioned to the upper decks where the 15 cm guns had been located . Also , the smoke stacks were lengthened . By 1911 , the fleet was reorganized as the " Hochseeflotte " ( High Seas Fleet ) , and new dreadnought battleship s were beginning to enter service . As a result , the " Kaiser Friedrich III " - class ships were transferred to the III Squadron and then placed into reserve . In 1914 , with the outbreak of World War I , the five ships were recalled to active duty and placed in the V Squadron of the fleet . In February 1915 , the ships were withdrawn from active service for a second time . The ships were disarmed by 1916 and transferred to secondary roles . " Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse " became a torpedo training ship and " Kaiser Wilhelm II " became the headquarters ship for the commander of the High Seas Fleet in Wilhelmshaven . The other three ships were used as floating prisons . In 1917 , " Kaiser Friedrich III " was transferred to barracks ship duties in Flensburg . All of the ships , with the exception of " Kaiser Wilhelm II " , were stricken from the navy register on 6 December 1919 and sold for scrapping . " Kaiser Wilhelm II " followed on 17 March 1921 . By 1922 , all five ships had been broken up for scrap metal . The bow ornaments from " Kaiser Friedrich III " and " Kaiser Wilhelm II " are preserved at the Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr in Dresden . Footnotes . Notes Citations References . Online sources