SMS Hessen SMS " Hessen " was the third of five pre - dreadnought battleship s of the . She was laid down in 1902 , launched the following year , and commissioned into the German Imperial Navy in 1905 . She was named after the state of Hesse . Her sister ships were , , , and . Like all other pre - dreadnoughts built at the turn of the century , " Hessen " was quickly made obsolete by the launching of in 1906 ; as a result , she saw only limited service with the German fleet . During World War I , " Hessen " saw action in the Battle of Jutland as the second ship of the III Division of the II Battle Squadron . In the last daytime action between capital ships at Jutland , " Hessen " and the other pre - dreadnoughts of the II Battle Squadron covered the retreat of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper ' s battered battlecruiser s from Vice Admiral David Beatty ' s battlecruiser squadron . After the battle , the vessel was disarmed and used as a depot ship . " Hessen " was one of the few obsolete battleships Germany was permitted to retain under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles . She served as a coastal defense ship in the 1920s and early 1930s , though she was withdrawn from front - line service in 1934 . The following year , the ship was converted into a radio - controlled target . During World War II " Hessen " served in this capacity , while also working as an icebreaker in the Baltic and North Seas . The ship was ceded to the Soviet Union in 1946 after the end of the war and , renamed Tsel , served until scrapped in 1960 . Construction . " Hessen " s keel was laid in 1899 , at the Germaniawerft in Kiel under construction number 100 . The third unit of her class , she was ordered under the contract name " L " as a new unit for the fleet . The ship cost 23 , 867 , 000 marks . " Hessen " was launched on 18 September 1903 and commissioned on 19 July 1905 . The ship was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward . The ship was powered by three 3 - cylinder vertical triple expansion engines that drove three screws . Steam was provided by eight naval and six cylindrical boilers , all of which burned coal . " Hessen " s powerplant was rated at , which generated a top speed of . " Hessen " s armament consisted of a main battery of four 28 cm ( 11 in ) SK L / 40 guns in twin gun turret s , one fore and one aft of the central superstructure . Her secondary armament consisted of fourteen 17 cm ( 6 . 7 inch ) SK L / 40 guns and eighteen 8 . 8 cm ( 3 . 45 in ) SK L / 35 quick - firing guns . The armament suite was rounded out with six torpedo tubes , all mounted submerged in the hull . Service history . In July 1908 , " Hessen " participated in the annual summer cruise , which went into the Atlantic that year . During the cruise , the ship stopped in Tenerife , along with the battleships and . During fleet exercises on 23 August 1911 , " Hessen " accidentally rammed and sank the Danish steamer " Askesund " . The crew of the steamer was rescued and there were no reported injuries . In October , the ship was badly damaged when she was rammed by the Danish steamer " Argo " . In July 1913 , " Hessen " collided with the torpedo boat . The torpedo boat suffered significant damage , though it did not sink , and three of its crew were killed . At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , the ship was assigned to the IV Battle Squadron along with her four sisters , and served primarily in the Baltic Sea . " Hessen " performed fleet duties up through the first two years of World War I . " Hessen " was present as part of the distant support for the battlecruisers that bombarded Scarborough , Hartlepool , and Whitby on 15 – 16 December 1914 . During the operation , the German battle fleet of 12 dreadnoughts and 8 pre - dreadnoughts came to within of an isolated squadron of six British battleships . However , skirmishes between the rival destroyer screens convinced the German commander , Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl , that he was confronted with the entire Grand Fleet , and so he broke off the engagement and turned for home . Another raid on the English coast followed on 24 – 25 April ; this time , the battlecruisers bombarded Yarmouth and Lowestoft . During this operation , the battlecruiser was damaged by a British mine and had to return to port prematurely . Visibility was poor , so the operation was quickly called off before the British fleet could intervene and inflict further losses . Battle of Jutland . " Hessen " took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916 . " Hessen " and the five ships of the formed the II Battle Squadron , under the command of Rear Admiral Franz Mauve . During the battle , " Hessen " and the " Deutschland " - class ships performed a vital blocking action that covered the withdrawal of the German battlecruisers . Vice Admiral David Beatty ' s battlecruisers had attacked the German ships in the darkness , and when the German ships had turned westward to evade their attackers , Mauve continued in a southerly course , which placed his ships between the British and German battlecruisers . The British battlecruisers turned their attention to the pre - dreadnoughts , who in turn altered their course to the southwest in order to bring all of their guns to bear on the British ships . In the darkness , only muzzle flashes from the British ships could be seen ; as a result " Hessen " and the other II Squadron ships held their fire . At approximately 03 : 00 on 1 June , a group of British destroyers launched a torpedo attack against the German battle line . At 03 : 07 , " Hessen " narrowly avoided a torpedo , but , the ship directly ahead of " Hessen " , was not so lucky . At 03 : 10 , " Pommern " was struck by at least one torpedo , which is believed to have detonated one of the ship ' s 6 . 7 in ( 17 cm ) shell magazines , destroying the ship . " Hessen " was undamaged . Aboard " Hessen " , it was assumed that a submarine had destroyed " Pommern " ; at 03 : 12 " Hessen " fired her main battery at an imagined submarine . " Hessen " and several other battleships engaged imaginary submarines again at 05 : 06 , and again at 05 : 13 . Gunfire from " Hessen " and during the latter incident nearly hit the light cruisers and ; Admiral Scheer ordered them to cease fire . At 06 : 55 , " Hessen " and mistook a mine buoy dropped by as a periscope and attacked it . In the course of the battle , " Hessen " had fired five 28 cm rounds , thirty - four 17 cm shells , and twenty - four 8 . 8 cm rounds . In 1917 , " Hessen " was withdrawn from active service , disarmed , and used as a depot ship in Brunsbüttel . While in reserve at Brunsbüttel , " Hessen " was jokingly referred to as SMS " Kleinste Fahrt " ( SMS " Shortest Voyage " ) because of a warning that had been painted on the ship ' s hull . The ship ' s four 28 cm guns were re - mounted as railroad guns and employed on the Western Front . The Australian Army captured one of the guns on 8 August 1918 ; it ' s preserved as the Amiens Gun at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra , Australia . Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine . " Hessen " was one of eight old pre - dreadnoughts , along with the other ships of her class and the " Deutschland " - class battleships and , that Germany was permitted to retain under the terms of Treaty of Versailles . After being refitted and rearmed , " Hessen " returned to service with the " Reichsmarine " in 1925 . Of the eight ships , " Hessen " was one of only three still in service as a warship when the Nazi Party under Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 . The Nazis began a program of naval rearmament ; this included the battleship , which was ordered as a replacement for " Hessen " in 1934 . On 12 November 1934 , " Hessen " was withdrawn from fleet service and placed in reserve . On 31 March 1935 , " Hessen " was stricken from the reserve list and converted into a target ship . Her armament was removed , the hull was lengthened , and new machinery was installed . The longer hull allowed room for two additional watertight compartments , which brought the number up to 15 from the original 13 . The ship ' s superstructure was cut down nearly entirely ; " Hessen " retained only a single funnel , a tower foremast , and the two armored barbette s for the main battery turrets . The ship had a crew of 80 , but could be operated by remote control when being used as a target . " Hessen " was recommissioned on 1 April 1937 and served in the " Kriegsmarine " through World War II . On 31 March 1940 , " Hessen " acted as an icebreaker for the auxiliary cruiser s , , and , on their trip from Kiel to the North Sea . She was ceded to the Soviet Union in 1946 . Renamed " Tsel " , she continued to operate as a target ship until scrapped in 1960 . Notes . Footnotes Citations References . Books Journals Online sources