SMS Friedrich der Grosse ( 1911 ) SMS " Friedrich der Grosse " was the second vessel of the of battleship s of the German Imperial Navy . " Friedrich der Grosse " s keel was laid on 26 January 1910 at the AG Vulcan dockyard in Hamburg , her hull was launched on 10 June 1911 , and she was commissioned into the fleet on 15 October 1912 . The ship was equipped with ten guns in five twin turrets , and had a top speed of . " Friedrich der Grosse " was assigned to the III Squadron of the High Seas Fleet for the majority of World War I , and served as fleet flagship from her commissioning until 1917 . Along with her four sister ships , , , , and , " Friedrich der Grosse " participated in all the major fleet operations of World War I , including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916 . Toward the center of the German line , " Friedrich der Grosse " was not as heavily engaged as the leading German ships , such as the battleships and and the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group — " Friedrich der Grosse " emerged from the battle completely unscathed . In 1917 , the new battleship replaced " Friedrich der Grosse " as the fleet flagship . After Germany ' s defeat in the war and the signing of the Armistice in November 1918 , " Friedrich der Grosse " and most of the capital ship s of the High Seas Fleet were interned by the British Royal Navy in Scapa Flow . The ships were disarmed and reduced to skeleton crews while the Allied powers negotiated the final version of the Treaty of Versailles . On 21 June 1919 , days before the treaty was signed , the commander of the interned fleet , Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter , ordered the fleet to be scuttled to ensure that the British would not be able to seize the ships . " Friedrich der Grosse " was raised in 1936 and broken up for scrap metal . Her bell was returned to Germany in 1965 and is now located at the Fleet Headquarters in Glücksburg . Construction . Ordered under the contract name " Ersatz Heimdall " as a replacement for the obsolete coastal defense ship , " Friedrich der Grosse " was laid down at the AG Vulcan dockyard in Hamburg on 26 January 1910 . She was launched on 10 June 1911 , after which AG Vulcan conducted builder ' s trials . At her launching ceremony , Princess Alexandra Victoria performed the christening and Field Marshal Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz gave a speech . She was then transferred to Wilhelmshaven and commissioned into the fleet on 15 October 1912 . Exercises in the Baltic Sea followed ; " Friedrich der Grosse " then went to Kiel for final fitting - out work . On 22 January 1913 , the ship was finally ready for active service . She cost the German government 45 , 802 , 000 marks . " Friedrich der Grosse " was long overall and displaced a maximum of . The ship had a beam of and a draft of forward and aft . She was powered by three sets of AEG Curtis turbines , supplied with steam by 16 coal - fired boilers . On trials , the powerplant produced a top speed of . She carried of coal , which enabled a maximum range of at a cruising speed of . " Friedrich der Grosse " was protected by heavy Krupp cemented armor ; the main armored belt was thick amidships and the conning tower had thick sides . The gun turret s had sides . As with the other four ships in her class , " Friedrich der Grosse " carried anti - torpedo net s until after the Battle of Jutland in 1916 . The ship was armed with a main battery of ten 30 . 5 cm SK L / 50 gun s in five twin turrets . She disposed with the inefficient hexagonal turret arrangement of previous German battleships ; instead , three of the five turrets were mounted on the centerline , with two of them arranged in a superfiring pair aft . The other two turrets were placed " en echelon " amidships , such that both could fire on the broadside . The ship was also armed with fourteen SK L / 45 guns in casemate s amidships , eight SK L / 45 guns in casemates ; these were removed during the war and replaced with four 8 . 8 cm L / 45 anti - aircraft guns . Her armament was rounded out by five torpedo tubes , all mounted in the ship ' s hull . Service history . After her commissioning in January 1913 , " Friedrich der Grosse " conducted sea trials before becoming the fleet flagship on 2 March , replacing . The ship participated in her first round of fleet maneuvers in February 1913 , which were conducted in the Kattegat and the North Sea . The next month saw another round of exercises , from 12 to 14 March . The ship went into dock for periodic maintenance in April , and was ready for artillery training by the end of the month . Extensive fleet maneuvers were conducted in the North Sea from 5 to 27 May . " Friedrich der Grosse " , as the Navy ' s newest battleship , was sent to Kiel for Kiel Week in June . While there , she was visited by the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III and his wife Elena . In mid - July , the fleet conducted its annual summer cruise to Norway , which lasted until mid - August . During the cruise , " Friedrich der Grosse " visited Balholmen , Norway . The autumn maneuvers followed after the fleet returned ; they lasted from 31 August to 9 September . Unit drills and individual ship training were conducted in October and November . In early 1914 , " Friedrich der Grosse " participated in additional ship and unit training . The annual spring maneuvers were conducted in the North Sea at the end of March . Further fleet exercises followed in April and May in the Baltic and North Seas . The ship again went to Kiel Week that year . Despite the rising international tensions following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June , the High Seas Fleet began its summer cruise to Norway on 13 July . During the last peacetime cruise of the Imperial Navy , the fleet conducted drills off Skagen before proceeding to the Norwegian fjords on 25 July . The following day the fleet began to steam back to Germany , as a result of Austria - Hungary ' s ultimatum to Serbia . On the 27th , the entire fleet assembled off Cape Skudenes before returning to port , where they remained at a heightened state of readiness . War between Austria - Hungary and Serbia broke out the following day , and in the span of a week all of the major European powers had joined the conflict . World War I . The High Seas Fleet , including " Friedrich der Grosse " , conducted a number of sweeps and advances into the North Sea . The first occurred on 2 – 3 November 1914 , though no British forces were encountered . Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl , the commander of the High Seas Fleet , adopted a strategy in which the battlecruisers of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper ' s I Scouting Group raided British coastal towns to lure out portions of the Grand Fleet where they could be destroyed by the High Seas Fleet . The raid on Scarborough , Hartlepool and Whitby on 15 – 16 December 1914 was the first such operation . On the evening of 15 December , the German battle fleet of some twelve dreadnoughts — including " Friedrich der Grosse " and her four sisters — and eight pre - dreadnoughts came to within of an isolated squadron of six British battleships . Skirmishes between the rival destroyer screens in the darkness convinced von Ingenohl that he was faced with the entire Grand Fleet . Under orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II to avoid risking the fleet unnecessarily , von Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battle fleet back toward Germany . Following the loss of at the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915 , the Kaiser removed Admiral von Ingenohl from his post on 2 February . Admiral Hugo von Pohl replaced him as commander of the fleet . Admiral von Pohl conducted a series of fleet advances in 1915 in which " Friedrich der Grosse " took part ; in the first one on 29 – 30 March , the fleet steamed out to the north of Terschelling and return without incident . Another followed on 17 – 18 April , where " Friedrich der Grosse " and the rest of the fleet covered a mining operation by the II Scouting Group . Three days later , on 21 – 22 April , the High Seas Fleet advanced toward Dogger Bank , though again failed to meet any British forces . The II Scouting Group performed another minelaying operation on 17 – 18 May , and " Friedrich der Grosse " and the rest of the fleet steamed out in support . Less than two weeks later on 29 – 30 May , the fleet attempted to conduct a sweep in the North Sea , but inclement weather forced Pohl to cancel the operation some off Schiermonnikoog . The fleet remained in port until 10 August , when it sortied to Helgoland to cover the return of the auxiliary cruiser . A month later , on 11 – 12 September , the fleet covered another mine - laying operation off the Swarte Bank . The last operation of the year , conducted on 23 – 24 October , was an advance without result in the direction of Horns Reef . On 11 January 1916 , Admiral Reinhard Scheer replaced von Pohl , who was suffering from liver cancer . A week later on the 18th , Scheer hoisted his flag aboard " Friedrich der Grosse " . Scheer proposed a more aggressive policy designed to force a confrontation with the British Grand Fleet ; he received approval from the Kaiser in February . The first of Scheer ' s operations was conducted the following month , on 5 – 7 March , with an uneventful sweep of the Hoofden . On 25 – 26 March , Scheer attempted to attack British forces that had raided Tondern , but failed to locate them . Another advance to Horns Reef followed on 21 – 22 April . On 24 April , the battlecruiser s of Von Hipper ' s I Scouting Group conducted a raid on the English coast . " Friedrich der Grosse " and the rest of the fleet sailed in distant support . The battlecruiser struck a mine while en route to the target , and had to withdraw . The other battlecruisers bombarded the town of Lowestoft unopposed 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 , 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 . Soon after the Lowestoft raid , Scheer began planning another foray into the North Sea . He had initially intended to launch the operation in mid - May , by which time the mine damage to " Seydlitz " was scheduled to be repaired — Scheer was unwilling to embark on a major raid without his battlecruiser forces at full strength . On 9 May , several battleships developed problems with their engines , which delayed the operation further , to 23 May . By 22 May , " Seydlitz " was still not fully repaired and the operation was again postponed , to 29 May . At noon on 29 May , the repairs to " Seydlitz " were finally completed , and the ship returned to the I Scouting Group . The plan called for Hipper ' s battlecruisers to steam north to the Skagerrak , with the intention of luring out a portion of the British fleet so it could be destroyed by Scheer ' s waiting battleships . " Friedrich der Grosse " was the eighth ship in the German line ; the four ships of the V Division , III Battle Squadron , led the line , followed by four " Kaiser " - class ships in the VI Division , III Battle Squadron . " Friedrich der Grosse " was the last ship in her division , directly astern of and ahead of , the flagship of Vice Admiral Schmidt ' s I Division , I Battle Squadron . The eight - and s constituted the I Squadron , which was followed by the six elderly pre - dreadnoughts of Rear Admiral Franz Mauve ' s II Squadron . Hipper ' s five battlecruisers , the scouting force for the fleet , left the Jade estuary at 02 : 00 on 31 May ; Scheer and the High Seas Fleet followed an hour and a half later . Shortly before 16 : 00 the battlecruisers of I Scouting Group encountered the British 1st Battlecruiser Squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty . The opposing ships began an artillery duel that saw the destruction of , shortly after 17 : 00 , and , less than half an hour later . By this time , the German battlecruisers were steaming south to draw the British ships toward the main body of the High Seas Fleet . At 17 : 30 , " König " s crew spotted both the I Scouting Group and the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron approaching . The German battlecruisers were steaming 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 the accompanying fast battleships of the 5th Battle Squadron ; a minute later , he gave the order to open fire . " Friedrich der Grosse " was still out of range of both the British battlecruisers and the 5th Battle Squadron , and so held her fire initially . Between 17 : 48 and 17 : 52 , " Friedrich der Grosse " and ten other battleships engaged the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron , though only managed to score a hit during this period . Shortly after , the German battle line came across the disabled destroyers and . " Friedrich der Grosse " and her three sisters targeted " Nomad " and quickly sank her . " Nestor " was similarly dispatched by the I Squadron ships . Shortly after 19 : 00 , a melee between the German line and British cruisers took place . The center of the action was the damaged German cruiser , which had been disabled by a shell from the British battlecruiser . Rear Admiral Behncke in " König " attempted to maneuver the III Squadron to cover the stricken cruiser . Simultaneously , the British 3rd and 4th 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 eight III Squadron battleships fired on the British cruisers , but even the sustained fire from the battleships ' main guns failed to drive off the British cruisers . The armored cruisers , , and joined in the attack on the crippled " Wiesbaden " . While most of the III Squadron battleships rained heavy fire upon the attacking armored cruisers , " Friedrich der Grosse " and the I Squadron ships engaged the battleship at ranges from , until " Warspite " disappeared in the haze . In this period , " Warspite " was hit by 13 heavy shells , though the ships that fired them are unknown . After successfully withdrawing from the British , Scheer ordered the fleet to assume night cruising formation , though communication errors between Scheer aboard " Friedrich der Grosse " and , the lead ship , caused delays . The series of reversals in course and confused maneuvers disorganized the fleet and inverted the sequence of ships , but by 23 : 30 the fleet had reached its cruising formation . " Friedrich der Grosse " was now the ninth ship in a line of twenty - four , headed by the eight I Squadron ships . Shortly after 01 : 00 , the British cruiser stumbled into the German line . Searchlights aboard illuminated the target ; " Friedrich der Grosse " , " Thüringen " , , and hammered the cruiser at point - blank range with main and secondary guns . In the span of a few minutes " Black Prince " exploded and sank , taking her entire crew of 857 with her . After a series of night engagements between the I Squadron battleships and British destroyers , the High Seas Fleet punched through the British light forces and reached Horns Reef by 04 : 00 on 1 June . The German fleet reached Wilhelmshaven a few hours later ; five of the I Squadron battleships took up defensive positions in the outer roadstead , and " Kaiser " , " Kaiserin " , " Prinzregent Luitpold " , and " Kronprinz " stood ready just outside the entrance to Wilhelmshaven . The rest of the fleet entered Wilhelmshaven , where " Friedrich der Grosse " and the other ships still in fighting condition replenished their stocks of coal and ammunition . In the course of the battle , " Friedrich der Grosse " had fired 72 main battery shells and 151 rounds from her secondary guns . She emerged from the battle completely undamaged . Subsequent North Sea operations . On 18 August 1916 , " Friedrich der Grosse " took part in an operation to bombard Sunderland . Admiral Scheer attempted a repeat of the original 31 May plan : the two serviceable German battlecruisers , and , augmented by three faster dreadnoughts , were to bombard the coastal town of Sunderland in an attempt to draw out and destroy Beatty ' s battlecruisers . Scheer , in " Friedrich der Grosse " , would trail behind with the rest of the fleet and provide support . Scheer turned north after receiving a false report from a zeppelin about a British unit in the area . As a result , the bombardment was not carried out , and by 14 : 35 , Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet ' s approach and so turned his forces around and retreated to German ports . Another fleet operation took place on 18 – 19 October , though it ended without encountering any British units . The fleet was reorganized on 1 December ; the four " König " - class battleships remained in III Squadron , along with the newly commissioned , while the five " Kaiser " - class ships , including " Friedrich der Grosse " , were transferred to IV Squadron . In March 1917 the new battleship , built to serve as fleet flagship , entered service ; on the 17th , Scheer hauled down his flag from " Friedrich der Grosse " and transferred it to " Baden " . On 4 – 5 July , crewmen aboard " Friedrich der Grosse " staged a hunger strike in protest over the poor quality and insufficient quantity of the food they were given . The ship ' s officers relented , fed the crew a meal of groat soup and agreed to form a " Menagekommission " , a council that gave the enlisted men a voice in their ration selection and preparation . Further insubordination on several vessels followed on 11 July , and the ringleaders were arrested and put on trial . Max Reichpietsch , a stoker from " Friedrich der Grosse " was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad on 5 September in Cologne . Operation Albion . In early September 1917 , following the German conquest of the Russian port of Riga , the German navy decided to eliminate the Russian naval forces that still held the Gulf of Riga . The " Admiralstab " ( Navy High Command ) planned an operation to seize the Baltic island of Ösel , and specifically the Russian gun batteries on the Sworbe Peninsula . The " Admiralstab " issued orders on 18 September for a joint operation with the army to capture Ösel and Moon Islands ; the primary naval component was to comprise the flagship , " Moltke " , and the III and IV Battle Squadrons of the High Seas Fleet . Along with nine light cruisers , three torpedo boat flotillas , and dozens of mine warfare ships , the entire force numbered some 300 ships , 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 , , and , 26 destroyers , and several torpedo boats and gunboats . The garrison on Ösel numbered some 14 , 000 men . The operation began on the morning of 12 October , when " Moltke " and the III Squadron ships engaged Russian positions in Tagga Bay while " Friedrich der Grosse " and the rest of IV Squadron shelled Russian gun batteries on the Sworbe Peninsula on Ösel . The coastal artillery in both locations were quickly silenced by the battleships ' heavy guns . On the morning of the 14th , " Friedrich der Grosse " , " Kaiserin " , and " König Albert " were detached to support German troops advancing toward Anseküll . The three ships fired on the battery at Zerel for an hour , which prompted most of the Russian gun crews to flee their posts . By 20 October , the fighting on the islands was winding down ; Moon , Ösel , and Dagö were in German possession . The previous day , the " Admiralstab " had ordered the cessation of naval actions and the return of the dreadnoughts to the High Seas Fleet as soon as possible . On 27 October , " Friedrich der Grosse " was detached from the Baltic and returned to the North Sea . Upon her return , she resumed guard duties . The ship participated in the fruitless advance to Norway on 23 – 25 April 1918 . Afterward , she went into drydock for extensive maintenance , which lasted from 26 July to 28 September . Fate . " Friedrich der Grosse " and her four sisters were to have taken part in a final fleet action at the end of October 1918 , days before the Armistice was to take effect . The bulk of the High Seas Fleet was to have sortied from their base in Wilhelmshaven to engage the British Grand Fleet ; Scheer — by now the " Grossadmiral " ( Grand Admiral ) of the fleet — intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy , to ensure a better bargaining position for Germany , despite the expected casualties . However , many of the war - weary sailors felt the operation would disrupt the peace process and prolong the war . On the morning of 29 October 1918 , the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven the following day . Starting on the night of 29 October , sailors on and then on several other battleships mutinied . On the 30th , crewmen aboard " Friedrich der Grosse " engaged in forms of passive resistance , including a " go - slow " while replenishing the ship ' s coal stock . The unrest ultimately forced Hipper and Scheer to cancel the operation . Informed of the situation , the Kaiser stated " I no longer have a navy . " Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918 , most of the High Seas Fleet , under the command of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter , were interned in the British naval base in Scapa Flow . Prior to the departure of the German fleet , Admiral Adolf von Trotha made clear to Von Reuter that he could not allow the Allies to seize the ships , under any conditions . The fleet rendezvoused with the British light cruiser , which led the ships to the Allied fleet that was to escort the Germans to Scapa Flow . The massive flotilla consisted of some 370 British , American , and French warships . Once the ships were interned , their guns were disabled through the removal of their breech block s , and their crews were reduced to 200 officers and enlisted men . The fleet remained in captivity during the negotiations that ultimately produced the Treaty of Versailles . Von Reuter believed that the British intended to seize the German ships on 21 June 1919 , which was the deadline for Germany to sign the peace treaty . Unaware that the deadline had been extended to the 23rd , Reuter ordered the ships to be sunk at the next opportunity . On the morning of 21 June , the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers , and at 11 : 20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships . " Friedrich der Grosse " capsized and sank at 12 : 16 . In 1936 , the ship was raised and broken up for scrap ; the work was completed by 29 April 1937 . On 30 August 1965 , Britain returned the ship ' s bell to Germany via the frigate ; it now resides at the Fleet Headquarters of the German Navy in Glücksburg .