Deutschland-class
Braunschweig-class to which the Hessen amd Elass belonged
An item reported the planned arrival at Lisbon, Portugal by a German squadron. It consisted of the battleships Schleswig-Holstein (1), Elsass (2) and Hessen (3) and the cruiser Berlin.(4)
Notes
1. Laid down at the Germania Werft under contract name ‘Q’ as the last German pre-dreadnought battleship to be built on 18 August 1905, commissioned on 6 July 1906, modernized in the 1920’s, with her guns firing on Polish positions on 1 September 1939 was the Second World War a fact, sunk by British bomberss on 1944, scuttled by her own crew on 21 March 1945, salvaged and beached to be used as a target in 1948 in shallow water off the island of Osmussaar in the Gulf of Finland and apparently nowadays still of her remains are preserved. Of the Deutschland-class consisting of the Deutschland, Hannover, Pommern, Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein.
2. Laid down under temporarily name “J” at the Schichau-Werke, Danzig, Germany with yard number 696 in 1901, launched on 26 May 1903, completed at the Kaiserlichte Werft, Kiel since 26 October 1904, commissioned on 29 November 1904, decommissioned on 18 December 1915, disarmed training ship since 25 July 1916, modernized in 1923-1924, decommissioned on 15 February 1924, decommissioned and laid up in reserve on 25 February 1930, stricken on 31March 1931, served for some time as hulk at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, sold to the Norddeutscher Lloyd on 31 October 1935 and finally broken up at Bremerhaven, Germany in 1936. Of the Braunschweig-class consisting of the Braunschweig, Elsass, Hessen, Lotharingen and Preussen
3. Laid down with the contract name “L” at the Germaniawerft, Kiel with yard number 100 in April 1902, launched by princess Irene von Hessen-Darmstadt on 18 September 1903, commissioned on 19 September 1905, target in the Baltic Sea in December 1916, decommissioned on 18 January 1917, disarmed and converted into an accommodation for submarine crews at Brunsbüttel, Germany nicknamed SMS Kleinste Fahrt, modernized in 1924, decommissioned on 5 January 1925, replaced by the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer decommissioned on 12 November 1934, converted into a radio-controlled target decommissioned on 1 April 1937, used as target and as icebreaker in the Baltic and North Sea between 1939-1945, ceded to Russia at Libau, Latvia in January 1946, renamed Tsel and finally broken up in 1960. Of the Braunschweig-class consisting of the Braunschweig, Elsass, Hessen, Lotharingen and Preussen.
4. Building ordered as the Ersatz Zieten, laid down at the Imperial Dockyard at Danzig in 1902. Launched on 22 September 1903, commissioned on 4 April 1905, training cruiser since 1922, withdrawn form actual service in 1929, barrack ship stationed at Kiel, Germany since 1935 and finally scuttled with chemical weapons in the Skagerrak on 31 May 1947.
