SMS Pommern SMS " Pommern " was one of five pre - dreadnought battleship s built for the Kaiserliche Marine between 1904 and 1906 . Named after the Prussia n province of Pomerania , she was built at the AG Vulcan yard at Stettin , where she was laid down on 22 March 1904 and launched on 2 December 1905 . She was commissioned into the navy on 6 August 1907 . The ships of her class were already outdated by the time they entered the service , being inferior in size , armor , firepower , and speed to the revolutionary new battleship . After commissioning , " Pommern " was assigned to the II Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet , where she served throughout the first two years of World War I . The ship was present at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916 . She and her sisters briefly engaged the British battlecruisers commanded by David Beatty ; " Pommern " was hit once by a shell from the battlecruiser . During the confused night actions , she was hit by one , or possibly two , torpedoes from the British destroyer , which detonated one of " Pommern " s 17 cm gun magazines . The resulting explosion broke the ship in half and killed the entire crew . Construction . " Pommern " was ordered under the contract name " O " . She was laid down on 22 March 1904 at the AG Vulcan dockyard in Stettin . She was originally scheduled to be launched on 19 November 1905 , but the water level in the harbor was too low . As a result , the ship could not be launched until 2 December . The " Oberpräsident " of Pommern , Helmuth von Maltzahn , gave the launching speech . In July 1907 " Pommern " was transferred to Kiel where she had her main battery of four 28 cm ( 11 in ) guns installed . She was commissioned for trials on 6 August ; during her speed run , she made , which made her the fastest pre - dreadnought battleship in the world . The ship was long and had a beam of , and a draft of . Her full - load displacement was . She was equipped with triple expansion engines that were rated at and a top speed of . Steam was provided by twelve Schulz - Thornycroft boilers . In addition to being the fastest ship of her class , " Pommern " was the most fuel efficient . At a cruising speed of , she could steam for . The ship had a peacetime crew of 35 officers and 708 enlisted men , though during military operations , the size of the crew expanded . " Pommern " s primary armament consisted of four SK L / 40 guns in two twin turrets . She was equipped with fourteen guns mounted in casemates and twenty guns in pivot mounts . The ship was also armed with six torpedo tube s , all submerged in the hull . One was in the bow , one in the stern , and four on the broadside . Her armored belt was thick amidships and she had a thick armored deck . The main battery turrets had thick sides . Service history . " Pommern " was assigned to the II Battle Squadron alongside her sisters . She took part in the annual training cruises and maneuvers with the rest of the High Seas Fleet between 1908 and 1914 . This included fleet training in the Baltic in 1908 and a cruise into the Atlantic the following year . In May 1910 " Pommern " took part in fleet training in the Kattegat between Denmark and Norway , followed by a cruise to Norway in the summer . At the end of 1910 , the fleet conducted another cruise into the Baltic . The next two years followed a similar pattern , though the summer cruise in 1912 was interrupted by the Agadir Crisis . As a result , the cruise was only into the Baltic . Later in the year " Pommern " took part in maneuvers off Helgoland . In July 1914 , about two weeks after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo , " Pommern " was with the High Seas Fleet during its annual summer cruise to Norway . As a result of rising international tensions , the cruise was cut short and the German fleet was back in Wilhelmshaven by 29 July . At midnight on 4 August , the United Kingdom declared war on Germany . " Pommern " remained with the High Seas Fleet throughout the first two years of the naval war . At the outbreak of war , the ship and her sisters in the II Battle Squadron were deployed to the mouth of the Elbe River to guard the area from possible British incursions . " Pommern " and the rest of the II Battle Squadron then rejoined the High Seas Fleet as part of the battleship support for the battlecruisers that bombarded Scarborough , Hartlepool , and Whitby on 15 – 16 December 1914 . During the operation , the German battle fleet of some twelve dreadnoughts and eight pre - dreadnoughts came to within of an isolated squadron of six British battleships . However , skirmishes between the rival destroyer screens convinced Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl that he was confronted with the entire Grand Fleet , and so he broke off the engagement and turned for home . Two fruitless fleet advances followed on 17 – 18 and 21 – 23 April 1915 . A third took place on 17 – 18 May , and a fourth occurred on 23 – 24 October . On 24 – 25 April 1916 , " Pommern " and her sisters joined the dreadnoughts of the High Seas Fleet to support the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group ; the battlecruisers were tasked with conducting a raid of the English coast . While en route to the target , the battlecruiser was damaged by a mine . " Seydlitz " was detached to return home , and the rest of the ships continued with the mission . Due to poor visibility , the battlecruisers conducted a brief bombardment of the ports of Yarmouth and Lowestoft . The operation was quickly called off , which prevented the British fleet from being able to intervene . Battle of Jutland . Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer , the new commander of the High Seas Fleet , immediately planned another foray into the North Sea , but the damage to " Seydlitz " delayed the operation until the end of May . " Pommern " remained assigned to the II Battle Squadron , now under the command of Rear Admiral Franz Mauve . The squadron was positioned at the rear of the German line . During the " Run to the North , " Scheer ordered the fleet to pursue the British V Battle Squadron at top speed . The slower " Deutschland " - class ships could not keep up with the faster dreadnoughts and quickly fell behind . Later in the evening of the first day of the battle , the hard - pressed battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group were being pursued by their British opponents . " Pommern " and the other so - called " five - minute ships " came to their aid by steaming in between the opposing battlecruiser squadrons . " Pommern " could not make out a target in the darkness , though her several of her sisters could . Despite this , their shooting was ineffective . The British battlecruisers scored several hits on the German ships , including one on " Pommern " by a shell fired by , forcing her to haul out of line . Admiral Mauve ordered an 8 - point turn to the south to disengage from the British , and they did not follow . At 3 : 10 on the morning of 1 June , " Pommern " was torpedoed by the British destroyer . At least one torpedo , and possibly a second , struck the ship , detonating one of the 17 cm ammunition magazines . A tremendous explosion broke the ship in half . The stern capsized and remained afloat for at least 20 minutes with her propellers jutting into the air . , the ship directly astern of " Pommern " , was forced to haul out of line to avoid the wreck . " Pommern " s entire crew of 839 officers and enlisted men were killed when the ship sank .