SMS Kaiser Barbarossa

SMS Kaiser Barbarossa (His Majesty's Ship Emperor Barbarossa) was a German pre-dreadnought battleship of the. The ship was built for the Imperial Navy, which had begun a program of expansion at the direction of Kaiser Wilhelm II. She was constructed at Schichau, in Danzig. Kaiser Barbarossa was laid down in August 1898, launched on 24 April 1900, and completed in June 1901, at the cost of 20,301,000 Marks. The ship was armed with a main battery of four 24 cm guns in two twin gun turrets.

Kaiser Barbarossa served with the German navy from 1901 to 1907. In 1907, the ship was drydocked for an extensive modernization, which lasted until 1910. By this time, the new dreadnought battleships began to enter service, rendering Kaiser Barbarossa obsolete. As a result, the ship was withdrawn from active service and placed in reserve. Following the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Kaiser Barbarossa and her sisters were mobilized as coastal defense ships in the V Battle Squadron and assigned to the Baltic Sea. The ships were withdrawn in February 1915 and relegated to secondary duties; Kaiser Barbarossa spent the remainder of the war as a prison ship in Wilhelmshaven. Following the end of the war in 1918, Kaiser Barbarossa was decommissioned and sold for scrap metal. The ship was broken up in 1919–1920.

Construction
Kaiser Wilhelm II, the emperor of Germany, believed that a strong navy was necessary for the country to expand its influence outside of continental Europe. As a result, he initiated a program of naval expansion in the late 1880s; the first battleships built under this program were the four ships. These were immediately followed by the five s, of which Kaiser Barbarossa was a member.

Kaiser Barbarossa's keel was laid in 1898, at the Schichau-Werke in Danzig, under construction number 640. She was ordered under the contract name "A" as an addition to the fleet. Kaiser Barbarossa was launched on 21 April 1900 and commissioned on 10 June 1901. The final cost of the vessel was 20,301,000 marks. Trials were conducted upon her commissioning with the fleet. Two tests were recorded during the process: a 50-hour endurance test and a 6-hour speed test. The former produced a sustained speed of 15.5 kn, while the latter saw a maximum speed of 18 kn.

The ship was 125.3 m long overall and had a beam of 20.4 m and a draft of 7.89 m forward and 8.25 m aft. The ship was powered by three 3-cylinder vertical triple expansion engines that drove three screws. Steam was provided by four Marine-type and eight cylindrical boilers. Kaiser Barbarossa's powerplant was rated at 13000 ihp, which generated a top speed of 18 kn.

Kaiser Barbarossa's armament consisted of a main battery of four 24 cm (9.4 in) SK L/40 guns in twin gun turrets, one fore and one aft of the central superstructure. Her secondary armament consisted of eighteen 15 cm (5.9 inch) SK L/40 guns and twelve 8.8 cm (3.45 in) SK L/30 quick-firing guns. The armament suite was rounded out with six 45 cm torpedo tubes, all in above-water swivel mounts.

Service history
Kaiser Barbarossa was commissioned into the Imperial Navy in June 1901, just in time for the annual summer maneuvers. Starting in late August 1901, following the return of the four Brandenburg-class battleships from China, Kaiser Barbarossa conducted extensive training exercises with the rest of the fleet. The following year, another round of maneuvers were conducted; by this time, Kaiser Barbarossa had been joined by all four of her sisters. During the exercise, which lasted from 17 August to 18 September, Kaiser Barbarossa and the rest of I Squadron were assigned to play both the role of the German fleet and hostile forces.



In 1903, the fleet, which was composed of only one squadron of battleships, was reorganized as the "Active Battle Fleet." Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse remained in the I Squadron along with her sister ships and the newest s, while the older ships were placed in reserve in order to be rebuilt. In October 1905, the Heimatflotte was again reorganized, but Kaiser Barbarossa was not assigned to any unit of the fleet. The Heimatflotte in 1905 consisted of two divisions of three battleships each in the I and II Squadrons. This was supported by a cruiser division, composed of two armored cruisers and six protected cruisers. In 1907, the newest s were coming into service; along with the s, these provided enough modern battleships to create two full battle squadrons. As a result, the Heimatflotte was renamed the Hochseeflotte (High Seas Fleet).

Starting in 1907, Kaiser Barbarossa was dry-docked at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel for an extensive modernization, which lasted until 1910. Four of her 15 cm guns were removed, though two 8.8 cm guns were added. All twelve machine guns were removed, as was the ship's stern-mounted torpedo tube. Kaiser Barbarossa's superstructure was also cut down to reduce the ship's tendency to roll excessively. The ship's funnels were also lengthened. During the reconstruction, the ship was assigned to the II Division of the I Squadron of the High Seas Fleet, along with three of her sister-ships, which were also undergoing reconstruction. After Kaiser Barbarossa emerged from the reconstruction, the ship was moved to the III Squadron, along with her sister ships. However, in 1910, the new dreadnought battleships were beginning to come into service with the fleet. Thoroughly obsolete compared to the new "all-big-gun" battleships, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was then decommissioned and placed into reserve.

World War I


At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Kaiser Barbarossa and her sisters were brought back to active service and mobilized as the V Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet. They were assigned to coastal defense in the Baltic, though they served in this capacity for less than six months. In February 1915, the squadron was disbanded and Kaiser Barbarossa and her sisters were placed in reserve. In 1916, Kaiser Barbarossa was employed as a floating prison in Wilhelmshaven. According to Article 181 of the Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919, Germany was permitted to retain only six battleships of the " or Lothringen types."> On 6 December 1919, the ship was struck from the naval list and sold to ship-breakers. Kaiser Barbarossa was broken up for scrap metal in Rüstringen in 1919–20.