SMS Großer Kurfürst (1913)

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Career

Builder:	Vulcan AG Hamburg
Laid down:	October 1911
Launched:	5 May 1913
Commissioned:	30 July 1914
Status:	Scuttled 21 July 1919
General Characteristics
Displacement:	28,600 tons
Length:	575 ft 6 in
Beam:	96 ft 9 in
Draught:	29 ft 9 in
Propulsion:	3 shaft turbines, 31,000 shp
Speed:	21 kt
Range:	8,000 st. mi. at 12 knots
Complement:	1,136
Armament:	10 × 12 in guns 14 × 5.9 in guns 10 × 8.8 cm guns 5 × 19.7 in torpedo tubes

SMS Großer Kurfürst was a König Class battleship of the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) during the First World War.

Großer Kurfürst was built by Vulcan AG in Hamburg. She was laid down in October 1911 and launched in May 1913. Following sea trials in July 1914 the ship was commissioned on 30 July 1914. The first war years saw fleet operations and exercises in both the Baltic and the North Sea, including the provision of distant cover for shore bombardments and minelaying operations off the British coast. During the Battle of Jutland, the ship was damaged by eight hits, including five heavy caliber hits, causing 15 dead and 10 wounded. After six weeks of repairs the ship was back in service with the High Seas Fleet.

Thereafter she had a history of mishaps while serving with the fleet. On 5 November 1916, off the Danish west coast, she was torpedoed by the British submarine HMS J1, requiring three months of repairs. On 9 February 1917, just out of the dock, she ran aground near Kiel. On 5 March she collided with her sistership SMS Kronprinz (later renamed Kronprinz Wilhelm) and damaged her bow, necessitating two more weeks of repairs. In October 1917 she participated in the naval operations near the Baltic Islands of Osel and Dago (or Saaremaa and Hiiumaa) and hit a mine, once again having to spend six weeks in dock. On 25 April 1918, returning from an uneventful sortie into the North Sea, she ran aground just outside Wilhelmshaven; this time the damage was repaired within one week. On 30 May 1918, she ran aground again, this time near Heligoland, damaging one of her shafts. She was back in service by mid-August, but saw no further action.

Großer Kurfürst was interned at Scapa Flow on 26 November 1918 and was part of the great scuttling there of the German High Seas Fleet, sinking on 21 June 1919 at 13:30 pm. She was salvaged in April 1933 and scrapped at Rosyth, Scotland. Part of the ship (the mast) is still divable in 33 m of water in the water of Scapa Flow.

The ship was the second to be named after Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, known as the Great Elector (in German Großer Kurfürst ). The German Imperial Navy had an earlier capital ship by the same name, the armored ship SMS Großer Kurfürst.