SMS Schleswig-Holstein was the last of the five pre-dreadnought Deutschland-class battleships built by the German Kaiserliche Marine. The ship, named for the province of Schleswig-Holstein, was laid down in the Germaniawerft dockyard in Kiel in August 1905 and commissioned into the fleet nearly three years later. The ships of her class were already outdated by the time they entered service, being inferior in size, armor, firepower and speed to the new generation of dreadnought battleships.Schleswig-Holstein fought in both World Wars. During World War I, she saw front-line service in II Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet, culminating in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. Schleswig-Holstein saw action during the engagement, and was hit by one large-caliber shell. After the battle, Schleswig-Holstein was relegated to guard duty in the mouth of the Elbe River before being decommissioned in late 1917. As one of the few battleships permitted for Germany by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Schleswig-Holstein was again pressed into fleet service in the 1920s. In 1935, the old battleship was converted into a training ship for naval cadets. Schleswig-Holstein fired the first shots of World War II when she bombarded the Polish base at Danzig's Westerplatte in the early morning hours of 1 September 1939. The ship was used as a training vessel for the majority of the war, and was sunk by British bombers in Gotenhafen in December 1944. Schleswig-Holstein was subsequently salvaged and then beached for use by the Soviet Navy as a target. As of 1990, the ship's bell was on display in the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden.
Name Schleswig-Holstein Namesake Schleswig-Holstein[1] Ordered 11 June 1904 Builder Germaniawerft, Kiel Laid down 18 August 1905 Launched 17 December 1906 Commissioned 6 July 1908 Recommissioned 31 January 1926 Decommissioned 2 May 1917 Fate Sunk by bombs 1944; scuttled 21 March 1945; raised and beached for long-term use as target 1948; remains still extant. Class and type Deutschland-class pre-dreadnought battleship Displacement Normal: 13,191 t (12,983 long tons) Full load: 14,218 t (13,993 long tons) Length 127.60 m (418 ft 8 in) Beam 22.20 m (72 ft 10 in) Draft 8.21 m (26 ft 11 in) Installed power 16,767 ihp (12,503 kW) 12 × water-tube boilers Propulsion 3 × triple-expansion steam engines 3 × screw propellers Speed 19.1 knots (35.4 km/h; 22.0 mph) Range 5,720 nmi (10,590 km; 6,580 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) Complement 35 officers 708 enlisted men Armament At construction: 4 × 28 cm (11 in) SK L/40 guns 14 × 17 cm (6.7 in) SK L/40 guns 22 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns 6 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes Armament in 1926: 4 × 28 cm SK L/40 guns 12 × 15 cm SK L/45 guns 8 × 8.8 cm SK L/45 guns 4 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes Armament in 1939: 4 × 28 cm SK L/40 guns 10 × 15 cm SK L/45 guns 4 × 8.8 cm SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns 4 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) guns Armor Belt: 240 mm (9.4 in) Turrets: 280 mm (11 in) Deck: 40 mm (1.6 in)
