SMS Kaiserin - Service History

Service History

After joining the III Battle Squadron in December 1913, Kaiserin participated in the routine fleet training exercises. Squadron exercises were conducted in February, followed by fleet maneuvers, both in the North Sea. The fleet trained again in May, in both the North and Baltic Seas. Kaiserin left Germany on 7 July for the annual summer cruise to Norway, but was recalled prematurely on 22 July because of rising international tensions following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Upon returning to Germany, Kaiserin steamed to Brunsbüttel on 24 July, where she was the first battleship to traverse the recently deepened Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. The voyage required lightening, and in just under twelve hours Kaiserin exited the locks at Holtenau in Kiel where she met the rest of her squadron. On 31 July, the entire squadron returned to the North Sea via the Canal. At midnight on 4 August, the United Kingdom, with its powerful Grand Fleet, declared war on Germany.

Kaiserin was present during the first sortie by the German fleet into the North Sea, which took place on 2–3 November 1914. No British forces were encountered during the operation. A second operation followed on 15–16 December. This sortie was the initiation of a strategy adopted by Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, the commander of the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Ingenohl intended to use the battlecruisers of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's I Scouting Group to raid British coastal towns to lure out portions of the Grand Fleet where they could be destroyed by the High Seas Fleet. Early on 15 December the fleet left port to raid the towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby. That evening, the German battle fleet of some twelve dreadnoughts—including Kaiserin and her four sisters—and eight pre-dreadnoughts came to within 10 nmi (19 km; 12 mi) of an isolated squadron of six British battleships. However, skirmishes between the rival destroyer screens in the darkness convinced Ingenohl that he was faced with the entire Grand Fleet. Under orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II to avoid risking the fleet unnecessarily, Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battle fleet back toward Germany.

Kaiserin went into the Baltic for squadron training from 23 to 29 January 1916. Upon returning to the North Sea, the ship went into drydock in Wilhelmshaven for periodic maintenance, which lasted from 31 January to 20 February. The Kaiser removed Ingenohl from his post on 2 February, following the loss of SMS Blücher at the Battle of Dogger Bank the month before. Admiral Hugo von Pohl succeeded him as the commander of the fleet. Pohl continued the policy of sweeps into the North Sea to destroy isolated British formations. The fleet conducted a series of advances into the North Sea throughout 1915; Kaiserin was present for the sweeps on 17 to 18 May, 29 to 30 May, 10 August, 11 to 12 September, and 23 to 24 October. The III Squadron completed the year with another round of unit training in the Baltic from 5 to 20 December.

Pohl's tenure as fleet commander was brief; by January 1916 hepatic cancer had weakened him to the point where he was no longer able to carry out his duties. He was replaced by Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer in January. Scheer proposed a more aggressive policy designed to force a confrontation with the British Grand Fleet; he received approval from the Kaiser in February. The first of Scheer's operations was conducted the following month, on 5 to 7 March, with an uneventful sweep of the Hoofden. Kaiserin was also present during an advance to the Amrun Bank on 2 to 3 April. The fleet conducted another sortie on 21 to 22 April.