SMS Kronprinz

SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm in Scapa Flow

König class battleship - Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919 - Project Gutenberg etext 24797

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SMS Kronprinz illustration

Map of the Battle of Jutland, 1916

Konig-class battleship at Jutland, Claus Bergen 2

Konig-class battleship at Jutland, Claus Bergen

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Name	SMS Kronprinz
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Class and type	Kaiser-class battleship
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SMS Kronprinz was a battleship of the Kaiser class built for the Imperial German Navy. She was the fourth ship of her class and was named in honor of the German Crown Prince, Wilhelm. The ship was laid down at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel in 1911, launched on 21 February 1914, and commissioned into the fleet on 8 November 1914.

Design and Specifications

SMS Kronprinz was 172.4 meters (565 ft 7 in) long overall and had a beam of 29 meters (95 ft 2 in) and a draft of 9.1 meters (29 ft 10 in). She displaced 24,724 metric tons (24,334 long tons) at full load. The ship was powered by three sets of Parsons turbines and fourteen coal-fired and three oil-fired Schulz-Thornycroft boilers, which provided a top speed of 21.7 knots (40.2 km/h; 25.0 mph).

Armament

The main battery of SMS Kronprinz consisted of ten 30.5 cm (12 in) SK L/50 guns arranged in five twin turrets. Her secondary armament included fourteen 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns, six 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns, and five 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes.

Service History

SMS Kronprinz saw extensive service during World War I. She participated in several fleet actions, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, where she engaged British battleships and cruisers. The ship also took part in operations in the Baltic Sea and supported the invasion of the Baltic islands in 1917.

Scuttling at Scapa Flow

Following the end of World War I, SMS Kronprinz, along with the majority of the High Seas Fleet, was interned at Scapa Flow under the terms of the Armistice of 11 November 1918. On 21 June 1919, the German fleet was scuttled by its crews to prevent the ships from being seized by the Royal Navy. SMS Kronprinz sank at her moorings and remains on the seabed to this day.

Related Pages

• Kaiser-class battleship
• Battle of Jutland
• Scapa Flow
• Imperial German Navy
• Wilhelm, German Crown Prince