Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

Deutschland-Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship SMS Schleswig Holstein pictured at Lisbon,Portugal in 1927.

The pair of old pre-dreadnoughts served longer than any German dreadnought. Both survived the TIRPITZ sinking by the RAF, altho aircraft eventually got them, too. Here are both of them at various times up to their end..DFO

Nice collection of photos's there lads thanks for sharing them with us

These 2 old "relics" also served at times, as ice breakers in the Baltic during WW2. They may have been very old, slow with only 4-40 caliber 11", but they were utilized more than many modern Kriegsmarine ships!

The Soviets captured and raised the wreck of the SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN postwar. DFO

Well I suppose you utilise what you have , and if you didn't have to build them only re-float them and renovate you use them for what ever suits their needs and if thats breaking ice .....so be it . eh Dennis

Waste not, want not..........and when you only have one actual icebreaker (CASTOR, IIRC...) you use a ship that can sort of do the job! DFO

No argument's from me on that score Dennis , thanks for sharing

In their Imperial Navy days they looked a bit different, with a different weapon fit. DFO

You can see why they valued Welsh coal so much , as theres looks like its burnt with car tyres added in

Thanks for the photo's Dennis ......

SMS Schlesien pictured at Swinemünde c1910.She was one of five Deutschland-Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleships built for the German Kaiserliche Marine between 1904 and 1906. Named after the German province of Silesia, Schlesien was laid down at the Schichau-Werke shipyard in Danzig on November 19th 1904, launched on May 28th 1906, and commissioned on May 5th 1908. She was armed with a battery of four 11 inch guns and had a top speed of 18 knots. The ships of her Class were already outdated by the time they entered service, as they were inferior in size, armor, firepower, and speed to the revolutionary new British Battleship HMS Dreadnought.
After commissioning, Schlesien was assigned to I Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet, later being transferred to II Battle Squadron. She was primarily occupied with training cruises and fleet maneuvers in her early career. She served with the fleet throughout the first two years of World War I, seeing action at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, where she was briefly actively engaged in combat. After Jutland, the Imperial Navy relegated Schlesien to Guard duties before withdrawing her altogether in 1917, when she became a Training Ship. The Treaty of Versailles permitted the German navy to keep eight obsolete Battleships, including Schlesien, to defend the German coast. Initially kept in reserve, she was modernized in the mid-1920s and saw extensive service with the reorganized Reichsmarine.
Schlesien saw limited combat during World War II, briefly bombarding Polish forces during the invasion of Poland in September 1939. She escorted Minesweepers during Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway and Denmark in April 1940. After the operation, she was given secondary duties, primarily serving as a Training Ship and Icebreaker. She ended her career providing fire support in the Baltic coast of occupied Poland. While off Swinemünde on May 3rd 1945, she struck a mine and was towed into Swinemünde, where she was sunk by her crew in shallow water, though much of her superstructure, including her main battery, remained above water. In the remaining days of the war, Schlesien used her Anti-Aircraft guns to defend the city from air attack. After the end of the war, she was broken up, though some parts of the ship remained visible until the 1970s.