SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II

Lithograph of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1900
History
Germany
Name	Kaiser Wilhelm II
Namesake	Wilhelm II
Builder	Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven
Laid down	26 October 1896
Launched	14 September 1897
Commissioned	13 February 1900
Stricken	17 March 1921
Fate	Scrapped in 1922
General characteristics
Class and type	Kaiser Friedrich III-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement	Normal: 11,097 t (10,922 long tons) Full load: 11,785 t (11,599 long tons)
Length	125.3 m (411 ft 1 in)
Beam	20.4 m (66 ft 11 in)
Draft	7.89 m (25 ft 11 in)
Installed power	12 × water-tube boilers 12,822 ihp (9,561 kW)
Propulsion	3 × triple-expansion steam engines 3 × screw propellers
Speed	17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph)
Range	3,420 nmi (6,330 km; 3,940 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	39 officers 612 enlisted men
Armament	4 × 24 cm (9.45 in) 40  cal guns 18 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/40 guns 12 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 guns 12 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) machine cannon 6 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor	Belt: 300 to 150 mm (11.81 to 5.91 in) Deck: 65 mm (2.56 in) Conning Tower: 250 mm (9.84 in) Turrets: 250 mm (9.84 in) Casemates: 150 mm (5.91 in)

SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II ("His Majesty's Ship Emperor William II")^[a] was the second ship of the Kaiser Friedrich III class of pre-dreadnought battleships. She was built at the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven and launched on 14 September 1897. The ship was commissioned into the fleet as its flagship on 13 February 1900. Kaiser Wilhelm II was armed with a main battery of four 24-centimeter (9.45 in) guns in two twin turrets. She was powered by triple expansion engines that delivered a top speed of 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph).

Kaiser Wilhelm II served as the flagship of the Active Battle Fleet until 1906, participating in numerous fleet training exercises and visits to foreign ports. She was replaced as flagship by the new battleship SMS Deutschland. After the new dreadnought battleships began entering service in 1908, Kaiser Wilhelm II was decommissioned and put into reserve. She was reactivated in 1910 for training ship duties in the Baltic, but was again taken out of service in 1912.

With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Kaiser Wilhelm II and her sisters were brought back into active duty as coastal defense ships in V Battle Squadron. Her age, coupled with shortages of ship crews, led to her withdrawal from this role in February 1915, after which she served as a command ship for the High Seas Fleet, based in Wilhelmshaven. Following the end of the war in November 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II was stricken from the navy list and sold for scrap in the early 1920s. Her bow ornament is preserved at the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden.
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