Construction
Ordered under the contract name Ersatz Hagen as a replacement for the obsolete coastal defense ship Hagen, Kaiserin was laid down at the Howaldtswerke dockyard in Kiel in November 1910. She was launched on 11 November 1911, after which fitting-out work was completed. At the launching ceremony, Admiral Hans von Koester gave a speech and Princess Victoria Louise christened the ship. A dockyard crew delivered the ship to the Navy on 13 May 1913; she was commissioned into the fleet the following day. During trials the ship's turbine engines were damaged, and Kaiserin did not join the fleet until 13 December 1913.
The ship was 172.4 m (566 ft) long overall and displaced a maximum of 27,000 metric tons (27,000 long tons; 30,000 short tons). She had a beam of 29 m (95 ft) and a draft of 9.1 m (30 ft) forward and 8.8 m (29 ft) aft. Kaiserin was powered by three sets of Parsons turbines, each of which drove a single propeller shaft; they were supplied with steam by 16 coal-fired boilers. The powerplant produced a top speed of 22.1 knots (40.9 km/h; 25.4 mph). She carried 3,600 metric tons (3,500 long tons; 4,000 short tons) of coal, which enabled a maximum range of 7,900 nautical miles (14,600 km; 9,100 mi) at a cruising speed of 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph).
Kaiserin was armed with a main battery of ten 30.5 cm SK L/50 guns in five twin turrets. The ship dispensed with the inefficient hexagonal turret arrangement of previous German battleships; instead, three of the five turrets were mounted on the centerline, with two of them arranged in a superfiring pair aft. The other two turrets were placed en echelon amidships, such that both could fire on the broadside. The ship was also armed with fourteen 15 cm SK L/45 guns in casemates amidships, eight 8.8 cm SK L/45 guns in casemates and four 8.8 cm L/45 anti-aircraft guns. The ship's armament was rounded out by five 50 cm (20 in) torpedo tubes, all mounted in the hull.
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