pre dreadnought battleships class laid launched following year commissioned german_imperial_navy named state sister ships sms like pre dreadnoughts built turn century quickly obsolete launching result saw limited service german fleet world war saw action second ship daytime action capital ships pre dreadnoughts battle squadron covered retreat rear admiral battered battlecruisers vice admiral battlecruiser squadron battle vessel disarmed depot ship obsolete battleships germany permitted retain terms treaty versailles served coastal defense ship 1920s early 1930s withdrawn line service following year ship converted radio controlled target world war served capacity working baltic ship ceded soviet_union end war renamed served scrapped construction keel laid kiel construction number unit class ordered contract new unit fleet ship cost marks launched september commissioned july ship long overall beam draft forward ship powered cylinder vertical triple expansion engines drove screws steam provided naval cylindrical boilers burned coal powerplant rated metric horsepower ihp generated speed knots mph armament consisted main battery guns twin gun turrets fore aft central superstructure secondary armament consisted fourteen inch guns eighteen quick firing guns armament suite rounded torpedo tubes mounted submerged hull service history july participated annual summer cruise went atlantic year cruise ship stopped battleships fleet exercises august accidentally rammed sank danish steamer crew steamer rescued reported injuries october ship badly damaged rammed danish steamer july collided torpedo boat torpedo boat suffered significant damage sink crew killed outbreak world war august ship assigned sisters served primarily baltic_sea performed fleet duties years world war present distant support battlecruisers bombarded december operation german battle fleet dreadnoughts pre dreadnoughts came nmi isolated squadron british battleships skirmishes rival destroyer screens convinced german commander admiral confronted entire grand fleet broke engagement turned home raid english coast followed april time battlecruisers bombarded operation battlecruiser damaged british return port prematurely visibility poor operation quickly called british fleet intervene inflict losses battle jutland took june ships class formed command rear admiral battle class ships performed vital blocking action covered withdrawal german battlecruisers vice admiral battlecruisers attacked german ships darkness german ships turned westward evade attackers continued southerly course placed ships british german battlecruisers british battlecruisers turned attention pre dreadnoughts turn altered course southwest order bring guns bear british ships darkness muzzle flashes british ships seen result ships held fire approximately june group british destroyers launched torpedo attack german battle line narrowly avoided torpedo ship directly ahead lucky struck torpedo believed detonated ship shell magazines destroying ship undamaged assumed submarine destroyed fired main battery imagined submarine battleships engaged imaginary submarines gunfire incident nearly hit light cruisers stettin admiral ordered cease fire dropped kaiser attacked course battle fired rounds thirty shells rounds withdrawn active service disarmed depot ship reserve jokingly referred sms sms dead slow warning painted ship hull ship guns mounted railroad guns employed western australian_army captured guns august preserved australian war memorial canberra australia kriegsmarine old pre dreadnoughts ships class class battleships germany permitted retain terms treaty versailles refitted rearmed returned service ships service warship adolf_hitler came power nazis began program naval included battleship ordered replacement november withdrawn fleet service placed reserve march stricken reserve list converted target ship armament removed hull lengthened new machinery installed longer hull allowed room additional watertight compartments brought number original ship superstructure cut nearly entirely retained single funnel tower foremast armored barbettes main battery turrets ship crew operated remote control target recommissioned april served kriegsmarine world war march acted auxiliary cruisers atlantis trip kiel north_sea control ship blitz ceded soviet_union recommissioned june continued operate target ship scrapped
SMS Hessen