Pre-Dreadnought Battleships: Wittelsbach Class

[Brian James]

SMS Mecklenburg pictured c 1902...She was the fifth ship of the Wittelsbach Class of Pre-Dreadnought Battleships of the German Imperial Navy. Laid down in May 1900 at the AG Vulcan Shipyards at Stettin,(now Szczecin, Poland), she was finished in May 1903. Her sister ships were Wittelsbach, Zähringen, Wettin, and Schwaben; they were the first capital ships built under the Navy Law of 1898, championed by Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. Mecklenburg was armed with a main battery of four 9.4 in guns and had a top speed of 18 knots.
Mecklenburg spent the early period of her career in the I Squadron of the German fleet, participating in the peacetime routine of training cruises and exercises. After World War I began in August 1914, she was mobilized with her sisters as the IV Battle Squadron. She saw limited duty in the Baltic Sea against Russian naval forces, and as a Guard Ship in the North Sea. The German High Command withdrew her from active service in January 1916 due to a threat from Submarines and naval mines, together with severe shortages in personnel. For the remainder of her career, Mecklenburg served as a Prison Ship and as a Barracks Ship based in Kiel. She was stricken from the navy list in January 1920 and sold for scrapping the following year.

[Brian James]

Wittelsbach Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship SMS Mecklenburg during her visit to Norway in 1906.

[Brian James]

Wittelsbach Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship SMS Zähringen pictured at Ulvik, Norway.

[Brian James]

Wittelsbach Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship SMS Zähringen (left) pictured with Lead Ship ,Dreadnought Battleship Nassau at Ulvik, Norway.