III Battle Squadron

III Battle Squadron
Dreadnoughts of the III Squadron at sea
Country	German Empire
Branch	Kaiserliche Marine
Type	Squadron
Garrison/HQ	Wilhelmshaven Kiel
Engagements	Battle of Jutland
Commanders
Notable commanders	Reinhard Scheer Paul Behncke

The III Battle Squadron was a unit of the German High Seas Fleet before and during World War I. The squadron saw action throughout the war, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, where it formed the front of the German line. The ships were interned in Scapa Flow after the end of the war, where they were scuttled by their crews. Most of the ships of the squadron were raised for scrapping, though three remain on the bottom of the harbor.

The III Battle Squadron was divided into the V Division and the VI Division. For the first half of the wartime service of these divisions, they contained the König and Kaiser classes, respectively. During this period, the battleship SMS König served as the flagship of both the squadron and the V Division, while the battleship SMS Kaiser served as the flagship of the VI Division. On 1 December 1916, the five Kaiser-class ships were transferred to the newly re-formed IV Battle Squadron while the new battleships Bayern and Baden took their place in the III Squadron.

The III Battle Squadron operated from one of the two primary bases of the German fleet. The first, in the North Sea, was Wilhelmshaven on the western side of the Jade Bight. The island of Heligoland provided a fortified forward position in the German Bight. The second major naval installation was at Kiel, and it was the most important base in the Baltic. Pillau and Danzig housed forward bases further east in the Baltic. The Kaiser Wilhelm Canal through Schleswig-Holstein connected the Baltic and North Seas and allowed the German Navy to quickly shift naval forces between the two seas.