König-class battleship

Kronprinz Wilhelm in Scapa Flow, 1919
Class overview
Operators:	Kaiserliche Marine
Preceded by:	Kaiser class
Succeeded by:	Bayern class
In commission:	1914–19
Completed:	4
Lost:	4
General characteristics
Type:	Battleship
Displacement:	25,796 t (25,389 long tons) design 28,600 t (28,100 long tons) full load
Length:	175.4 m (575 ft 6 in)
Beam:	29.5 m (96 ft 9 in)
Draft:	9.19 m (30 ft 2 in)
Propulsion:	3 shafts 3 steam turbines 30,576 shp (22,801 kW)
Speed:	21.2 knots (39.3 km/h; 24.4 mph)
Range:	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	1,136
Armament:	10 × 30.5 cm (12.0 in) guns 14 × 15 cm (5.9 in) guns 10 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns 5 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 350 mm (14 in) Turrets and conning tower: 300 mm (12 in) Deck: 30 mm (1.2 in)

The König class was a group of four battleships built for the German Kaiserliche Marine on the eve of World War I. The class was composed of König, Grosser Kurfürst, Markgraf, and Kronprinz. The most powerful warships of the German High Seas Fleet at the outbreak of war in 1914, the class operated as a unit throughout World War I—the V Division of the III Battle Squadron. The ships took part in a number of fleet operations during the war, including the Battle of Jutland, where they acted as the vanguard of the German line. They survived the war and were interned at Scapa Flow in November 1918. All four ships were scuttled on 21 June 1919 when Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered the sinking of the entire High Seas Fleet.

The Königs were an improvement over the preceding Kaiser class; one of the primary changes being in the disposition of the main gun battery. The Kaiser-class ships mounted ten 30.5 cm (12 in) SK L/50 guns in five twin turrets; one turret was mounted fore, two aft in a superfiring arrangement, and the other two as wing turrets in a zig-zag "echelon" configuration amidships. For the König class, the use of main-gun wing turrets was abandoned. Instead, a second turret was moved forward and placed in a superfiring arrangement, and a single rear-facing turret was mounted centerline amidships; with a traverse allowing for broadsides but not forward-fire. The two superfiring aft turrets remained. This allowed for a wider angle of fire on the broadside, as all 10 guns could fire on a large area. It did, however, reduce the ship's forward-fire capabilities; from six guns with only limited traverse on the two wing turrets, to four guns with full traverse.