SMS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse

SMS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse ("HMS Wilhelm the Great") is a former dreadnought ship of the German Empire Friedrich III class, built at the turn of the 20th century. The ship was one of the first battleships built by the Kaiserliche Marine as part of the Kaiserliche Marine expansion plan. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was built at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel. She was launched in January 1898, launched in June 1899, and completed in May 1901. The ship is equipped with four 24 cm (9.4 inch) main guns and two double turrets.

During the first seven years of his career, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse played for the main fleet-Home Fleet and later Hochseeflotte (High Seas Fleet) . She participated in several training cruises and maneuvers of the fleet, mainly in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Her career in peacetime was relatively stable, without any accidents. In 1908-10, she was decommissioned for major reconstruction. After that, she and her four sister ships were assigned to the Reserve Division. By then, all of these had been largely obsolete.

When the First World War broke out in 1914, this battleship and its sister ships were re-served as the V battleship squadron of the High Seas Fleet and deployed to the North Sea for coastal defense. They were also briefly deployed to the Baltic Sea, but no action was taken. In 1915, these ships were decommissioned again and downgraded to secondary duties. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was used as a supply ship for Kiel and eventually became a torpedo target ship. After the war, the Treaty of Versailles greatly reduced the size of the German navy. The ship was sold to a German company as scrap and dismantled in 1920.