SMS Zähringen

Painting of Zähringen in 1902
History
German Empire
Name:	Zähringen
Namesake:	House of Zähringen
Builder:	Germaniawerft, Kiel
Laid down:	21 November 1899
Launched:	12 June 1901
Commissioned:	25 October 1902
Fate:	Sunk as a blockship in 1945
General characteristics
Class and type:	Wittelsbach-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	12,798 t (12,596 long tons)
Length:	126.8 m (416 ft 0 in)
Beam:	22.8 m (74 ft 10 in)
Draft:	7.95 m (26 ft 1 in)
Installed power:	14,000 PS (13,810 ihp; 10,300 kW) 12 cylindrical boilers
Propulsion:	3 shafts, triple-expansion steam engines
Speed:	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range:	5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi); 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	30 officers 650 enlisted men
Armament:	4 × 24 cm (9.4 in) guns (40 cal.) 18 × 15 cm (5.9 in) guns 12 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns 6 × 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 100 to 225 mm (3.9 to 8.9 in) Turrets: 250 mm (9.8 in) Deck: 50 mm (2.0 in)

SMS Zähringen ("His Majesty's Ship Zähringen") was third ship of the Wittelsbach class of pre-dreadnought battleships of the German Imperial Navy. Laid down in 1899 at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, she was launched on 12 June 1901 and commissioned on 25 October 1902. Her sisters were Wittelsbach, Wettin, Schwaben and Mecklenburg; they were the first capital ships built under the Navy Law of 1898, brought about by Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz.

Zähringen saw active duty in the I Squadron of the German fleet for the majority of her career. The ship was rapidly superseded by new "all-big-gun" warships, however, and as a result served for less than eight years before being decommissioned on 21 September 1910. After the start of World War I in August 1914, Zähringen was brought back to active duty in the IV Battle Squadron. The ship saw limited duty in the Baltic Sea against Russian forces, though the threat from British submarines forced the ship to withdraw by 1916.

Zähringen was converted into a target ship in 1917 for the remainder of the war. In the mid-1920s, Zähringen was heavily reconstructed and equipped for use as a radio-controlled target ship. She served in this capacity until 1944, when she was sunk in Gotenhafen by British bombers during World War II. The retreating Germans raised the ship and moved it to the harbor mouth where they scuttled it to block the port. Zähringen was broken up in situ in 1949–50.

Zähringen was 126.8 m (416 ft 0 in) long overall and had a beam of 22.8 m (74 ft 10 in) and a draft of 7.95 m (26 ft 1 in) forward. The ship was powered by three 3-cylinder vertical triple expansion engines that drove three screws. Steam was provided by six naval and six cylindrical coal-fired boilers. Zähringen's powerplant was rated at 14,000 metric horsepower (13,808 ihp; 10,297 kW), which generated a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). She had a crew of 30 officers and 650 enlisted men.