SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II was the second of the Kaiser Friedrich III classof pre-dreadnought battleships, built at the Imperial Dockyard inWilhelmshaven. She was launched on 14 September 1897 and commissioned into the fleet in 1902. She was armed with four 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns in two twin turrets and powered by triple expansion engines that delivered a top speed of 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph). Kaiser Wilhelm II served as theflagship of the German fleet until 1906, participating in fleet training exercises and visits to foreign ports. After the new dreadnought battleships began entering service in 1908, she was decommissioned, then reactivated between 1910 and 1912 for training ship duties in the Baltic. With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Kaiser Wilhelm II and her sister ships were brought back into duty as coastal defense ships in the V Battle Squadron. Her age, coupled with shortages of ship crews, led to her withdrawal from this role in February 1915; after which she served as a command ship for the High Seas Fleet, based in Wilhelmshaven. She was sold for scrap in the early 1920s. (Full article...)

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