SMS Preussen (1903)
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| Career (Germany) | Kaiser |
|---|---|
| Name: | Preußen |
| Namesake: | Prussia (spelled "Preußen" in German) |
| Builder: | AG Vulcan Stettin |
| Laid down: | April 1902 |
| Launched: | 30 October 1903 |
| Commissioned: | 12 July 1905 |
| Fate: | Scrapped in 1931 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Braunschweig-class battleship |
| Displacement: | 14,167 tons |
| Length: | 419 ft (128 m) |
| Beam: | 73 ft (22 m) |
| Draught: | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Propulsion: |
3 shafts triple expansion 17,000 ihp (13,000 kW) |
| Speed: | 19 knots (35 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,200 nautical miles (10,000 km); 10 knots (20 km/h) |
| Complement: | 743 |
| Armament: |
2 × 2 - 28 cm (11 in) SK L/40 guns 14 × 17 cm (6.7 in) guns 14 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes |
| Armor: |
Belt 9–4 inches turrets 10 inches (250 mm) deck 3 inches (76 mm) |
SMS Preußen (Preussen: German for Prussia) was the fourth of five pre-dreadnought battleships of the Braunschweig class in the Kaiserliche Marine (the German Imperial Navy) laid down in 1903 and commissioned 1904. Her sister ships were Braunschweig, Elsaß, Hessen, and Lothringen.
Service history
Preußen was launched on 30 October 1903 and commissioned into the German Navy on 12 July 1905. She served with the fleet until 1915 when she was used for coastal defence. In 1917, she was used as a tender at Wilhelmshaven. In 1919 Preußen and Lothringen were converted to depot ships for minesweeper motor boats.
Preußen was stricken on the 5 April 1929 and finally sold on 25 February 1931 for 216,800 marks and scrapped at Wilhelmshaven. A small part of Preußen was kept; a 63 meter section of the midship was used for explosive trials target for torpedoes and nicknamed "SMS Vierkant" (even keel or rectangle). It was bombed and sunk on April 1945, and raised in 1954 and scrapped
References
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