SMS Schlesien was the fourth ship of the Deutschland-class of pre-dreadnought battleships. She was laid down in 1904, launched in May 1906, and commissioned in May 1908. Like her sisters, she was already outdated on completion due to the commissioning of HMS Dreadnought in 1906. She took part in patrols and fleet sorties in the North Sea and saw minor action at the Battle of Jutland, where a near miss killed one sailor and wounded another. By 1917, she was relegated to secondary duties as the High Seas Fleet prioritised dreadnoughts. After the war, Schlesien was one of the few battleships Germany was permitted to retain under the Treaty of Versailles.In 1944–45, Schlesien was pressed into service as a support ship for shore bombardment and training in the final desperate months of the war. She was heavily damaged by a British air-dropped naval mine in May 1945 off Swinemünde. Scuttled in shallow water, her wreck was scrapped after the war.
SMS Schlesien was the fourth ship of the Deutschland-class of pre-dreadnought battleships. She was laid down in 1904, launched in May 1906, and commissioned in May 1908. Like her sisters, she was already outdated on completion due to the commissioning of HMS Dreadnought in 1906. She took part in patrols and fleet sorties in the North Sea and saw minor action at the Battle of Jutland, where a near miss killed one sailor and wounded another. By 1917, she was relegated to secondary duties as the High Seas Fleet prioritised dreadnoughts. After the war, Schlesien was one of the few battleships Germany was permitted to retain under the Treaty of Versailles.In 1944–45, Schlesien was pressed into service as a support ship for shore bombardment and training in the final desperate months of the war. She was heavily damaged by a British air-dropped naval mine in May 1945 off Swinemünde. Scuttled in shallow water, her wreck was scrapped after the war.
German Pre-Dreadnought Battleship SMS Schlesien
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