SMS Schlesien was one of five Deutschland-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the German Kaiserliche Marine between 1904 and 1906. The ships of her class were already outdated by the time they entered service, as they were inferior in size, armor, firepower, and speed to the revolutionary new British battleship HMS Dreadnought. She served with the fleet throughout the first two years of World War I, seeing action at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. After the war, the Imperial Navy relegated her to guard duties before withdrawing her altogether in 1917. She saw limited combat during World War II, briefly bombarding Polish forces during the invasion of Poland in September 1939.
About SMS Schlesien in brief
SMS Schlesien was one of five Deutschland-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the German Kaiserliche Marine between 1904 and 1906. Named after the German province of Silesia, she was laid down on 19 November 1904, launched on 28 May 1906, and commissioned on 5 May 1908. She was armed with a battery of four 28 cm guns and had a top speed of 18 knots. The ships of her class were already outdated by the time they entered service, as they were inferior in size, armor, firepower, and speed to the revolutionary new British battleship HMS Dreadnought. She served with the fleet throughout the first two years of World War I, seeing action at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, where she was briefly actively engaged in combat. After the war, the Imperial Navy relegated her to guard duties before withdrawing her altogether in 1917, when she became a training ship. She saw limited combat during World War II, briefly bombarding Polish forces during the invasion of Poland in September 1939. She ended her career providing fire support in the Baltic coast. On 3 May 1945, she struck a mine and was towed into Swinemünde, where her crew was sunk by her crew in shallow water, though much of her superstructure, including her main battery, remained above water. The ship was broken up in 1970, though some parts of the ship remained visible until the 1970s.
The last members of the Deutschlands class were fitted with 280mm-ick armored deck sides for the last contracts for the two Deutschlander-class battleships, and she had a 40mm armored deck amidships and 20 8cm 8cm L40 guns mounted in casemates. The German navy kept eight obsolete battleships to defend the German coast. The Treaty of Versailles permitted the German navy to keep eight obsolete Battleships, including Schlesiens, to defending theGerman coast. In addition to being the fastest ship of herclass, Schlesienne was the most fuel efficient. At a cruising speed of 10 knots, she could steam for 4,770 nautical miles. She had a standard crew of 35 enlisted men and 708 crew members and was also equipped with fourteen 17 cm SK L40 gun turrets; one turret was placed forward; one was in the stern, one in the bow, and four on the broadside in the hull. She had three triple expansion engines and twelve coal-fired water-tube boilers that produced a rated 18,664 indicated horsepower. She displaced 13,191 t, and a full-load displacement of 14,218 metric tons. She was equipped with three triple engines and 12 coal- fired water- tube boilers, and a topSpeed of 18.5 knots. After the operation of Operation Weserübung, the ship was given secondary duties, primarily serving as a training vessel and icebreaker.
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This page is based on the article SMS Schlesien published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 08, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
